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DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode

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Re: DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode

#361

Post by gverrilla »

ctrlkctrls wrote: post #37

The world seems to be fragmenting, into those that see the value in the latest from Google, and those that resist changes like this. I search for how much oil does my take" and get the exact answer in a single sentence, or I suppose I could click the links and wade through all the validation for choosing and how often one should change the oil, and which brand of oil that blog is pushing etc etc. I love Google's AI a…

I've never seen such a reaction to Apple on HN. Quite to the contrary, there are a lot of fanboys here. A lot of macOS-only software is promoted here and I rarely see any complaints in the comments.

Re: DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode

#362

Post by yakbarber »

it's a solution looking for a problem and google are desperate to stay relevant there.

We just don't need to search as much. But I _do_ still want to search sometimes, it's still a valid use case, just not as important as it used to be.

But when a do search, I want simple, relevant, external search results so that I can go straight to those good sources. Google isn't satisfied with their returns on that though.

Re: DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode

#363

Post by dekatron »

nonethewiser wrote: post #188
ajdude wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just do what Kagi does and turn on AI mode only if there's a "?" At the end of the query.

They are already doing something like that though. It's not just a ? mark, but they are getting some signal from the input and classifying it as a search term or AI prompt. Not all inputs have an AI response. And a "?" at the end is not going to capture a lot of real LLM prompts like "What should I pack for my vaction? Im going to Florida in September." I mean you could do something like this. But it's really not muc…

It was funny how the other way when I searched for "nvm" to look up Node Version Manager, the AI mode thought I was saying "nevermind" to it. It felt quite jarring.

Re: DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode

#364

Post by wsc981 »

al_borland wrote: post #5

My friends who previously had no interest in technology and never talked about it, are suddenly following tech news closely all because they hate AI being pushed so hard. One was just messaging me this morning about alternatives to Google search and maps. He ended up downloading DuckDuckGo. If Google isn’t carefully they’re going to push people away from their golden goose.

> The AI product rollouts in the last two years have been some of the most aggressive and user hostile product rollouts in my entire life.

I’m getting extremely annoyed by the Base44 ads I see on YouTube every other video.

First I pressed skip all the time, but the ads keep popping up. So now, every time I see it, I click on the ad and then immediately close the site. At least I can make their aggressive ad strategy a bit more expensive.

Re: DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode

#365

Post by goosejuice »

cogogo wrote: post #340
goosejuice wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would be interested in an example of this. LLMs will often combine recipes from random sites. If you're experienced enough at cooking to reason about the quality _for something new to you_, what value is there in an LLM here? I don't see any similarities to coding here.

To me the similarity is I know exactly what I want to do but cannot really remember syntax (coding) or key variables (cooking) like temp and time. But I have enough experience to know if the output makes sense. Either one I can ask an llm a specific question and get a somewhat reliable specific answer that I feel comfortable parsing… this is actually one of the reasons I think I am eventually going to be on the local…

In terms of temp and time surely if you know enough to judge it's correctness, you would not need it in the first place? Code correctness is rather objective and easily testable. Cooking is rather subjective and only testable with great effort and time. I just checked 4 models on a 4lb pork shoulder in an oven. Flash was super off, suggesting you could pull at 145-150F for a sliced roast. Yeah, you could and it would fucking suck. The per lb time and total time also didn't add up. The others were better but varied. Only one (opus) thought to ask if it was bone-in. If you're very specific you could certainly have it aggregate a bunch of recipes to get a sense of what's close to a good answer, but ultimately it depends on what sources it chooses.

I could see LLMs being helpful to explore what's out there, like finding similar dishes or dishes involving a specific set of ingredients or dishes involving a particular technique, but a pretty poor tool for the actual technicalities of cooking or more importantly the uniquely personal aspects of food culture.

I dunno. I'd just buy larousse and on food and cooking.

Re: DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode

#366

Post by 2muchcoffeeman »

tayo42 wrote: post #330
nonethewiser wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every single software engineer I know uses it pretty heavily.

Becasue they like it? Or becasue it happens to better then alternative tools we had?

The truth is always in between the extremes.

I use AI a lot. But I’m specifically looking for ways it actually ads value.

Re: DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode

#368

Post by 8cvor6j844qw_d6 »

patates wrote: post #52
al_borland wrote: post #5

My friends who previously had no interest in technology and never talked about it, are suddenly following tech news closely all because they hate AI being pushed so hard. One was just messaging me this morning about alternatives to Google search and maps. He ended up downloading DuckDuckGo. If Google isn’t carefully they’re going to push people away from their golden goose.

> My friends who previously had no interest in technology and never talked about it, are suddenly following tech news closely all because they hate AI being pushed so hard. My friends who previously had no interest in technology and never talked about it, are suddenly following tech news closely all because they have fear of missing out on AI :(

> My friends who previously had no interest in technology and never talked about it, are suddenly following tech news closely all because they have fear of missing out on AI :(

One of my friend ended up spending too much time on Candy AI or some sort of AI companion thingy :/

Re: DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode

#369

Post by Karrot_Kream »

Aurornis wrote: post #345
thewebguyd wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> because they have fear of missing out on AI That's been my experience too, both with friends and coworkers. It would seem that the negative sentiment around AI is largely an internet phenomenon. I've yet to run into a hardcore "AI skeptic" irl. People seem either neutral, or enthusiastic about it.

This goes for most tech topics. Not long ago tech sites had users who were aware that their preferences as a tech person were different than the average person. Then it became so common to be a techy person and surround yourself with other techy people that it was easy to fall into a bubble and not realize it. When all of your news websites, coworkers, social media feeds, and friends in the group chat all think the s…

> Then it became so common to be a techy person and surround yourself with other techy people that it was easy to fall into a bubble and not realize it. When all of your news websites, coworkers, social media feeds, and friends in the group chat all think the same thing it feels like everyone in the world agrees with you.

FWIW I think it's a combo of people who spend all their time in online circles and and the effect on upvote sites where people try to appeal to the group sentiment to farm for votes. There's a lot of tech communities that consist of people who pretty much don't socialize in person and it was greatly exacerbated by the pandemic.

Re: DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode

#370

Post by neltnerb »

thewebguyd wrote: post #281
scottmcmac wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A recent NBC News poll gave "AI" a -20% net approval rating. If you're in the U.S., the people you run into IRL are kinda weird. (I didn't quickly find polls for the rest of the world)

Perhaps they are, but I think what I think is odd is how many are simultaneously opposed to the effects of AI (data centers, environmental impact, job loss) yet also are daily, paying users of it even outside of work. I know several who are like that. I wonder how many in that poll have a negative sentiment about AI, yet are also heavy users. There seems to be some kind of disconnect going on?

> I wonder how many in that poll have a negative sentiment about AI, yet are also heavy users. There seems to be some kind of disconnect going on?

Being a heavy user seems like it'd create a lot of resentment if you don't actually enjoy doing it.

If you have used a tool for years and years and suddenly it shoves in a bunch of AI, like Duolingo or Google, are you a heavy user who may well dislike the results?

I have to put in some work to not be a heavy user by any reasonable definition.

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