Google acknowledged on Thursday that its AI Overviews tool, which uses artificial intelligence to address search queries, needs improvements.
The search engine giant admitted that the technology sometimes generates "peculiar and inaccurate summaries." Some unconventional suggestions include "using glue to help cheese adhere to pizza" or "consuming urine as a potential remedy for passing kidney stones more rapidly."
Google Admits Flaws in AI Overviews Tool
Although some of the examples were relatively insignificant, there were other search results that posed potential risks, New York Times reported.
In response to a query from the Associated Press, Google offered a detailed AI-generated summary that was largely accurate when discussing which wild mushrooms were safe to eat.
According to Mary Catherine Aime, a professor of mycology and botany at Purdue University, there is a significant amount of missing information that could potentially be disturbing or even life-threatening. She reviewed Google's response to the AP's query.
It seems that the removal of AI Overviews for certain searches was a result of a larger effort to address the inaccuracies and mistakes that arose from this new technology.
These errors ranged from suggesting glue as an ingredient in a pizza recipe to recommending the consumption of rocks for nutritional purposes.
Users expressed their dissatisfaction on social media, often resorting to mocking Google due to the mistakes.
Google Implements Changes to AI Overviews
Liz Reid, the newly appointed head of search at Google, shared in a blog post on Thursday that the company has made some adjustments to AI Overviews.
These changes include implementing "additional triggering refinements" to provide more accurate health-related responses, disabling misleading advice, and reducing the inclusion of satire and user responses from platforms like Reddit.
In a statement on Friday, Ashley Thompson, a Google spokeswoman, mentioned that the company has implemented over a dozen technical updates to its systems.
According to CBS News, the company is currently reducing the use of AI-generated overviews by implementing limitations for queries where AI Overviews were not found to be as beneficial.
According to Google, it aims to avoid displaying AI Overviews for news topics that require up-to-date information and accuracy.
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