The future of search is to not search at all, comment on article by Harsha Rao and Deepali Jain

The future of search is to not search at all. Harsha Rao and Deepali Jain opened their article http://www.kmworld.com/Articles/Editorial/ViewPoints/How-analytics-is-revolutionizing-search-90335.aspx with this counter-intuitive statement. The article looks at the evolution of analytics as pointing towards technology that is built on a truly intelligent system capable of thinking, understanding and making decisions on its own. One example of technology that has potential to impact mobile technology and search technology is the Google Glass project. The technology has potential to collect data on a user’s interest, preference, behaviours, etc. in a way that will grow data and user expectations exponentially. The jury is still out in the viability of the Google Glass; early adopters have pointed to limitations such poor battery life, a clumsy and complicated interface and a time-lag.

 

Rao and Jain see a future where traditional search engines will fail to deliver specific answers for complex questions. This limitation will be addressed technology that will use a person’s online profile, including friends and activities to gain insight into their needs and wants and this information would be presented to the person without them requesting it.

 

I agree and disagree with this view that there will be no need to search in the future. To explain my view, one needs to look at information as personal information and general areas of interest, two distinct areas. Personal information is what Rao and Jain largely refer to; a person’s preference, habits, interests and those of associates, etc. This is not likely to change unless something drastic happens. One is likely to keep the same interests such as bird watching, wine collecting, hiking, etc. unless they no longer have the financial resources to maintain those interests, or no longer have the company they did those activities. A person who moves to another country would most likely change their lifestyle, which means they would need to gather new data. From this view point, the need to search might be reduced to an insignificant level as semantic web technology improves.

 

General areas of interest are informed by what the prevailing topics in the media, etc. are and these are not static. One has an option to pick areas of interest and change them as and when they want. There is also no direct correlation between the personal information and areas of interest, at least not in perpetuity. These areas of interest, or fashions, come and go, based on factors such as media coverage, influence of early adopters and the use of the fashion.

 

Web searches will actually increase exponentially in a Web 3.0 world, as it will be much faster to find contextual news or information through an intelligent search than going to multiple sites and trying to make sense of the information from these. What will change though is the focus of the searches. A frequent traveler will no longer need to search for weather information, as the semantic web, will find this for the traveler based on travel or accommodation bookings made.