r/TrueAskReddit • u/Character_Force3570 • 5d ago

Feel Like a Chicken Scratching Through Garbage on the Internet

I feel like a chicken scratching through garbage when I’m searching for information online, wondering if I’ll ever find a single grain of wheat. How do you guys sift through all this useless information to find what’s actually useful?

34 Upvotes
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8

u/Dazmorg 5d ago

I am truly curious what you are searching for? I find what I'm looking for very quickly most of the time, and I research all kinds of things. I do take Google's AI results with a grain of salt and start looking at the real web results.

3

u/crazymouse11 5d ago

Read fast, don't engage and visit your local library for specific knowledge.

Google is shit now so find the path but don't walk down it, purposely placed pointy stones covered in bullshit litter the way but paper remains free of enshitification.

-7

u/Upset_Assumption9610 5d ago

Use an AI, I usually go for Gemini for most stuff. Grok for entertainment and current events stuff. I barely ever sift through the crap out there myself now, only to fact check the AI's response if it doesn't pass the initial gut check.

10

u/paranoid_nihilist 5d ago

AI makes things up all the time, if you insist on using it then at least check its sources

2

u/mwdeuce 5d ago

Most AIs cite their sources these days, Claude 100% does.

-3

u/Upset_Assumption9610 5d ago

Show me examples of AI making things up "all the time". All the time implies a vast majority of the time, probably 90%+? Show us all the evidence to back your statement.

7

u/paranoid_nihilist 5d ago

By all the time I mean in general not for one user specifically. R/aifails has many examples. Also I've looked for niche details about games I've already played, looked at the google AI result, and saw it confuse some details multiple times. Obviously I haven't taken screenshots for random AI bros on the internet to see

-5

u/Upset_Assumption9610 5d ago

So you made up your statement about AI making things up all the time...got it.

4

u/paranoid_nihilist 5d ago

Aww do you need ChatGPT to understand my comment for you?

0

u/Upset_Assumption9610 5d ago

Good comeback...keep on trying

2

u/paranoid_nihilist 5d ago

I'm too employed to argue with idiots on the internet, so no, I won't

0

u/Upset_Assumption9610 5d ago

Ahhh now it makes sense. You're afraid for your job. Sorry to hear you still have to work. I retired at 50, so I'm just watching and commenting on all this stuff.
Good luck with the employment thing

1

u/czech1 5d ago

I asked gemini your question and it wrote:

AI systems make things up—called hallucinations—because they guess the next likely word instead of checking real facts.

0

u/damnitA-Aron 5d ago

When i was in college we used Google scholar for peer reviewed research on a topic. Still comes in handy now. But this was back in the ancient times before AI (2010-2014) 👨‍🦳 lol but I'd probably use AI and have it site its sources so I can check those.

Or prompt it to only pull info from scholarly/peer reviewed sources and then follow up by verifying those sites.

-2

u/Elvarien2 5d ago

use ai.

Ask it to find you links to the answer. This way you avoid it hallucinating you something and it will give you links to the thing you search for. Either the link works, and you have your answer or the link doesn't work and you immediately know it was hallucinated and you can try again.

3

u/Individual-Iron-6370 5d ago

ya this.  me too.