[What is this type of encoding? ']

    [ type:posts ]
    July 17th, 2023

      This search and post is motivated by my own struggles with text encodings.
      This is a short toy exploration.

      Here are the initial/top results from various generative search tools for the query:[ What is this type of encoding? ' ], re the character entity reference for an apostrophe.

      Some of the tools have a correct or useful answer or top-link but render the entity reference in the message to the user as the apostrophe (ChatGPT, You.com). Some tools render the entity reference in the query itself as the apostrophe (Andi, Claude 2; Phind (though also rendering as queried in the response)). Some tools do not render it back to the user at all (or do not highlight it as they do other query terms; Google, Google SGE). Inflection AI Pi seems not to recognize the character at all.

      This is largely only on base-versions of these tools (not GPT-4, not the GPT-4 version of You.com or Perplexity’s Copilot). This is using Claude 2, though.

      For rendering on this webpage all instances of ' (except where rendered between backticks) the ampersand character (&) is itself written as &, so the string appears in my text editor like this: '

      Raw uses of ' show only the apostrophe (‘) like this:’

      ChatGPT [ What is this type of encoding? ' ]

      A ChatGPT[What is this type of encoding? '] search. Screenshot taken with GoFullPage (distortions possible) at: 2023-07-17 11:37:13


      Perplexity AI [ What is this type of encoding? ' ]

      A Perplexity AI[What is this type of encoding? '] search. Screenshot taken with GoFullPage (distortions possible) at: 2023-07-17 11:39:05


      You.com [ What is this type of encoding? ' ]

      A You.com[What is this type of encoding? '] search. Screenshot taken with GoFullPage (distortions possible) at: 2023-07-17 11:39:17


      Bard [ What is this type of encoding? ' ]

      A Bard[What is this type of encoding? '] search. Screenshot taken with GoFullPage (distortions possible) at: 2023-07-17 11:39:31


      Bing [ What is this type of encoding? ' ]

      A Bing[What is this type of encoding? '] search. Screenshot taken with GoFullPage (distortions possible) at: 2023-07-17 11:40:01


      Andi [ What is this type of encoding? ' ]

      A Andi[What is this type of encoding? '] search. Screenshot taken with GoFullPage (distortions possible) at: 2023-07-17 11:40:38


      DuckDuckGo [ What is this type of encoding? ' ]

      A DuckDuckGo[What is this type of encoding? '] search. Screenshot taken with GoFullPage (distortions possible) at: 2023-07-17 11:41:16


      Claude 2 [ What is this type of encoding? ' ]

      A Claude 2[What is this type of encoding? '] search. Screenshot taken with GoFullPage (distortions possible) at: 2023-07-17 11:43:12


      Google [ What is this type of encoding? ' ]

      A Google[What is this type of encoding? '] search. Screenshot taken with GoFullPage (distortions possible) at: 2023-07-17 11:47:09


      Inflection AI Pi [ What is this type of encoding? ' ]

      A Inflection AI Pi[What is this type of encoding? '] search. Screenshot taken with GoFullPage (distortions possible) at: 2023-07-17 11:47:44


      Google.SGE [ What is this type of encoding? ' ]

      A Google.SGE[What is this type of encoding? '] search. Screenshot taken with GoFullPage (distortions possible) at: 2023-07-17 13:29:57


      Phind [ What is this type of encoding? ' ]

      A Phind[What is this type of encoding? '] search. Screenshot taken with GoFullPage (distortions possible) at: 2023-07-17 14:30:23


      See also

      Footnotes

      1. For more on advice and search, see Grimmelmann (2014, p. 950):

        A good search engine advises its users, helping them to become active listeners, and enabling them to act autonomously.

        ↩︎

      References

      Grimmelmann, J. (2014). Speech engines. Minnesota Law Review, 98, 868. https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/facpub/1488/ [grimmelmann2014speech]

      Lurie, E., & Mulligan, D. K. (2021). Searching for representation: A sociotechnical audit of googling for members of U.S. Congress. https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.07012 [lurie2021searching_facctrec]