Over the last few months I’ve realised that I’ve started using generative AI for search, and going to Claude (and ChatGPT or Gemini) for things I used to take to DuckDuckGo (I haven’t used Google in years).
It’s especially good for topics that I know are going to be well-represented in the training dataset e.g. technical questions.
Read: Using Perplexity to find the source of a quote.
Here are some examples from earlier today:
- ChatGPT: Tell me how to shrink a partition in windows 11. Explain each step. My SSD is 512 GB and it’s a brand new laptop with nothing on it. I want to have about 300 GB available after shrinking for Linux. https://chatgpt.com/share/7883743b-f4ed-4069-a7b6-2c2b33d3b526
- ChatGPT: How do I run the beta version of Zotero (Zotero 7) in Ubuntu 24.04? https://chatgpt.com/share/318d72e0-1971-4c5c-a525-2bbaa5d0da75
- ChatGPT: I’ve just installed Ubuntu on a new Asus zenbook laptop. I’m dual booting with windows 11. The Ubuntu installation went well, except that it came find the WiFi adapter. I can still use usb tethering though. I’ve disabled fast startup in windows. What else could be the problem? https://chatgpt.com/share/1b6cb0c2-ff7a-49a7-89f6-0f04d2efa97c
- Gemini: I’ve just installed Ubunty 24.04 and my Home folder contents are showing up on my desktop. Why is this happening and how do I stop this? https://g.co/gemini/share/ca88dbc51887
- Gemini: I’m looking for a lightweight desktop background image changer for ubuntu. https://g.co/gemini/share/f66af942cbf1
In the past, I’d open 3-5 tabs after running a search, and then do a mental collation of the relevant information on those pages, sometimes taking notes separately. The results from generative AI for search tend to look a lot like the old sets of notes I used to take.
They don’t always have the solution but in many cases, they do.