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DuckDuckGo Launches DuckAssist

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Re: DuckDuckGo Launches DuckAssist

#21

Post by ccn0p »

nerdponx wrote: post #6
bovermyer wrote: post #4

So, AI continues to infect more things I use. That's unfortunate.

It seems like it's meant to be an extra feature and not a replacement for search. This is a good thing and will help DDG reduce dependence on Bing. Of course, maybe dependence on Wikipedia is not so good if you care about accuracy.

Yes but certainly a good chunk of the companies finite resources will be shifted towards this effort vs improving upon search. No judgement whether this is good or bad, just... the way the world is headed.

Re: DuckDuckGo Launches DuckAssist

#23

Post by forgotmypw17 »

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #10
TekMol wrote: post #2

no sign-up required! Yeah, you just need to install their native software on your system. Having to make an account is annoying. Having to install native software is a no-go for me.

So no dropbox, no firefox/chrome, no thunderbird, no whatsapp client, no telegram client, not git ?

You listed examples of free software and non-free software.

The former is much more likely to find a home on my devices.

I've found it limiting to not use WhatsApp, but not that much. It's kind of like if I knew someone who is known to stalk people, but we also have many friends in common. Maybe some friends won't come to my party, but I'm still not letting them into my house.

Re: DuckDuckGo Launches DuckAssist

#24

Post by bovermyer »

nerdponx wrote: post #6
bovermyer wrote: post #4

So, AI continues to infect more things I use. That's unfortunate.

It seems like it's meant to be an extra feature and not a replacement for search. This is a good thing and will help DDG reduce dependence on Bing. Of course, maybe dependence on Wikipedia is not so good if you care about accuracy.

This one is less awful than other similar features, since it relies on a single source.

However, it's going to take me awhile to come to terms with the fact that AI makes ownership obsolete.

Re: DuckDuckGo Launches DuckAssist

#25

Post by eur0pa »

BiteCode_dev wrote: post #10
TekMol wrote: post #2

no sign-up required! Yeah, you just need to install their native software on your system. Having to make an account is annoying. Having to install native software is a no-go for me.

So no dropbox, no firefox/chrome, no thunderbird, no whatsapp client, no telegram client, not git ?

Mostly correct. Browsers can block ads, trackers, Javascript libraries, and elements at will using extensions. "Native" apps for web services, such as these Electron-wrapped clients, have full access to the trackers / analytics endpoints, and more. That's a big nono.

Re: DuckDuckGo Launches DuckAssist

#27

Post by monetus »

Additionally, our anonymous queries will not be used to train their AI models. And anything you share via the anonymous feedback link goes to us and us alone.

I wonder if their licensing allows training their own models while using Anthropic and OpenAi? Seems like a conflict of interest, but I hope they can. I have mixed feelings about instant answers keeping users from clicking through to the sites where the content was originally posted, but this is going to help a lot of people.

Re: DuckDuckGo Launches DuckAssist

#28

Post by oidar »

All the search engines are adding LLM for queries to their search engines, but I don't see any search engine talking about defending against crap results using LLM - which would be more useful. I don't need generated results, I need accurate results that align with my intent. Use the LLMs for that dudes.

Re: DuckDuckGo Launches DuckAssist

#29

Post by monetus »

jacooper wrote: post #26

Kinda crap compared to Brave, which uses an independent index, and AI to refine website descriptions and create answers.

How do the answers actually compare? I've refused to install brave after their crypto donation mess, but I know it has some nice features.

Re: DuckDuckGo Launches DuckAssist

#30

Post by toxik »

Tried it out, pretty disappointing so far. "Is the Collatz conjecture solved?" gave no "intelligent" assist, even though the first result is the Wikipedia page on the Collatz conjecture.

"Do cows sleep standing up?" gave an answer of some sort, but very unnatural and not very helpful.

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