Back in 2017, when I had my first serious blog, I used to pride myself on having decent organic traffic without really trying. In 2019, when I got my marketing job, I would share with my coworkers small tricks for using Google search to get valuable data. Now, in 2026 I can barely stand using Google. AI has ruined my experience and if I weren’t interested in maybe learning a bit of that AEO (answer engine optimization? really?), I would’ve turned off that feature long ago.
Have you noticed that with the rabid push for everything AI-first, google search has become practically unusable? Or is it another trick to get us to train it by forcing ridiculous results that will put a saint into a state of rage? So you click on that tiny button and type up your ‘corrections’. You think to yourself that you’re doing something good for the community. But in reality you are providing free AI-training service to the companies who think that you drink too much water. Leave some for the data centers! Oh, why won’t anyone think of the data centers!
Yes, that’s my experience, alright.
The other day I was watching… What movie was it again? It was something on hoopla, probably. I’m just here trying to get the best use of my library card, and truth be told, I’ve been longing for a platform that streams more of the oldies and has a decent search feature.
So, anyway… There was this one character who showed up in the ‘present day’ sequence, as if commenting on the things from the past, which were the actual story… Virgin Suicides! That’s what I was watching. So, I decided to google if that character was an addict, because at some point it seemed as if he was staying at some institution? And Google AI started explaining to me what is an ‘adult trip’, followed by another answer that was actually relevant…
Of course, I didn’t think to grab a screenshot then and AI knows better now. But you must have noticed yourself, that if previously you could have a little trust in the algorithm as long as you put in the right keywords, but now you have to keep retyping your request and cater to the artificial ‘intelligence’ to help it help you.
It’s called ‘prompt engineering’ and it’s a valuable skill in the modern workspace. I’m just wondering how does it make AI actually ‘intelligent’ if it can barely grasp the things that the old primitive google search had no trouble dealing with. I don’t want google to be a smart ass and explain to me the meaning of the search phrase that I put in quotation marks. I want it to give me web pages where that exact phrasing is used. I already know what it means. I do this to check frequency of use!
Here’s another example! I started reading a book and came across a very odd phrase which seemed almost like some long forgotten idiom. I asked google and it said that it’s commonly used in literary translations and works of fiction. I add quotation marks. Ta-da! Two search results both mentioning the book I was reading. What is ‘common’ anyway?
Now that I have all this typed up and ready to hit publish… I’m starting to regret using my government name for the domain name. Especially now that I’ve started a new career in tech… What if any of my coworkers see this and… gasp!.. I’m bashing AI! So, for disclaimer, this is a work of fiction and all events, incidents, and opinions are the products of the author’s imagination. If that’s not convincing enough, all this is just ragebait for engagement (and maybe a little organic traffic? please?).
I think, that If we really want to have an informed opinion on AI, I’d suggest waiting for Erin Brockovich to complete her investigation first. And while we’re at it, let’s get some more research done on whether or not frequent AI use may cause permanent cognitive decline.
This blog post won’t have any ‘moral to the story’ or witty conclusion. It’s just an observation on the current state of AI. And what have you noticed?
