Why you got to love ChatGPT!
Google versus ChatGPT
The word Google came about because it represents a very, very large number. And when you do a search for something in Google you get a staggering number of answers! Google will even tell you how many answers it came with.
In a Hurry?
While driving me to the Amsterdam airport, to get on a plane to fly back to the USA, my brother asked me which terminal? 1, 2, or 3? We were literally a few minutes away and Amsterdam airport is ranked as the third busiest airport in Europe. I had very little time to find out.
In the past I would have Googled it and would have to choose from a staggering number of answers, and then decide which was correct. Sometimes it won’t even give you a direct answer.
Instead I asked ChatGPT the following question: “Which terminal at schiphol is jet blue departures”. It doesn’t seem to mind that my grammar was not totally correct. It instantly came with an answer, which turned out to be correct.
More Research
As part of ongoing research, once on the plane, I checked to see what answer Google will give me when asked the same question. It came with 77,400 replies. On the first page, which typically has ten answers, three answers listed a terminal in the header, but they were a different terminal. The first page also had a link for Boston airport, and a link to all the airlines served by Schiphol, which is the name of the Amsterdam airport.
Although most of the answers in Google are somehow related to words or concepts in my question, they were actually not really answers. It reminded me of the term ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). While AI has been known to hallucinate, I think I like the term ADD to describe what Gooooooooogle is manifesting. Or is ADHD a better term? It is being Hyper active by producing a gargantuan amount of non-answers.
What made ChatGPT so useful at that moment, in that short span of time, it came with the correct answer. I needed one correct answer, not 77,400 answers from which I would then have to choose and decide. In Google one has to frequently look at several of the answers and then make a decision as to which could be the correct answer. This takes time, time which we didn’t have.
I have this experience with using ChatGPT daily, where it is this little practical companion that gives me answers to, frequently little, but practical questions.
On the same flight I saw the passenger in front of me watching a tv show that seemed interesting. But because Jet Blue has so many channels, I couldn’t find it on my screen. After ten minutes of searching, I asked ChatGPT and it told me what network. Subsequently I found it in a second.
Is ChatGPT the new Google?
Yes, ChatGPT will sometimes on its home page suggest topics which are mostly irrelevant to most of us, like recipes or so, or “experience Seoul like a local”. But by using it, I have learned to appreciate what it really is capable of. I know smart people who really think that it is the next biggest thing since computers, and possibly on a whole other level. I tend to agree. Start using it! They will also tell you that if you don’t, you will fall behind!