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Summary
In a few short years, many of us have gone from searching Google to asking ChatGPT, and search within the products we use is being transformed by AI as well.
Trey Grainger is one of the top thinkers on search, and literally co-wrote the book on AI-powered search (called, of course, AI-Powered Search). Trey has spent nearly 20 years studying and implementing search and information retrieval, holding titles like CTO and Chief Algorithms Officer. He’s led teams at companies like Lucidworks and founded Search Kernel, an AI search consultancy with a client list that includes Apple, Amazon, and NVIDIA.
John sat down with Trey at the Carolina Code Conference to ask him 7 questions about his career and AI.
Give us your background story
Describe AI to someone in 1900
What is the most positive impact of AI?
What is the most negative impact of AI?
What’s exciting to you when you think about AI several years out?
What are tips and tricks you would share as someone who works with AI every day?
What’s a prompt you use a lot?
Key takeaways
AI has leveled the playing field, especially for weak writers
AI is powerful, but psychosis is a real risk
AI slop is good enough, and that’s the problem
The future is many small fine-tuned models, not big frontier models
You should program your LLM, not prompt it
Notable mentions and links
John talked with Trey at the Carolina Code Conference
You can learn about Trey on his website or LinkedIn profile.
Trey’s search consultancy is Search Kernel
Trey’s book is AI-Powered Search, co-authored by Doug Turnbull and Max Irwin and published by Manning