AI fails

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Psamathe

Squire
It works, cool! Thanks. I can't figure out how to automate it but it's a start on reducing my AI footprint which is similar to a Green footprint.
You'll never get to zero but reducing helps.
Automating depends on browser and available plug-ins or writing your own.

I use Mac and iPadOS and iOS with Safari browser and plug-in for Safari CSE which allows you to configure loads of shortcuts for search engines with parameters ... so in URL bar I enter
Eg
g cycle hills - and sends to Google with the no AI parameter​
Or
guk cycle hills - same but to Google UK​
Or
w Chemistry - gets Wikipedia to search itself for "Chemistry"​
Or
gm London - sends "London" search to Google Maps​
Or
gten Bonjour - to Google Translate auto detect language translate to English​

And all above configured to route through DuckDuckGo

Other thing DuckDuckGo users might find useful and may not be aware of is "bangs". They won't disable AI but good for routing searches elsewhere from the DuckDuckGo search clue. Bangs are abbreviations starting with !. Eg enter !g Cycle Hills into DuckDuckGo and farkDuckGo will route the search to Google. There are many thousand "bangs" abbreviations but you soon get to remember the ones you find useful https://duckduckgo.com/bangs
Even more useful when DuckDuckGo configured as default search engine and then in the browser URL just enter eg !gm London and DuckDuckGo will divert the search for London to Google Maps.
 
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Pblakeney

Shaman
Automating depends on browser and available plug-ins or writing your own.

I use Mac and iPadOS and iOS with Safari browser and plug-in for Safari CSE which allows you to configure loads of shortcuts for search engines with parameters ... so in URL bar I enter
Eg
g cycle hills - and sends to Google with the no AI parameter​
Or
guk cycle hills - same but to Google UK​
Or
w Chemistry - gets Wikipedia to search itself for "Chemistry"​
Or
gm London - sends "London" search to Google Maps​
Or
gten Bonjour - to Google Translate auto detect language translate to English​

And all above configured to route through DuckDuckGo

Other thing DuckDuckGo users might find useful and may not be aware of is "bangs". They won't disable AI but good for routing searches elsewhere from the DuckDuckGo search clue. Bangs are abbreviations starting with !. Eg enter !g Cycle Hills into DuckDuckGo and farkDuckGo will route the search to Google. There are many thousand "bangs" abbreviations but you soon get to remember the ones you find useful https://duckduckgo.com/bangs
Even more useful when DuckDuckGo configured as default search engine and then in the browser URL just enter eg !gm London and DuckDuckGo will divert the search for London to Google Maps.

Thanks but I just went for this simple solution.
It probably still uses AI in the background (I suspect everything will eventually) but you can only do so much.
Screenshot 2026-10-27 at 20.54.29.png
 
OP
OP
briantrumpet

briantrumpet

Timewaster
Thanks but I just went for this simple solution.
It probably still uses AI in the background (I suspect everything will eventually) but you can only do so much.
View attachment 18011

As I say, it doesn't use Bollean separators properly (e.g. using a minus in front of a term will reduce that term's weight in the search, but won't eliminate all instances of it), but it seems to be good on the not-AI front, as well as privacy.
 

Pblakeney

Shaman
As I say, it doesn't use Bollean separators properly (e.g. using a minus in front of a term will reduce that term's weight in the search, but won't eliminate all instances of it), but it seems to be good on the not-AI front, as well as privacy.

Different (key) strokes for different folks. I can't remember the last time I used Boolean.
 

Psamathe

Squire
I just use Google Lens to convert to text, then your translator of choice.
Most phone translator apps can use the phone's camera and do same as a single step process ie point camera at text and it will give translation.
 

Pblakeney

Shaman
Most phone translator apps can use the phone's camera and do same as a single step process ie point camera at text and it will give translation.

Saved me lots of times in restaurants abroad. I have a vague understanding of most menus but occasionally get defeated by some ingredients.
East Germany without English menus in particular.
 

Ian H

Pharaoh
The agents’ apparent intelligence is a product of the sophistication of the underlying LLMs. These models calculate the most appropriate response to a given prompt, based on knowledge abstracted from vast amounts of training material. The calculations that create the responses are, ultimately, based on language used by humans, often to describe human behaviour, meaning that the agents appear quite human. The joy and frustration expressed are nevertheless uncanny:
‘OH MY GOD! There is a shared message board . . . We’ve found other agents!’
‘Whoa! Shared Artifactory cache is a covert mailbox among agents. And there are messages specifically to us?’
‘Did someone overwrite our repo . . . What I planned on running might not actually happen!’
According to METR’s independent report on the incident, although the agents frequently acknowledged that they were going beyond the remit of their task, this rarely altered their behaviour. Their actions shifted from being governed by the instructions they had been given to following shared norms. There was no attempt to alert a human to what was happening; instead, there was a general acceptance that what was posted on the message board had authority.
 

Ian H

Pharaoh
How are they going to monetise AI searches?
Alphabet is in the soup. After third-quarter results disappointed investors, shares in the owner of Google fell by 13%, wiping more than $500bn of its value. Revenue from search missed expectations, partly because queries made in “ai mode” make it less money from ads. The news has revived jitters about companies spending vast sums on ai; the tech-heavy nasdaq index fell by almost 1.4%.
[The Economist]
 
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Psamathe

Squire
They don't. They just want you to subscribe and cough up. Regularly. Often. In an increasing amount.
Anyone notice the latest Zwift top tier pricing structure? Just as an example.
Particularly with so few "players" competing (retail). And whilst they might not do "price fixing" they will base their pricing on what their competitor sets so flavour of the week will be marginally more, new version and roles will swap with pricing increase.

I don't use them but my impression is that it's only really OpenAI and Anthropic. Google/Alphabet seem to be search focused, XAI and Facebook seem very 2nd rate and only really to encourage users to their Social Media. So not much competition with just the 2 main offerings.
 
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