With the emergence of generative AI, AI-powered tools like Copilot, ChatGPT, and more are quickly gaining broad adoption.
As a result, there’s been a dramatic shift, especially in how people interact with information on the Internet, thanks to the emergence of AI-powered tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT search.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman recently revealed that he’s using ChatGPT more than ever as it seemingly evolves into a so-called ‘Everything App.’
“I don’t do Google searches anymore,” added Altman.
A new study highlighted by our sister site, Tom’s Guide, echoes the same sentiments. According to a survey featuring 510 participants in the US and an additional 518 in the UK conducted by our parent company, Future Publishing, approximately 27% of the US participants are heavily inclined to use AI-powered search tools like ChatGPT as conventional tools like Google seemingly fade away into the horizon.
AI specialist Amanda Caswell attributes the dramatic shift to well-curated, in-depth, and contextual answers delivered with a more human-like tone in a straightforward set of apps that save time, are easy to use, and offer personalization for added accuracy and relevance.
Interestingly, a separate study by Gartner seemingly corroborates Future’s findings, citing that AI-powered tools like ChatGPT search will take over 30% of online search queries by 2026, potentially denting Google’s longstanding search dominance.
It’ll be interesting to see how companies at the forefront of the dramatic shift to AI tools for online search queries handle abound issues, including the rampant erroneous AI-generated summaries.
Satya Nadella could make up for Microsoft’s Google transgressions with Copilot AI
“We missed what turned out to be the biggest business model,” indicated Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella while speaking to Dwarkesh Patel during a recent interview.
The executive admitted that Microsoft underestimated search which ended up being one of the company’s biggest mistakes.
Nadella admitted that the company’s initial thoughts about search were that it would remain decentralized, but this wasn’t the case, giving Google the ultimate opportunity to grasp dominance in the landscape with a significant lead and precision.
“Who would have thought that search would be the biggest winner in organizing the web?” he added. “We obviously didn’t see it, and Google saw it and executed it super well.”
As the next generation of web users seemingly takes on new trends like scouring the web with AI tools, Microsoft could attempt to crack Google’s search dominance with Copilot.
Like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s AI offerings ship with similar capabilities, allowing users to pull fast and intricate (if sometimes imperfect) responses to queries.
So that’s one lesson learned for me: you have to really not only get the tech trend right, you also have to get where the value is going to be created with that trend. These business model shifts are probably tougher than tech trend changes.
Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella
However, the company may have to address multiple concerns raised by users following its recent massive Copilot overhaul. Microsoft ‘Insiders’ cited that the upgrade shipped with a degraded user experience and was “a step backward.”
If Microsoft can address some of its most pressing issues quickly and thoroughly enough, it could have a standing chance to take on OpenAI’s ChatGPT as users ditch Google for AI-powered tools.
