Google increasingly is promoting a single answer for many questions • Hacker News Board

Re: Google increasingly is promoting a single answer for many questions

#71

Post by UncleMeat » Fri, Nov 17, 2017, 5:09 PM UTC

untog wrote: post #65

jdietrich wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If Google is presenting the tool as a canonical source of truth, it needs to be right 100% of the time. Should we burn all the dictionaries and encyclopaedias because they aren't perfectly accurate? Textbooks don't have a black-box warning on the front page saying "The accuracy of this book cannot be guaranteed. Please verify any facts stated before storing them in your long-term memory or using them for any purpose…

Google is not an encyclopedia or a dictionary, though. Encyclopedias are editorially curated products where each entry is researched and chosen very deliberately. The answers Google provides are picked by an algorithm and have nowhere near the level of oversight that dictionaries and encyclopedias do. > "Truth" is an inherently messy concept. The very best curated sources and human experts are frequently fallible. He…

Yet Wikipedia is one of the greatest stores of knowledge on the planet, despite being full of inaccuracies.

Re: Google increasingly is promoting a single answer for many questions

#72

Post by qaid » Fri, Nov 17, 2017, 5:12 PM UTC

On one hand, I see this as great way to encourage curiosity. A child can ask a simple question "why does it rain?" and get back an immediate response. No more clicking through links to try and find a simple explanation, only for them to have lost interest.

At the same time, I can't help but feel that way more people will look for an answer and just give up on their question if the immediate answer is not clear enough or not immediately available. With attention spans being as short as they are already, I can see it discouraging many people from performing the acts of reading and trying to understand what they read. And that kind of culture worries me a lot these days.

Re: Google increasingly is promoting a single answer for many questions

#73

Post by untog » Fri, Nov 17, 2017, 5:20 PM UTC

UncleMeat wrote: post #71

untog wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google is not an encyclopedia or a dictionary, though. Encyclopedias are editorially curated products where each entry is researched and chosen very deliberately. The answers Google provides are picked by an algorithm and have nowhere near the level of oversight that dictionaries and encyclopedias do. > "Truth" is an inherently messy concept. The very best curated sources and human experts are frequently fallible. He…

Yet Wikipedia is one of the greatest stores of knowledge on the planet, despite being full of inaccuracies.

How many Wikipedia articles are one sentence saying "this is the answer"? None. If anything they're padded out to excess, detailing the different perspectives about any particular topic, complete with referencing and footnotes.

Re: Google increasingly is promoting a single answer for many questions

#74

Post by reaperducer » Fri, Nov 17, 2017, 5:24 PM UTC

jacksmith21006 wrote: post #12

melling wrote: post #7

Single answers is basically what's needed for Alex, Google Home, etc. I was surprised that Google beat Alexa. Siri was horrible. I haven't purchased a home voice device yet because I wanted it to get a little better. However, I'm not sure if there will be much improvement in the device itself. The real work is on the server.

Surprised Google beat Alexa? I have had the Echo since late 2014 and now several Google Homes. For understanding you and answering questions Google is well ahead of Amazon. But you find this surprising? This is what Google does and has for almost 20 years now.

Meanwhile, in my experience, Siri is at the back of the short bus licking the windows.

Re: Google increasingly is promoting a single answer for many questions

#75

Post by _ea1k » Fri, Nov 17, 2017, 5:29 PM UTC

untog wrote: post #41

pesenti wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And that’s a ridiculous standard because there is no such thing as 100% when talking about knowledge. Humans and experts wouldn’t agree 100% of the time so it’s impossible for computers to get there.

So why create a feature that pretends such a thing is possible, and promote it as heavily as Google does? In many ways, "I'm feeling lucky" was a great middle ground - by clicking it you're implictly saying "I know this might not actually be what I'm looking for, but I'm willing to compromise". Google has taken that compromise and stuck it at the top of the search results page.

That seems like a question with a really obvious answer.

Because it is useful, makes users happy, and generates revenue. There really isn't another useful standard to apply here.

