I recently discovered that ChatGPT can keep track of topics I’m interested in and notify me when there are important developments.

I recently discovered that ChatGPT can keep track of topics I’m interested in and notify me when there are important developments.

For example, I can choose a topic I want to follow, and ChatGPT can regularly check information from around the world and let me know when something significant happens.

I think this is a very interesting way to use AI.

Looking Beyond Japanese Media

One reason this interests me is that I sometimes feel Japanese news coverage gives only part of the story.

Editorial decisions, relationships with organizations, domestic interests, and the limited amount of time available for news coverage can all influence which stories are reported and how they are presented.

So instead of relying on a single Japanese news source, I want to compare information from different countries and different perspectives.

AI can be useful for doing exactly that.

Of course, AI itself is not automatically correct or unbiased. The original sources still matter, and important information should be checked carefully.

But being able to quickly compare multiple sources is extremely useful.

My Information Sources Have Changed

I’ve also noticed something interesting about my own habits.

Today, two of my main sources of information are TikTok and ChatGPT.

I use Google Search much less than I used to, and I rarely browse blogs simply to look for information anymore.

I wonder if I’m the only one experiencing this change.

For many years, the usual process was:

Search Google → open several websites → read articles → compare the information.

Now it is increasingly becoming:

Discover something on TikTok → ask ChatGPT about it → investigate the details.

That is a major change in how I use the internet.

TikTok Is Great for Discovery, But Not Enough

TikTok is incredibly good at showing me topics I didn’t even know I was interested in.

But there is an obvious weakness.

Short videos are designed to attract attention. They are often simplified, emotional, or created with the goal of going viral.

That makes TikTok useful for discovering a topic, but not necessarily for understanding it.

So my current approach is something like this:

TikTok finds the topic.
ChatGPT helps me investigate it.

For me, these two services now complement each other.

And What About Blogs and note?

Interestingly, I find myself reading fewer blogs than before.

I also rarely read articles on note these days. One reason is that some articles feel so obviously AI-generated that I lose interest before finishing them.

That may sound ironic when writing about AI.

But I think there is an important difference between using AI as a tool and publishing generic AI-generated writing without adding your own experience, opinion, or perspective.

What I want to read is still the same thing I have always wanted to read:

What did this person actually see, experience, think, or discover?

AI can organize information.

But the human experience behind that information is what makes it interesting.

The Way We Search for Information Is Changing

Google Search and blogs are certainly not disappearing.

But I think the way people discover and investigate information is beginning to change.

Social media can provide the first clue.

AI can help investigate it.

Original news reports and primary sources can then be used to verify it.

For me, this has already become a new way of navigating information on the internet.

And I suspect I’m not the only one.

Tags

ChatGPT, AI, TikTok, information sources, Google Search, social media, news, media, blogs, technology, daily life, internet, information gathering, Japan