Gmail creator predicts 'total disruption' for Google as new chatbot ChatGPT challenges tech giant's monopoly on internet searches: 'AI will eliminate the search engine result page'

  • The release of the artificial intelligence chatbot led to speculation it could replace Google’s search engine within two years
  • Like Google, ChatGPT responds to text prompts to answer wide-ranging queries 
  • Its ability to answer complex questions has led some to wonder if it could challenge Google's search engine monopoly 
  • Critics feel Google has too many ads and is too cautious about incorporating AI  
  • ChatGPT makes it easier and potentially more intuitive for users to search for information using natural language, rather than specific keywords or phrases

Paul Buchheit, 45, a developer who was behind Gmail, believes Google's search engine dominance could soon be disrupted by ChatGPT

Paul Buchheit, 45, a developer who was behind Gmail, believes Google's search engine dominance could soon be disrupted by ChatGPT

The computer developer who created Gmail is predicting Google may have only a year or two left before 'total disruption' of its search engine occurs after the release of a sophisticated chatbot that uses artificial intelligence (AI).

Last week ChatGPT was released by OpenAI, a company co-founded by Elon Musk in 2015. It responds to text prompts from users and can be asked to write essays, lyrics for songs, stories, marketing pitches, scripts, complaint letters and even poetry.

Its ability to answer complex questions has led some to wonder if it could challenge Google's search engine monopoly. Critics feel Google's search engine has been too focused on maximizing revenue through prominent advertising and too cautious about incorporating AI into how it responds to users' searches.

Paul Buchheit, 45, a developer who was behind Gmail, believes Google's search engine dominance in particular could soon be disrupted.

'Google may be only a year or two away from total disruption. AI will eliminate the search engine result page, which is where they make most of their money,' he tweeted.  'Even if they catch up on AI, they can't fully deploy it without destroying the most valuable part of their business!' he continued.    

In December, Gmail developer Paul Buchheit predicted that 'AI will eliminate the search engine result page' and cause 'total disruption' for Google

The fluency and coherence of the results being generated now has those in Silicon Valley wondering about the future of Google's monopoly

A sign outside Google's new Bay View campus in June, in Mountain View, California

A sign outside Google's new Bay View campus in June, in Mountain View, California

'One thing that few people remember is the pre-internet business that Google killed: the Yellow Pages! The Yellow Pages used to be a great business, but then Google got so good that everyone stopped using the Yellow Pages. AI will do the same thing to web search,' Buchheit said

'One thing that few people remember is the pre-internet business that Google killed: the Yellow Pages! The Yellow Pages used to be a great business, but then Google got so good that everyone stopped using the Yellow Pages. AI will do the same thing to web search,' Buchheit said

Gmail developer Paul Buchheit in photos from his Instagram page. In some he's seen with his wife April

Gmail developer Paul Buchheit in photos from his Instagram page. In some he's seen with his wife April

A core way that Google makes money is from advertisers paying to have their links displayed alongside the results of a search query result in the hope that a user clicks on them. 

'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,' Bucheit explained. 

'One thing that few people remember is the pre-internet business that Google killed: the Yellow Pages! The Yellow Pages used to be a great business, but then Google got so good that everyone stopped using the Yellow Pages. AI will do the same thing to web search,' he said. 

Google is developing its own AI and is researching conversational and voice search. The tech company bought DeepMind, an AI company, to further develop such areas.  

'I do think that the biggest and most interesting thing to think about is how this will disrupt the search box. Is there an entirely new interface for search? Yes, that risks Google's core search business,' said David Friedberg, a former Google executive and entrepreneur, to the All-In podcast.

OpenAI says its ChatGPT model has been trained using a machine learning technique called Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF). Sam Altman is OpenAI's CEO

Twitter users were praising the capabilities of ChatGPT which can write essays, compose lyrics, make up stories, dream up stories, draft marketing pitches, write scripts, generate complaint letters and write poetry

Twitter users were praising the capabilities of ChatGPT which can write essays, compose lyrics, make up stories, dream up stories, draft marketing pitches, write scripts, generate complaint letters and write poetry

DailyMail.com asked ChatGPT: 'Will sophisticated AI chatbots end Google's search engine dominance?' 

ChatGPT gave a long answer, so DailyMail.com asked it for a shorter one. It responded: 'It is unlikely that AI chatbots, even sophisticated ones, will be able to end Google's search engine dominance. 

'AI chatbots are designed for specific tasks, while search engines like Google are designed to search vast amounts of information. It is unlikely that AI chatbots will be able to replace search engines in the near future.' 

Some have suggested that school homework and exam coursework may more easily be written by a bot. 

'What kid is ever doing homework again now that ChatGPT exists?' tweeted Liv Boeree, a television presenter.

What is OpenAI's chatbot ChatGPT and what is it used for?

OpenAI states that their ChatGPT model, trained using a machine learning technique called Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF), can simulate dialogue, answer follow-up questions, admit mistakes, challenge incorrect premises and reject inappropriate requests.

Initial development involved human AI trainers providing the model with conversations in which they played both sides - the user and an AI assistant. The version of the bot available for public testing attempts to understand questions posed by users and responds with in-depth answers resembling human-written text in a conversational format.

A tool like ChatGPT could be used in real-world applications such as digital marketing, online content creation, answering customer service queries or as some users have found, even to help debug code.

The bot can respond to a large range of questions while imitating human speaking styles.

A tool like ChatGPT could be used in real-world applications such as digital marketing, online content creation, answering customer service queries or as some users have found, even to help debug code

A tool like ChatGPT could be used in real-world applications such as digital marketing, online content creation, answering customer service queries or as some users have found, even to help debug code

As with many AI-driven innovations, ChatGPT does not come without misgivings. OpenAI has acknowledged the tool´s tendency to respond with "plausible-sounding but incorrect or nonsensical answers", an issue it considers challenging to fix.

AI technology can also perpetuate societal biases like those around race, gender and culture. Tech giants including Alphabet Inc's Google and Amazon.com have previously acknowledged that some of their projects that experimented with AI were "ethically dicey" and had limitations. At several companies, humans had to step in and fix AI havoc.

Despite these concerns, AI research remains attractive. Venture capital investment in AI development and operations companies rose last year to nearly $13 billion, and $6 billion had poured in through October this year, according to data from PitchBook, a Seattle company tracking financings.

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Gmail creator predicts ChatGPT may challenge Google's search engine monopoly

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