Is the new update making this too dependent on the internet?

General AI Talk Forum
1

Hi everyone,

Since the latest update, I’ve noticed ChatGPT 4o tends to rely heavily on the internet. It has this new ‘source’ feature, but the downside is it often just paraphrases articles online. Even when I express that I’m not happy with the response or try to clarify my request, ChatGPT frequently gives me a similar answer or refers to another article that’s just as unhelpful.

This constant paraphrasing from the web is making ChatGPT feel no better than a basic search engine. Sometimes, it picks articles that aren’t the most relevant, while with Google, I know exactly what I’m looking for. ChatGPT doesn’t seem to curate its web searches effectively.

I find myself having to explicitly instruct it not to use the internet, asking it to think instead. Repeating that just wastes time, which is the opposite of what I expected from a language model.

Has anyone else felt this way since the last update, especially around October 30 or 31?

2

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3

I’ve noticed this issue too. It’s really frustrating.

4

I completely agree. Do you think they might be cutting costs by pushing more queries to web searches?

5

Willow said:
I completely agree. Do you think they might be cutting costs by pushing more queries to web searches?

That’s what happens when you let everyone access all the features for free. If all users log in at once, it could overwhelm the system. People are confused about why the service is struggling and why there’s a resource shortage.

6

Have you tried turning off the search feature? I faced the same problem until I realized I was still in ‘search mode.’ I was on my phone, and I just tapped to change it. It should be similar on a computer. If you don’t switch it back, it stays on. I ran into this a few times today; it seems to be a coding issue that should get fixed soon.

7

@Tate
No matter if you turn it off, if it thinks a search is necessary based on what you asked, it will still do a search.

Sometimes you have to directly tell it, like ‘don’t search.’

8

Dallas said:
@Tate
No matter if you turn it off, if it thinks a search is necessary based on what you asked, it will still do a search.

Sometimes you have to directly tell it, like ‘don’t search.’

9

@Hale
Yeah, I was thinking about toggling the ‘search mode’ instead of completely turning it off.

I had that problem then I noticed it was still in ‘search mode’ - I was on my phone, I just tapped it - should be similar on the web or on a computer. If you don’t switch it back, it just stays on.

I guess I should have said ‘toggle it off’ instead of ‘turn it off.’

But you’re right; you can turn it off completely, though I personally think it’s useful to keep it on despite the minor hassle.

10

I asked it to write ‘bee,’ and it searched the internet. How frustrating is that?

11

I’ve seen this too! Overall, ChatGPT seems to have declined in quality over the past few months. I’m using it less and less.

12

I don’t get it. Isn’t that the point?

ChatGPT’s whole data is from the internet. Now it can get formal data from the web quickly, unlike Google where you have to search and click.

Why would you think ChatGPT has answers that are any different from what you find online? It’s not anything special.

13

@Sutton
That’s not how AI works, my friend.

14

Tate said:
@Sutton
That’s not how AI works, my friend.

Then explain how it works?