How does AI differ from web search?

Unlike search, which points you to the web, generative AI is the core experience, not a route elsewhere. Using a generative tool (like Github co-pilit, Google Gemini, etc.) is a tradeoff. You get the benefit of a seemingly magical product. But you give up control. While you may get answers quickly, or a cool looking graphic, you lose touch with the source material. To use it means putting more trust in giant companies like Google, and to maintain that trust Google needs to be extremely transparent. Yet what do we really know about how its models operate?