TLDR: People take longer to give you an answer than AI or a search engine, but they are way quicker at giving you the right one.

It’s way more efficient asking people. You get info from single discrete primary sources with real-world experience that you can interrogate, rather than a machine synthesizing an ‘average answer’ i.e mashing together a load of differing and conflicting info…

People are also better at updating your own question to make it more appropriate to the task at hand.

A public discussion also leaves the answer and context visible to others who are searching for solutions in future.

I’ve wasted a lot of time trying to use AI to find answers and advice, and online articles before that. 9 times out of 10 it just ends in confusion or the answers they give simply don’t work in my case. If I ask real people I pretty much always get the problem sorted eventually.

People are awesome.