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ChatGPT: The new search destination?

ChatGPT allows the users to type any query and have a conversation kind of chat with the software. Unlike Google search engines where the answers are given with a list of relevant web links, ChatGPT gives an answer in a chat box.



Screenshot of search queries on ChatGPT . Source:Live search on OpenAI

Vandana Nair


Bengaluru: The world is talking about it and you might have heard it too. It is possible you have not tried it yet but “ChatGPT” is the new rage. GPT, a “Generative Pre-trained Transformer,” is a chatbot, an artificial intelligence (AI) program that simulates human conversation, by OpenAI, and works on an NLP model (natural language processing). It is trained on analyzing massive datasets of a given language to generate conversations in a human-like manner. Using various algorithms, the chatbot is able to predict the set of text that follows a given sequence. Why is everyone talking about it? Simply, because it is believed to be the closest competitor to Google search engine.

ChatGPT allows the users to type any query and have a conversation kind of chat with the software. Unlike Google search engines where the answers are given with a list of relevant web links, ChatGPT gives an answer in a chat box. With advanced integrated AI, you have the option to continue the conversation in a Q & A manner, unlike Google.

While it is user-friendly, it cannot replace the world’s leader, Google in search engines. Limitations of ChatGPT lie in the accuracy of information and in the absence of real-time data. The computer-generated answers in the chatbot are left to the user to verify. Though this problem might exist in Google too, there the user has the web address which can be verified. This option does not exist in ChatGPT. It also does not give real-time data (information that is delivered after collection) such as traffic updates, restaurants in an area, etc. as it cannot search the internet to give relevant answers.

With new technology, there is always scope for misuse. A few of the schools in New York have banned ChatGPT as their students used the chatbot to complete their school essays and homeworks. The work cannot be detected via plagiarism software either.

ChatGPT has had a rapid rise in a short span of its launch (one million users within a month of launch). It is continuously evolving and improving. However, currently, ChatGPT is suitable for information or understanding a particular topic, not for the kind of live search we usually do on Google.


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