I like to idealistically think that in a capitalistic (free market) society we absolutely have the option to not use things that we think are wrong or don't like.
Change your search engine to one that doesn't include AI-generated answers. If none exist any more, all of Google's customers could write to them telling them that they don't want this feature and are switching away from them because of it, etc.
I know that internet-scale search is perhaps a bad example because it's so extremely difficult and expensive to build and run, but ultimately the choice is in the consumers' hands.
If the market makes it clear that there is a need for a search engine without LLM-generated answers at the top, somebody will provide one! It's complacency and acceptance that leads apparently-delusional companies to just push features and technologies that nobody wants.
I feel much the same way about the ridiculous things happening with cars and the automotive sector in general.
Change your search engine to one that doesn't include AI-generated answers. If none exist any more, all of Google's customers could write to them telling them that they don't want this feature and are switching away from them because of it, etc.
I know that internet-scale search is perhaps a bad example because it's so extremely difficult and expensive to build and run, but ultimately the choice is in the consumers' hands.
If the market makes it clear that there is a need for a search engine without LLM-generated answers at the top, somebody will provide one! It's complacency and acceptance that leads apparently-delusional companies to just push features and technologies that nobody wants.
I feel much the same way about the ridiculous things happening with cars and the automotive sector in general.