The author reflects on the contrast between a free road trip in an old car and the current internet landscape dominated by AI algorithms. They express nostalgia for the organic browsing experience, criticizing Google's shift towards AI-generated content that replaces user agency. This change makes web navigation feel constricting and similar to being trapped on a Greyhound bus. To counteract this trend, the author has subscribed to Kagi, a search engine promising a more traditional and user-centric search experience, albeit for a fee.
Lately, I've been thinking about the internet in terms of Gerhardt vs. Greyhound. The algorithms are driving the bus and the windows have been replaced with AI describing the view outside.
An upcoming AI mode will prioritize AI even further so that users don't have to go through the hassle of clicking on links and reading websites on their own.
Variations of 'why Google is worse now' have practically become their own headline subgenre, and Cory Doctorow's 2022 essay coining the term 'enshittification' gave us all a term to describe what we've been feeling.
I signed up for Kagi, a search engine with the following premise: It will fix search for you, providing an interface very much like the Google of yore.
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