How ChatGPT May Destroy Search Engines

A candid appraisal by Gmail Creator, Paul Buchheit, shows that A.I. chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT could make typical search engines obsolete within two years.

According to a recent Twitter thread, Buchheit predicts the future of web search as we know it right now could be completely upended by 2025. 

Gmail Creator Twitter Thread

In Buchheit's words, "We’re only a year or two away from total disruption.”

The computer engineer and entrepreneur clarifies that it might not be ChatGPT itself that will take over, but that A.I. as a whole is certainly set to drive the Google model into the ground. 

The only solution is that the affected companies adapt to the new normal.

In his damning predictions, Buchheit elaborated on his thoughts regarding the directions headed by such developments.

First: “The URL/Search bar of the browser gets replaced with AI that autocompletes my thought/question as I type it while also providing the best answer (which may be a link to a website or product).”

He also added that “the old search engine backend will be used by the AI to gather relevant information and links, which will then be summarized for the user.

"It's like asking a professional human researcher to do the work, except the AI will instantly do what would take many minutes for a human.”

He drew a graphic comparison with the manner of the decline in the use of the yellow pages, which was once the go-to directory for businesses and contact details but was replaced by Google.

How Does This Pan Out With Recent Microsoft Position Regarding GPT-4?

Microsoft recently announced plans to deploy GPT-4 into the operations of Bing to make it a better search engine competitor than Google.

In this functionality, GPT-4 will make Bing more conversational in a human-like fashion.
Microsoft's choice is informed by the faster feature of GPT-4 compared to the earlier versions of ChatGPT. 

What About Google?

To the extent that Google has come a long way with conversational chatbots fired by Google's version of AI under its signature brand DeepMind, one can say Google is well covered. 

So, it's only intuitive that if Google is already grounded in AI-powered chatbots, present or future evolutions cannot upstage the world-renowned search engine giant.

However, considering that Paul Buchheit, aside from being an authority in this field, is an insider in Google operations, is there something else to this he's not talking about?

Can We Safely Assume that the Change is Already Taking Place?

According to the former Google developer, the ubiquitous search engine appears shaken by the chatbot’s success.

This is against the backdrop that Google, like other websites, makes the most money from the search page, paving way for over 20 different A.I. projects in the works.

This unnerving by revolutionary chatbots spurred Google's recent reaction in the form of issuing a “code red.”

Consequently, Google already embarked on a launch of an A.I. tool that transforms hums into actual music.

“Whoa, this is bigger than ChatGPT to me. Google almost solved music generation, I’d say,” said Keunwoo Choi, an A.I. scientist at Gaudio Lab, an A.I. audio technology company.