What you’ll learn:
- What is microchipping?
- What company is going out of business?
- Why search and AI search can be challenging.
It’s still too early for our April 1st articles, but recent news on many of the major TV networks like CBS ran a story about a Microchip company ceasing operations (see figure). This does say Microchip company, not the company Microchip Technology that we know and love here. It turns out to be a company called "Save This Life" that was in the business of “microchipping.”
If you have a cat or dog, you may have had your pet microchipped. This term describes the process of embedding an RFID chip into the animal so that it can be scanned to determine its identity. Microchipping can be handy for identifying an animal who has been found. It can also save time for a vet when working with animals, although that tends to be less of an issue.
Livestock is also being microchipped, but less for finding lost calves and more for tracking animals through massive, automated mega-factory farms. It becomes a bit more personal with some people having been microchipped, too.
Microchipping and Generative AI
Figuring out what was up with Microchip was a trivial exercise for me, since Microchip is a major player in our market. Of course, reading the articles tended to put my thoughts of no more PIC micros to rest. Still, I decided to hop on to some of our favorite generative AI sites to ask: “Tell me about microchip and microchipping.”
The result was a pretty accurate description of microchipping and even how it works, but nary a word about Microchip Technology. Changing the prompt to “tell me about Microchip Technology and microchipping” usually results in a repeat of the prior results.
So, what’s the reason for this missive?
Well, foremost, to put your thoughts to rest about the potential demise of a company that cranks out a raft of electronics from microcontrollers to FPGAs. Second, it was a bit of humor in these trying times, where generative AI search is even more challenging than the older search engines. Finally, it’s because April 1st is coming up and we don’t want any confusion about our humor and real technology… or do we?
In the meantime, if you have a microchipped pet, you may want to do more reading and searching, or just ask your favorite ChatGPT, Perplextiy, Claude AI, Gemini, or other chatbot. What could go wrong?
No animals were harmed in the writing or research of this article.
