Google’s Latest A.I. Mishap Generates Untruths and Errors, Causing Backlash Online
Last week, Google made headlines with the unveiling of its biggest change to search in years, showcasing new artificial intelligence capabilities aimed at answering people’s questions. However, the new technology, known as AI Overview, has since generated a litany of untruths and errors, causing a furor online and undermining trust in the search engine.
The incorrect answers provided by AI Overview have ranged from recommending glue as part of a pizza recipe to suggesting the ingestion of rocks for nutrients. These misleading responses have given Google a black eye and raised concerns about the company’s ability to safely incorporate A.I. into its search engine.
This is not the first time Google has faced issues with its A.I. features. In the past, the company’s chatbots have shared incorrect information, leading to market value drops and criticism from industry insiders. Despite these setbacks, financial analysts believe that Google needs to move quickly to keep up with its rivals, even if it means facing growing pains.
In response to the backlash, Google spokeswoman Lara Levin stated that the majority of AI Overview queries result in high-quality information, with links to further explore on the web. The company is working to address isolated examples of problematic answers and refine its system.
The challenges of integrating large language models like Gemini, Google’s latest A.I. model, into popular apps have become apparent as the technology learns from vast amounts of data from the open web, including falsehoods and satirical posts. Google’s efforts to catch up with competitors like Microsoft and OpenAI have put pressure on the company to incorporate A.I. into its products, despite the risks involved.
The launch of AI Overview at Google’s annual developer conference, I/O, was meant to showcase the capabilities of Gemini and provide users with more specific and complex answers to their questions. However, the system quickly went awry, leading to users posting screenshots of problematic examples on social media platforms.
From fake pizza recipes to dangerous cleaning advice, the mishaps of AI Overview have raised concerns about the reliability and trustworthiness of Google’s search engine. As users continue to share examples of misleading information provided by the A.I., Google faces the challenge of restoring confidence in its technology and ensuring the accuracy of its search results.
