Predictive Search

I read this recent blog by Nicholas Carr (he of the “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” fame) criticizing Google for its Autocomplete feature (you know where you start typing and Google shows you likely ways you are likely to finish that query) and now its attempt to give you an answer before you even asked the question!

So what is Carr’s objection to Google’s prediction algorithms? His minor grouse is that:

“Google’s goal is no longer to read the web. It’s to read us.”

I am guessing Carr doesn’t like his mind to be read. Even if it’s only by an algorithm. As an aside, if we are that predictable, doesn’t it open up questions about free will? But ok, that’s a topic for another day blog…

Moving on to his major grouse: he quotes Eric Schmidt, who in 2006 when he was Google’s CEO, felt that Google should “tell me what I should be typing.” Imagine that: to give you an answer before you even asked the question! How awesome would that be? Well ok, that feels a bit creepy too.

Impossible though it may seem, Google is certainly getting closer to that goal with Google Now in combination with your smartphone. It uses your location to guess what you might want to ask next. Or based on your history, suggest going to that multiplex where the next action movie starts in 20 minutes. It’s nowhere near perfect yet, but it’s a pretty good start. So what is Carr’s problem with that?

“It gives us information that fits the behavior and needs and biases we have displayed in the past, as meticulously interpreted by Google’s algorithms. Because it reinforces the existing state of the self rather than challenging it, it subverts the act of searching.”

I disagree with that: nobody’s stopping you from also querying for new stuff that interests you. If you choose to be lazy or a zombie and let Google decide all your questions, then it’s your fault. Don’t try and pass the buck. I think Steven Johnson nailed it when he said,

“People who think the Web is killing off serendipity are not using it correctly.”