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by stingraycharles 41 days ago
Yeah, I use AI for this stuff all the time. Found a visa agency, accountant, great cafes to be working, etc just in the past week.

Also sometimes when doing more complicated purchases that require multiple products, I use it to sift through Amazon.

Especially ChatGPT seems to be optimizing for this use case, like a “search engine that can actually reason” (by lack of a better description). It’s convenient, and saves me a lot of time compared to the mess that Google has become.

(Obviously it’s likely this will happen to AI as well in the future, but right now, it’s pretty good)
2 comments
da_chicken 41 days ago
How many of the things you've listed here are $20/month better than a search engine? That's the actual deal here.

Obviously, a better search engine that also doesn't display ads is better. But is it $20/month better? When it's also got daily usage limits? And they're almost certain to start injecting ads as soon as they possibly can without alienating people?

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stingraycharles 41 days ago
I’m already paying for it, this is just one of the many ways I’m using it.

Your phone and internet connections also have usage limits, and you’re also using them in various ways.

I agree that it’s extremely likely that, especially post-IPO, monetization will kill the current user experience, which I already hinted at in my previous comment.

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dghlsakjg 41 days ago
I’m not entirely convinced that they will be able to monetize that effectively with ads. Right now I can buy more chat than I can use in a month for $10 in API credits via commodity open model providers.

Given the growing distrust of ad supported tech, I could see AI remaining as a paid product.

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dghlsakjg 41 days ago
Kagi is a better (arguably) search engine without ads. Unmetered search is available for $10, and also includes an AI search tool.
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whilenot-dev 41 days ago
> I use it to sift through Amazon.

...seems more like a case against Amazon (search) than for AI, then.

Maybe I'm fortunate enough to live someplace where Geizhals[0] exists, but it's been years since I gave up on Amazon altogether. The bad UX is just user hostile and there are many competitively priced retailers with web shops anyway.

[0]: https://geizhals.eu/

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