OpenAI 12-Day Conference – Day 8
Today, OpenAI introduced a web search feature in ChatGPT, a welcomed addition to its platform. Although this feature is similar to what many other companies, including domestic large models, already offer, it’s an important step for OpenAI as it fills a significant gap in its toolset.
While the functionality is straightforward—allowing users to search for restaurants, events, hotels, and tourist attractions—there’s a notable aspect that stands out: this feature doesn’t yet support booking, but that’s likely to be added in the near future.
Another interesting addition is the hot search section in the Chinese version (see image 3), which displays trending search topics that align with today’s popular keywords in the Chinese internet landscape.
A Comparison with Perplexity:
To evaluate OpenAI’s new search feature, I tested it against Perplexity, an established AI-powered search engine. While OpenAI’s search offers useful information, it still falls short in terms of user experience and clarity when compared to Perplexity.
Search Example: Donald Trump’s Hot Speech: I asked both search engines about recent hot speeches from Donald Trump. ChatGPT provided a list of news sources and extracted the necessary background information (see image 5). While helpful, the layout and the results were not as clear and structured as those from Perplexity. Perplexity, on the other hand, went a step further by summarizing the key points and presenting them in a more digestible and user-friendly way. This extra layer of summarization made it easier for me to understand the context.
Tourism Search Example: I also tested the search engine by asking about activities in Zurich. ChatGPT’s response was useful but less well-organized than Perplexity’s. Perplexity automatically considered the user as a tourist, introducing local customs and providing a more thorough experience. ChatGPT, however, focused mostly on listing events without offering deeper contextual details.
Conclusion:
While OpenAI’s web search feature is a welcomed addition, it still has a long way to go in terms of usability and clarity. Perplexity continues to offer a better overall experience, especially in terms of summarization and clarity of results. Although OpenAI’s new search feature is a promising step forward, it will need to improve its user interface and provide more contextual insights to match or exceed the performance of competitors like Perplexity.