Basically: use GPT to help copy an entire web site, then jack their search results, get profit. Aided by the fact that search engines are shit. This is something you could do before, GAI just made it faster.
Web2 is going great!
huh, the same folks in my life who were wrong about me regretting paying for email (protonmail) will love this
kagi looks interesting and I like their design compared with DuckDuckGo, but the usable tier seems to include a bit of AI crap I don’t want. is the AI shit opt-in (including their use of my data), and does it seem unlikely they’ll enshittify in the future?
You can read their blog about the AI-crap, in terms of their approach and philosophy. In general, it is optional and not part of the major experience.
The main reason I use kagi is immediately obvious from doing seaches. I convinced my wife to switch to it when she ask, “ok but what results does it show when I search sailor moon?” and she saw the first page (fan sites, official merch, fun shit she had forgotten about for years).
What you need to know is that you pay money, and they have to give you results that you like. It’s a whole different world.
Also meta but while I am big on slamming AI enshitification, I am still bullish on using machine learning tools to actually make products better. There are examples of this. Notice how artists react enthusiastically to the AI features of Procreate Dreams (workflow primarily built around human hand assisted by AI tools, ala what photoshop used to be) vs Midjourney (a slap in the face).
The future will involve more AI products. It’s worthy to be skeptical. It’s also worthy to vote with your money to send the signal: there is an alternative to enshitification.
Kagi has definitely been given too much UX treatment to cut through the bullshit and just say “you pay because it is better”
this text on their pricing page is pretty eyerolly:
Kagi has no ads and is fully supported only by its users. We worked very hard to provide high quality, fast and tracking-free results at a minimum cost to ensure sustainability of our operation.
Gonna give it a shot tho :)
The AI stuff is entirely optional. I’ve been using Kagi for about four months and I forgot it exists. I haven’t been nudged to use it even once. I think they’re just buying AI service from someone else, not training their own.
So far they’ve been good about remembering they’re providing a search experience as their product and not chasing shiny tech press objects. I find it does a consistently good job of just finding what you tell it to and otherwise just getting out of your way, which is honestly all I want a search engine to do.
