This new AI search engine has a gimmick: the human answering the questions

In addition to this, he claims that Pearl is significantly less likely to provide disinformation than many other AI search engines – which he believes are likely to face “a flood” of lawsuits based on the wrong answers it gives. “Those other players are building incredible technologies. I call them Ferrari or Lamborghini,” says Kurtzig. “We build a Volvo – safety first.”

This statement about the superiority of Pearl, of course, made me want to try it even more. Kurtzig seemed so certain that Pearl would still enjoy the protection of Section 230. I asked the AI ​​if he agreed.

Pearl said it probably qualifies as an “interactive computer service” under Section 230, which would mean it wouldn’t be treated as a publisher, as Kurtzig suspected. But, AI continued, “Pearl’s situation is unique because it generates content using AI.” After all, he didn’t have a definitive answer for me.

When I asked to speak to a lawyer directly, he redirected me to JustAnswer, where he asked me to provide the answer he wanted verified. I said I needed to go back and copy the answer, as it was several paragraphs long, but when I went to Pearl’s website, the conversation was gone and had reset to a new chat.

When I tried again, this time opening the Pearl browser on the desktop, I got a similarly uncertain response. I decided to activate a human fact checker; After several minutes, I received the TrustScore™ – a 3!

Pearl recommended seeking a real expert opinion, taking you to her subscription page. I was given a log-in so I didn’t have to pay while I tried the tool. He then connected me with one of his “legal eagle” experts.

Unfortunately, the lawyer’s answers were no clearer than the AI. He noted that there was an ongoing legal debate about how Section 230 would apply to AI search engines and other AI tools, but when I asked him to provide specific arguments, he gave an odd response by noting that “mostly use shell companies or associations for the file.”

When I asked for an example of such a shell company – quite confused about what it has to do with a public debate about Section 230 – the “legal eagle” asked if he wanted him to put in a package. Even more confused, I said yes. I got a pop-up window indicating that my expert wanted to charge me an additional $165 to dig up the information.

I declined, frustrated.

So I asked Pearl about the WIRED story. The AI ​​answer was helpful, although it’s basically the same thing you’ll find on Wikipedia. When I asked for their TrustScore™, I was again confronted with a 3, suggesting that this was not a very good answer. I chose the option to connect with another human expert. This time, perhaps because it was a media question and not a clear legal or medical topic, it took some time for the expert to appear – well over 20 minutes. When he did, the expert (it was never established what gave him his media credentials, although his profile indicated that he had been working with JustAnswer since 2010) gave me an answer very similar to AI. Since I was doing a free test, it didn’t matter, but I would have been annoyed if I had paid the subscription fee only to get the same mediocre answer from both a human and an AI.

For my last stab at using the service, I went for a simple question: how to finish the kitchen floors. This time, things went much more smoothly. The AI ​​returned an appropriate response, similar to a transcript of a very basic YouTube tutorial. When I asked the human expert to assign a TrustScore™, he gave it a 5. It seemed pretty accurate, of course. But, as someone who really wants to DIY refinish the old pine boards in my kitchen, I think when I actually go looking for guidance, I’ll rely on other online communities of human voices, ones that don’t charge $28 per month: YouTube and Reddit.

If you end up trying Pearl, or any other new AI research products, and have a memorable experience, let me know how it went in the comments below the article. You can also reach me by email at kate_knibbs@wired.com. Thanks for reading, and stay warm!