I started using them 2 weeks ago. Previously I was using DDG, occasionally when searching and didn’t get an answer I added “!g” to query which redirected me to Google, but I don’t think on those scenarios Google ever have better results.
With Kagi I do far did not have need to go to Google or DDG at all.
I’m also like that I’m in charge. For example I wanted to avoid buying from Amazon. Unfortunately it is not enough to not use their site, because they also show up on top of search results. I can select their service and deprioritize them so now I see other stores when searching for a product.
XLE@piefed.social 21 hours ago
Maybe Kagi could first walk back their AI-first manifesto…
…Or schools could use literally anything else that doesn’t cost an extra subscription…
boonhet@sopuli.xyz 9 hours ago
Why are you linking the DDoS website?
Some people can’t even open that and it’s the worst archive site to be using. They change websites so you can never know if what you see is what they really archived.
TheKaul@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 hours ago
This article is about 7 years old, before AI was even used as widely as it is now, and it’s referencing their optional AI tool. This doesn’t strike me as “AI-First” but more like “we’re trying to make our AI search assistant more reliable than the rest”.
I get the AI hate and the “paid search” Kagi hate, but saying they’re an AI-First company doesn’t seem right to me. You don’t even get AI results unless you add a question mark to your search. Additionally, you can report websites and images for being slop. Can’t do that with any other search engine.
XLE@piefed.social 10 hours ago
Kagi doesn’t offer an AI-free plan.
The only way to avoid paying for AI is to avoid Kagi. That’s the only “option” they offer.
TehPers@beehaw.org 8 hours ago
Settings -> Search -> AI -> disable “AI Feature Access”
That being the case, even with it enabled, I don’t really see what the feature does without either clicking “Quick Answer”, ending the query with “?”, or enabling “Auto Quick Answer”.
As for “paying for AI”, even before they released Assistant, the plan was the same cost (aside from them charging tax in the US now). They did adjust the plans, but it just made unlimited searches cheaper IIRC. I’m not really sure what an AI-free discount would look like anyway since search inherently uses AI to determine what the most relevant results are (at the very least via embeddings).
As far as I know, there’s no workaround-free way to disable AI overviews in Google.
Steve@communick.news 21 hours ago
Schools shouldn’t ever use tools that interrupt a lesson with an ad.
And we don’t how much (if anything) it costs the school. It certainly doesn’t coat the student a subscription if that’s what you mean.
XLE@piefed.social 10 hours ago
Why should tax dollars be funneled from one AI-focused company to another?
Especially this one.
You’d figure people wouldn’t fall for a Don’t Be Evil promise twice, and yet on Lemmy…
Steve@communick.news 6 hours ago
For exactly the reason I said.
I mean yah, not allowing kids access to the internet at all for school Isn’t a terrible idea. Certainly one worth exploring at least. But failing that, minimizing ads online is a good step in that direction.