Library Tutorial for College Success Online

Where to start? 

Now that you have your research questions, we want to start thinking about how we can learn more about them. For most of us, the first stop when trying to find information is still Google or another search engine, but as you have probably started to see, AI may be poised to change how we all search in the future.

It is now more important than ever before to look carefully at your search results before you decide where to get an answer.

Google is now using "AI Overviews" at the top of many search results pages, Bing has moved "traditional" search results to the right column and put AI-generated content where the search results used to be, and things will continue to evolve at a rapid pace. This means that we must all learn to tell the difference between AI-generated content, "real" results, and hybrids (AI-generated content paired with links to sources). 

Keep in mind: if you know a lot about a topic, you will be able to see AI mistakes (just as you would know if a person was not telling the truth), but if you are researching something that is new to you, you will not know when the AI has made an error.

1. WATCH: 3 minute video about AI and search

2. ASK YOURSELF: 

• What has your experience been with Google AI Overviews or other AI-powered search? Have you seen mistakes? When you see an AI Overview, do you skip past it or do you take your answer from it?
• What would it mean if more or all companies started charging money for the ability to use search, as the video suggests?
• Is it morally wrong for AI companies to scrape content from news sites, blogs, and other websites? Should it be illegal (there are on-going lawsuits, as the video shows)? If this continues and traffic to these websites is reduced (and consequently they make less money), what is the incentive for journalists and other creators to continue to write and create new content? 

Click the Next button to continue the tutorial