We wouldn’t need AI in the first place if we could just find the information we need.

I've commented on this before ... but it almost seems like that is the point, or an opportunistic moment for Google ... turn the internet to shit so that we "need" the AI and that Google have a new business to grow into. Capitalism at its finest.

Also there’s a fair bit of effort going in to making local LLMs.

Yea it's definitely interesting but my gut feeling is that open source or local LLMs (like llama) are false hope against the broader dynamics. Surely with greater Google-level resources comes 'better' and more convenient AI. I'd bet that open/local LLMs will end up like Linux Desktop: meaninglessly small technical user base with no anti-monopoly effects at all. Which, to open the issue up to "capitalism!!", raises the general issue of how individualistic rather than organisational actions can be ineffectual.