I DIDN'T KNOW I WAS DEAD UNTIL I SAW IT ON GOOGLE. When I searched my name, there it was: a picture of my smiling face next to the text "Tom Faber was a physicist and publisher, and he was a university lecturer at Cambridge for 35 years". Apparently I died on 27 July 2004, aged 77. This was news to me.
The problem was the picture. When you search the name of a notable person, Google may create what it calls a "knowledge panel", a little box with basic information taken from Wikipedia. Somewhere along the way, the algorithm had confused pictures of my face with the biography of another man who shared my name. According to his obituary, he was "a distinguished physicist with a literary hinterland".
Google provides a feedback form to resolve this type of bug. I filled it in several times, but it made no difference.
I'm not the only one who has been struggling with Google recently.
Many users are saying its principal product, its search engine, isn't working as well as it should. They claim the ingenious vehicle that has enabled us to navigate the internet's infinite scroll of information is beginning to rust and decay. That's not to mention the company's endless court battles with rival companies and world governments, or the rise of ChatGPT, which many tout as a search engine killer; even Bill Gates said last year that once a company perfects the AI assistant or "personal agent", "you will never go to a search site again".
This story is from the July 26, 2024 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the July 26, 2024 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
FROM DOCTOR TO BRUTAL DICTATOR THE RISE AND FALL OF ASSAD
0N THE FACE OF IT AT LEAST, the Bashar al-Assad of 2002 presented a starkly different figure from the brutal autocrat he would become, presiding over a fragile state founded on torture, imprisonment and industrial murder.
What fresh alternatives can be used to placate coriander haters?
Everyone knows a hater of coriander - also known as cilantro - who won't go near the stuff. Itamar Srulovich, however, is not one: \"I adore fresh coriander, and always have,\" says the chef/co-owner of the Honey & Co group in London.
Farage is lying in wait.Britain cannot afford to see Starmer fail Jonathan Freedland
This government must not fail. Let's get that clear from the start. If Keir Starmer does not succeed, too many British voters will conclude that both the traditional parties, Labour and Conservative, have proved useless and that it is time to try something else with that something else being nationalist populism.
Compromise may be Macron's only hope of restoring confidence Paul Taylor
Having failed to solve France's political crisis with a prime minister dependent on the far right, President Emmanuel Macron is exploring a deal with the Socialist party (PS) to give the country a new government, pass an overdue budget and avert financial turmoil.
It's a sad story for us all that fewer children are reading for pleasure Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
On the shelf in my son's bedroom is a row of picture books that once belonged to me.
'Gun control is dead, and we killed it'
Blueprints for 3D-printed weapons are increasingly being used by far-right extremists to evade gun control laws. So what can be done?
Help support the victims of conflict in a volatile world
When we came to choose the theme of our 2024 charity appeal, we quickly realised it would be impossible to ignore that this has been an especially harrowing year of conflict, war and human suffering.
Ring master The Trump circus is already back in town
The grand reopening of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris last Saturday was attended by around 50 heads of state and government.
Object lessons Behind the scenes of a museum's grand reserves
A tour of the newarchive collection of London's Science Museum andits associates reveals a cornucopia of wonders and treasures
Double takes The rise of the celebrity lookalike competition
When Miles Mitchell's friends saw fliers scattered across New York City last month advertising a Timothée Chalamet lookalike competition, they urged the 21-yearold college senior from Staten Island to enter.
