Editorial: May I suggest an option for an AI pause on search
Google and Bing are locked in a death match to bring AI to every single search, every application, and for the most part on search for me it’s unreliable, costs the search engine a lot more, and at least in my case has only been useful in one search.
They won’t let you turn it off however – there’s a trick CNET posted earlier today but it seems to be hit or miss with where it works… for me it only works on Edge browser that’s not logged into my Google account, and neither Chrome nor Chrome incognito work to show that web option.
Microsoft and Google want you to think of them when you think of AI, but all I see in their results are cobbled together usually incorrect or irrelevant information. I usually don’t want an AI overview, and it costs thousands of times more than a simple search does… and I’m ignoring that section usually. I can think of one time in the era of AI search where it came in handy for what I was looking for and I still couldn’t trust what it told me.
I am looking for a very specific article… how to milk an AI… Bing thinks I want a two page defense of AI. I don’t. I want an article entitled “How to Milk and AI” – it’s all right if it doesn’t find it.
I’m not putting Bing’s AI down, but there is no need to waste enormous amounts of processing power drafting several copies of text before choosing one defending the concepts and uses of AI when I am simply searching for text. I did not say “Bing! Defend thyself!”
I worry more about useless overuse of AI and how much it costs in terms of electricity and environmental impact than that it’s there. I don’t hate or fear it but I straight up am avoiding search engines that force it on me because for me it’s not delivering the results and it’s wasting resources when it’s not needed.
I want a search engine guys… give me that and a button to generate an AI powered overview and I’ll be happy… and you know what? I will use the AI overview occasionally… you can even make it so it’s a Pause AI and not turning it off so you can keep pestering me about it like Microsoft does to get me to use the Edge browser (yeah, it’s probably better, but I’m not going to it)
