Querying multiple llms at the same time and being able to compare results is a much better comparison to googling but no one does this.
As I said, you are talking to a super confident journalist intern who can give you answers but you won't know if it is true or partially true until you consult with a human source of knowledge.
It's not even similar to asking the old guys at the Home Depot because they can tell you if they are unsure they have a good answer for you. An LLM won't. Old guys won't hallucinate facts the way an LLM will
It is really is the 21st century Searle's epistemological Chinese room nightmare edition. Grammar checks out but whatever is spit out doesn't necessarily bear any resemblance to reality
Ol' boy at the Depot is constrained by his own experiences and knowledge, absolutely can hallucinate, oftentimes will insert wild, irrelevant opinions and stories while getting to the point, and frankly if you line 6 of them up side by side to answer the same question, you're probably leaving with 8 different answers.
There's never One True Solution (tm) for any query; there are 100 ways to plumb your way out of a problem, and you're asking a literal stranger who you assume will at least point you in the right direction (which is kind of preposterous to begin with)
I encourage people to treat LLMs the same way -- use it as a jumping off point, a tool for discovery that's no more definitive than if you're asking for directions at some backwoods gas station. Take the info you get, look deeper with other tools, work the problem, and you'll find a solution.
Don't accept anything they provide at face value. I'm sure we all remember at least a couple teachers growing up who were the literal authority figures in our lives at the time, fully accredited and presented to us as masters of their curriculum, who were completely human, oftentimes wrong, and totally full of shit. So goes the LLM.
Scientists should be writing papers sealed digitally once they're peer reviewed and considered "truth", same thing with journalist/news articles - sealed once confirmed true or backed up by a solid source in the same way we trust root certificates.
But then again, especially when it comes to journalism, cropping photos, chopping quotes, etc all to misrepresent etc. Turns out we're all the bad actors; it's in our DNA. And tbf, many people when presented with hard evidence to the contrary of the opinion that they cling onto like a babe to a breast, just plug their ears and cover their eyes.
Okay so maybe there's no point seeking truth/factual correctness, our species doesn't want it 99% of the time, unless it affects them directly (eg people that shoot down public healthcare until they have an expensive illness themselves).
Come to think of it, it's really no different than walking into Home Depot and asking "the old guys" working in the aisles about stuff -- you can access some fantastic knowledge if you know the names of all the tools and techniques, and if not, can show them a picture or describe what you're trying to do and they'll at least point you in a starting direction with regards to names of tools needed, techniques to use, etc.
Just like I don't expect Home Depot hourly worker Grandpa Bob to be the end-all-be-all expert (for free, as well!), neither do I expect ChatGPT to be an all-knowing-all-encompassing oracle of knowledge.
It'll probably get you 95% of the way there though!