My good friend Jess Sankhavaram-Peck knocked it out of the park with her latest article, entitled How and Why Google Made its Own Product Worse. She discusses the various ways AI has been brute forced into search and other products and how that has affected their quality but she also delves into why:
Google is trying to make money, openai thinks they’re building god
The primary objective is no longer to produce a good product but to make stockholders happy, often by reacting hastily to perceived risks. This shortsighted approach undermines long-term quality and innovation.
Google finds itself in a frantic race against OpenAI, a company that isn’t even competing on the same track. OpenAI’s vision is driven by the belief that their work with LLMs will eventually lead to AGI. This quasi-religious belief in the transformative potential of AI shapes their strategies and goals, pushing them to pursue ambitious, often speculative projects.
The divergence in focus between Google and OpenAI highlights a broader issue within the tech industry: the tension between profit-driven motives and visionary– but deranged– aspirations. While Google’s pursuit of profit can lead to compromised product quality and ethical concerns, OpenAI’s quest for AGI raises questions about the feasibility and desirability of such an outcome. Both paths carry significant risks and consequences for society.
Honestly, it’s the best article I’ve read about Google and AI and I implore you to read and save it.
Filed under: data Google language models machine learning search engines