When ChatGPT arrived in late 2022, we soon wondered whether the AI chatbot could ultimately replace Google. Google certainly got scared about all the attention AI was getting at the time. Every Google announcement since then has been full of AI. That’s what Google’s products are all about, and it’s all for the sake of its search engine.
One problem with ChatGPT and its rivals was that they confidently offer fact-based info that is completely wrong. Nearly two years later, generative AI chatbots can still hallucinate false information.
Google introduced AI to Google Search last year in a beta trial. This year, it launched AI Overviews, making them available across Google Search results in the US. However, the AI Overviews have been a huge failure for the company, as they continue to spew factually incorrect information.
This brings us to a brand new type of AI search engine, one that aims to provide only accurate information all the time. The only problem is that Consensus is a service that most people haven’t heard about. And even once you hear about it, you might not find a good use for it, no matter how reliable it is.
Consensus isn’t here to compete against Google Search or OpenAI’s upcoming SearchGPT. The site doesn’t cover general information like traditional search engines, whether AI is involved or not.
Instead, Consensus only looks at information from research papers that are published on the web. There are approximately 200 million studies that Consensus has access to. All you have to do is go to the Consensus app on the web at this link and ask your question in a conversational manner, just like you would with ChatGPT.
Questions you ask Consensus have to focus on some sort of scientific data. Maybe you want to learn whether adding a specific supplement to your diet can improve the performance of your running. Ask Consensus, and it’ll tell you exactly how many studies have been published on the matter and what they say.
The AI search engine will even give you a “consensus meter” that shows how the results vary. Not all research studies might have reached the same conclusion.
You also get a summary of the studies, and snapshots for each paper the AI search engine cites. And yes, you can see the actual studies if you want to go more in-depth with a particular paper.
Finally, you can also talk to Consensus like you do with ChatGPT, provided you enable the Copilot function. The app uses OpenAI’s GPT-4 to generate parts of its answers.
You can use Consensus for free forever to get answers to your science-related questions. However, the free plan limits access to GPT-4. Paid subscriptions start at $8.99 for a year or $11.99 for a month. Discounts for students are also available. Students are probably one of the categories best served by such an AI search engine.
I might not always have a use for Consensus, but I’m already sold, at least for the free experience. I’ll bookmark the AI search engine and go to it every time I suspect scientists might have already tried to answer a specific question I might have.