Re: Google increasingly is promoting a single answer for many questions

#76

Post by _ea1k » Fri, Nov 17, 2017, 5:31 PM UTC

tudelo wrote: post #70

VonGallifrey wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I personally would hope that you take extra precaution with answers related to medicine/safety. Why would you trust google with something like this? If you ask Google "Can my dog eat X" and blindly trust the answer then it is your fault and not google's if your dog gets sick. Google isn't responsible for your dog, you are!

Why would you trust anything? Not to go to the extreme, but we do things every day where trust is integral, and what we trust is not something we verify independently. Or maybe you are different.

It isn't really a matter of verifying it independently. But we know that Google isn't the expert on dog eating and is only getting their information from third party sources. So we have to know the source to consider its credibility instead of Google's.

Re: Google increasingly is promoting a single answer for many questions

#77

Post by zwerdlds » Fri, Nov 17, 2017, 5:32 PM UTC

untog wrote: post #73

UncleMeat wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yet Wikipedia is one of the greatest stores of knowledge on the planet, despite being full of inaccuracies.

How many Wikipedia articles are one sentence saying "this is the answer"? None. If anything they're padded out to excess, detailing the different perspectives about any particular topic, complete with referencing and footnotes.

I was going to take issue with you're "this is the answer" description but sure enough, on the featured snipped "About this result", Google interchanges the word "answer" and "result" pretty arbitrarily:

When a user asks a question in Google Search, we might show a search result in a special featured snippet block at the top of the search results page. This featured snippet block includes a summary of the answer, extracted from a webpage, plus a link to the page, the page title and URL...

Re: Google increasingly is promoting a single answer for many questions

#78

Post by ArchReaper » Fri, Nov 17, 2017, 5:36 PM UTC

untog wrote: post #41

pesenti wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And that’s a ridiculous standard because there is no such thing as 100% when talking about knowledge. Humans and experts wouldn’t agree 100% of the time so it’s impossible for computers to get there.

So why create a feature that pretends such a thing is possible, and promote it as heavily as Google does? In many ways, "I'm feeling lucky" was a great middle ground - by clicking it you're implictly saying "I know this might not actually be what I'm looking for, but I'm willing to compromise". Google has taken that compromise and stuck it at the top of the search results page.

Is your argument "Google should not be allowed to do anything if their algorithms aren't 100% flawless and perfect"? I really am failing to understand your viewpoint.

Re: Google increasingly is promoting a single answer for many questions

#79

Post by untog » Fri, Nov 17, 2017, 5:36 PM UTC

_ea1k wrote: post #75

untog wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So why create a feature that pretends such a thing is possible, and promote it as heavily as Google does? In many ways, "I'm feeling lucky" was a great middle ground - by clicking it you're implictly saying "I know this might not actually be what I'm looking for, but I'm willing to compromise". Google has taken that compromise and stuck it at the top of the search results page.

That seems like a question with a really obvious answer. Because it is useful, makes users happy, and generates revenue. There really isn't another useful standard to apply here.

> There really isn't another useful standard to apply here.

...accuracy?

Re: Google increasingly is promoting a single answer for many questions

#80

Post by untog » Fri, Nov 17, 2017, 5:39 PM UTC

ArchReaper wrote: post #78

untog wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So why create a feature that pretends such a thing is possible, and promote it as heavily as Google does? In many ways, "I'm feeling lucky" was a great middle ground - by clicking it you're implictly saying "I know this might not actually be what I'm looking for, but I'm willing to compromise". Google has taken that compromise and stuck it at the top of the search results page.

Is your argument "Google should not be allowed to do anything if their algorithms aren't 100% flawless and perfect"? I really am failing to understand your viewpoint.

No, my argument is "Google should not present results as if they are an absolute answer when they are not capable of knowing whether that is true".

It's pretty simple: a list of search results does not imply certainty. Injecting a single "answer" does. As I mentioned elsewhere, it's as if they have decided that the "I'm feeling lucky" button should apply to everyone.