“That’s hilarious!” said one person, thanking the reporter for letting them know that they were in the running.
Who’d have thought that an innocent content design mistake – placing the button to ‘register to collect endorsements’ above the buttons to do the actual endorsing – could have such monumental consequences.
No sooner had ChatGPT begun its meteoric rise to prominence in November 2022 than users were predicting that the AI chatbot could become the ‘new’ Google.
Fast forward a year and a half, and generative AI looks set to be the next major evolution in web search, with both Bing and Google touting generative AI answers, and specialist ‘AI-powered’ search engines like Perplexity.ai capturing attention.
Now, OpenAI itself looks set to enter the fray. Bloomberg and The Information were the first to report on insider intelligence that suggested OpenAI was developing a web search feature, followed by reports that the new search product could launch as soon as Monday – a day before Google kicks off its major I/O developer conference.
Given that the addition of a GPT-powered assistant to Bing barely nudged its share of search, it will be interesting to see if a search product within ChatGPT proves more compelling. A Washington Post review of Google’s Search Generative Experience called its answers ‘worse’ than traditional web search and showed that AI ‘hallucinations’ remain an issue.
As early as December 2022, our own Rebecca Sentance highlighted the advantages of a conversational approach to search through tools such as ChatGPT – if its issues could be corrected for. But many concerns, such as hallucinations and the potential impact on publisher traffic, have yet to be assuaged.
At Econsultancy HQ, we’ll be hosting our Q2 meet-up for senior leaders in marketing and ecommerce. You’ll hear from a panel of marketing leaders as they reveal how they have navigated transformation, placing capability at the heart of their strategies.
Please note, the forum is invite-only, so registrations are subject to approval.
Raise your floor in digital marketing with Econsultancy’s Fast Track to Digital Marketing. With 15 hours of live and on-demand sessions, you'll be empowered to drive measurable results and tangible ROI.
