Red Alert for Google: CEO Takes Steps to Defend Search Business from ChatGPT AI
Red Alert
According to emerging reports, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has taken action in response to a potential threat to the company’s search business from an AI system called ChatGPT. Pichai has reportedly reorganized various teams within the company and redirected resources towards this effort, which is considered a “Red Alert” for the company.
However, no one is sure whether AI systems like ChatGPT will dethrone Google’s search product and provide more accurate research results.
According to a professor at the University of Washington, no company is immune to vulnerability. Margaret O’Mara later added that it could be challenging for companies that have already achieved great success in a specific market to pivot and find success in a different area.
ChatGPT
ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence (AI) system that answers user queries in a conversational, human-like manner. It can do this by synthesizing information from millions of websites and generating responses based on that information.
Since its public launch, ChatGPT has gained many users, with over 1 million people using the chatbot within the first five days. People have used ChatGPT for various purposes, including asking it to write a college essay, seeking coding advice, and even using it as a therapist.
However, some users have noted that ChatGPT is prone to errors and cannot fact-check or distinguish between verified facts and misinformation. In addition, according to some scientists, the chatbot can create answers out of thin air, a phenomenon they are dubbing “hallucinations.”
According to The NY Times, Google is slow to release its artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to the public because of concerns about their potential impact on society. One reason is that the data used to generate answers is human-made and available online.
This “human data” can lead to AI systems providing inappropriate or offensive responses due to misinformation, bias, and racism.
Presently, Google relies heavily on its search business, which generates revenue through advertising and e-commerce sales, and accounted for almost 80% of its revenue in the last quarter. However, using chatbots designed to provide answers in natural language could threaten this business model.
Including advertising in chatbots’ responses may be more challenging, and the processing power required to deliver believable answers by synthesizing large amounts of data can be expensive. One estimate suggests that OpenAI currently spends $3 million per month on ChatGPT, which is still in beta.
Nevertheless, if chatbots based on large language models, like Google’s own LaMDA, become more popular, they could disrupt industries like e-commerce and advertising.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Google is taking steps to address the potential threat to its search business posed by the AI system ChatGPT. While it still needs to be determined whether ChatGPT or other AI systems upset Google’s search product, the company is taking the potential threat seriously.
However, it is worth noting that, like all companies, Google is vulnerable to disruption. Thus, it may be challenging to find success in new areas even if it has already achieved great success in a specific market.
ChatGPT’s ability to generate answers based on synthesized information from millions of websites has made it popular with users; Google has no choice but to tune up its business model to compete with ChatGpt.
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