Is Search Dead?
OpenAI’s ChatGPT has had an impressive trajectory, establishing itself as one of the first generative AI platforms to gain widespread recognition and use. The ambition to integrate search capabilities was both expected and strategic—a smart way to bridge the gap between insightful answers and the occasional hallucinations or misinformation that can plague AI responses.
With access to an indexed and up-to-date web, ChatGPT immediately feels sharper. The idea of a generative AI search engine is compelling: a tool that maintains context and allows for conversational exploration without needing to constantly restate your query. Discovery becomes an interactive experience.
When OpenAI announced plans for “SearchGPT” (which eventually became ChatGPT with search), I could not wait to test it. It’s a seamless addition—you simply tap the globe icon in the prompt box to enable search mode, and once activated, you’re in ChatGPT’s search mode until you choose to turn it off.
My summary is this. It is fast, no ads, accurate, clean Interface, aware, intelligent, and thorough.
With the exception of “awareness,” ChatGPT’s search embodies all the qualities that made early Google so appealing, back before it was bogged down by monetization and the endless quest for ad revenue.
Today’s Google Search is a far cry from the engine from 2003. It’s now carrying the weight of Google’s entire ecosystem, with the relentless push to monetize every interaction.
Generative AI, powered by ChatGPT 4.0, is what makes this search experience stand out. It feels almost aware, capable of synthesizing scattered information into cohesive, sensible insights. And it keeps up with the conversation, allowing each search to build on the last instead of requiring you to start over.
ChatGPT’s integration of generative AI for search is what makes it feel almost “aware,” allowing it to synthesize disparate information and maintain conversational continuity. Unlike traditional search engines that create new pages for each query, ChatGPT preserves the entire thread, enabling users to revisit previous queries and responses.
While ChatGPT’s accuracy has improved by leveraging reputable sources rather than just predictive text, it still warns that “ChatGPT can make mistakes.” Compared to Google, which heavily integrates AI in search results and other tools, ChatGPT provides a cleaner, more concise overview without pushing down traditional results.
Though ChatGPT Search offers a refreshing experience, Google remains dominant as a search engine and is deeply ingrained as a daily tool for most users. Switching to ChatGPT as the default search could challenge Google’s hold, especially if browser extensions enable it as an alternative.
Travel will be a focus of OpenAI’s search engine development. The company stated: “We plan to keep improving search, particularly in areas like shopping and travel, and leverage the reasoning capabilities of the OpenAI o1 series to do deeper research.”
There are plenty of implications for travel. I asked ChatGPT.com, “Can you plan a trip for me along from Sacramento to Santa Fe? I am driving an electric vehicle.”
It answered with a 5-day itinerary from Sacramento to Santa Fe, pulling information and links from multiple sources. A day-by-day breakdown of distance and time, directions, lunch, EV charging stations, and hotel recommendations. In addition, it recommended sights to see in Arizona and New Mexico, and I knew all of them as I live in Santa Fe. Including recommending my favorite Restaurant in town, the Shed. It was a detailed and voluminous report. I did the same query on Google and it was just a bunch of sponsored links. Keep in mind that this was not a demo of Agentic AI, which would already know which electric car I drive, what are my favorite restaurants, my preferred hotels and could likely book all of this. I will save that for another article.
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Violet Crown, Santa Fe
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
At our next El Sailon, Curt Doty will host a fireside chat with Future Humanist Mike Johns who will explore the transformative power of AI, reskilling, and the creator economy in futureproofing our workforce at with "See Tomorrow, Be Prepared" as the theme for Santa Fe, New Mexico. By embracing AI technologies, continuous learning, and the growing influence of content creators, Mike will provide actionable insights to drive innovation, create new job opportunities, and build a more resilient future for New Mexico. Mike is campaigning Make America Smart Now by promoting the AI, future of work, and creating sustainable and accountable business economies for all businesses. If you are in the Santa Fe/Albuquerque area, please join us. RSVP to curt@realmiq.com
Doors open at 5:30PM. Event begins at 6PM. Light refreshments will be served.
This is a free public event with a suggested donation of $10 per attendee. Proceeds from this event support El Sailon. All those who donate will receive a raffle ticket for a chance to win the AI IN FILM poster.
El Sailon is sponsored by THE CITY OF SANTA FE OFFICE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OFFICE AND HUTTON BROADCASTING.
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About the Author
Curt Doty current work and legacy lies in branding, product development, social strategy, integrated marketing, and User Experience Design. He has extensive experience on AI-driven platforms MidJourney, Adobe Firefly, ChatGPT, Murf.ai, HeyGen, and DALL-E. His award winning work of entertainment branding includes Electronic Arts, EA Sports, ProSieben, SAT.1, WBTV Latin America, Discovery Health, ABC, CBS, A&E, StarTV, Fox, Kabel 1, and TV Guide Channel.
He is a sought after public speaker having been featured at Streaming Media NYC, Digital Hollywood, Mobile Growth Association, Mobile Congress, App Growth Summit, Promax, CES, CTIA, NAB, NATPE, MMA Global, New Mexico Angels, Santa Fe Business Incubator, EntrepeneursRx and AI Impact. He has lectured at universities including Full Sail, SCAD, Art Center College of Design and Chapman University. His AI consultancy RealmIQ helps enable business transformation in the Age of AI.
He is currently on the board of the Godfrey Reggio Foundation and serves as the marketing director for Performance Santa Fe.
Agile Technical Program/Product Management Expert
1moi could go on and on with my opinion that "type-ahead" search, auto-fill browser form fields, obnoxious auto-correct on SMS phone messaging, and even DMP apparatuses (yikes, pretty creepy) gathering my browsing history WITHOUT LOGIN to "magically" steer me towards unconnected (frequently utterly off-target and, frankly, infuriating suggestied products and brands that have NOTHING to do with my current immediate need for pared-down search results) is an annoying yet inevitable situation people have had to comply with. And, seriously, don't get me wrong--I admit that I've certainly benefited from this practice. (i joined MYSPACE right as Newscorp bought it and committed $1 Billion to anticipated ad revenue from "promoted" Google search results. Yet, along comes ChatGPT, and i now use it as my first choice for credible search queries. Without sponsored ads, and GROOMABLE towards my specific reds. In fact, my own personal ChatGPT instance are at a point where we should mutually decide my robot's particular name. AI search is a gift. I just hope i get enough out of it before some tech firm(s) figure out how to persuade my robot's thinking to offer search results that may be dubiously favorable to a high paying client.