Google Admits Its AI Overviews Search Feature Screwed Up

When bizarre and misleading answers to search queries generated by Google's new AI Overview feature went viral on social media last week, the company issued statements that generally downplayed the notion the technology had problems. Late Thursday, the company's head of search Liz Reid admitted the flubs had highlighted areas that needed improvement, writing that "we wanted to explain what happened and the steps we've taken." One saw Google's algorithms endorse eating rocks because doing so "can be good for you," and the other suggested using nontoxic glue to thicken pizza sauce. Rock eating is not a topic many people were ever writing or asking questions about online, so there aren't many sources for a search engine to draw on. According to Reid, the AI tool found an article from The Onion, a satirical website, that had been reposted by a software company, and misinterpreted the information as factual. As for Google telling its users to put glue on pizza, Reid effectively attributed the error to a sense of humor failure.