The chapter explores the rise of perplexity as a fast and accurate conversational answer engine, contrasting it with chat GPT. It discusses the potential for AI-driven search engines to challenge Google's market dominance and the shift towards paid services for better privacy and control over personal data.
It used to feel like magic. Now it can feel like a set of cheap tricks. Is the problem with Google — or with us? And is Google Search finally facing a real rival, in the form of A.I.-powered “answer engines”?
- RESOURCES:
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- Subprime Attention Crisis: Advertising and the Time Bomb at the Heart of the Internet, by Tim Hwang (2020).
- “Complaint: U.S. and Plaintiff States v. Google LLC,” by the U.S. Department of Justice (2020).
- “Fake Online Locksmiths May Be Out to Pick Your Pocket, Too,” by David Segal (The New York Times, 2016).
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- In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives, by Steven Levy (2011).
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