AI or Search Engines? Choosing Between Google and LLMs

Andrew Robinson, president and owner of Petrus Development, explains the differences between Google search and large language models (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grok) for Catholic Church and nonprofit fundraising work. He frames Google as a “librarian” for finding current, source-based information (news, rules, reviews, verifiable facts) and LLMs as “conversation/research partners” for brainstorming, drafting content, and simplifying complex topics.Andrew outlines key LLM limitations, including training cutoff dates, hallucinations/confident inaccuracies, and lack of knowledge about an organization’s specific documents unless provided. The episode ends with three practical challenges. Andrew invites feedback via [email protected] and previews the next episode on how LLMs are trained.00:00 Welcome to the Catholic Tech Table (and what this show covers)01:10 Google vs. LLMs: The Librarian vs. Conversation Partner Analogy03:01 When to Use Google: Current Info, Fact-Checking, Reviews (Fundraising Examples)03:56 When to Use an LLM: Brainstorming, Drafting, Explaining Complex Topics05:11 Best of Both Worlds: Combining Google Research + LLM Writing Help05:36 LLM Limitations: Cutoff Dates, Hallucinations, and a Real-World Example08:05 Another LLM Weakness: It Doesn’t Know Your Organization’s Internal Info08:55 3 Practical Challenges to Try This Week (Google, LLM, Then Both Together)10:29 Wrap-Up, Key Takeaways, and Next Episode Preview