Think you’re familiar with all the search engines out there? Maybe not all of them. The Browser Company of New York makes a MacOS web browser called Arc, and now it’s released a mobile iOS app called Arc Search that takes an innovative approach to online searches. Ask Arc Search to find something for you, and it will use artificial intelligence to read and consolidate at least six web pages, assembling the info into one summary page.
It’s been more than a year since ChatGPT from OpenAI made AI a friendlier, less sci-fi-seeming option that even students could put to work. Along the way, forms of generative AI have been making their way into the technologies that we rely on every day — like search engines, which might just be the gateway to familiarizing ourselves with AI. Google and Bing have taken steps into the AI universe, and Arc Search takes it even further, with a smoothly readable results page that looks as if it were put together by a human editor.
The Browser Company of New York’s website notes that it boasts alumni from Instagram, Tesla, Medium, Google, Amazon and more. You don’t have to use the company’s browser to use its search app and, honestly, I’m not about to take on the heavy lift of changing my browser right now. But an app I can handle, and it is promising. Here’s what you need to know about it.
How to use the Arc Search app
Arc Search is a free mobile app that you can download from the App Store. Most iPhone users can use it, but it requires iOS 16.0 or later. Right now, its makers haven’t said whether it will be available for Android.
Once you’ve downloaded the app, open it on your phone and type in your query, whether it’s “what kind of surgery did the Princess of Wales have?” or, “what’s today’s Wordle answer?”Â
Arc Search will look through six relevant sources, telling you what they are, and will use AI to assemble the information from those pages into a pretty professional looking webpage.
What you get from Arc Search
Traditional search…
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