Use Glue to Stick Cheese to Your Pizza, Says Google AI Overviews

The Google AI Overviews feature doesn’t seem to be going as planned. Users have shared more than one instance where the AI Overview has produced incorrect answers to search queries.

Although Google has removed this source from its AI Overviews, it’s still the top result in Google Search.

Another instance was when a user searched ‘how many feet does an elephant have.’ To this, the Google AI Overview answered that elephants have 2 feet with five toes on the front and four on the back.

The tool was also found to be politically incorrect in some instances. For example, when a user searched ‘how many Muslim presidents in US,’ Google AI Overview said that Barack Hussain Obama is considered the first Muslim president of the United States. Even Mr. Obama wouldn’t believe this.

Google’s Insensitive Response

As expected, Google has come down all guns blazing to defend AI Overviews.

“The examples we’ve seen are generally very uncommon queries and aren’t representative of most people‘s experience using Search.” – Google Spokesperson

However, I think this is just a futile attempt at defending a malfunctioning AI system. With Google processing around 99,000 search queries per second, it’s very difficult to say which query is ‘uncommon.’ After all, there may be more than one user whose cheese might not be sticking to the pizza.

Let’s look at another search instance. When a user searched about tobacco health benefits, the AI Overview went down to promote tobacco, saying that it increases relaxation, euphoria, and alertness.

It also recommended nicotine to improve concentration and memory. However, there was no warning about using a dangerous product like tobacco—nor does the answer warn the user on tobacco’s adverse effects.

Now, calling such a common search query a deliberate attempt is an act of distrust from a tech giant like Google. It’s quite possible that a person trying to quit smoking might read this, which will motivate him instead of helping him quit. However, instead of taking responsibility for such mishaps, Google is blaming the users.

Read more: Google restricts AI chatbot Gemini from responding to election-related queries

Frustrated Users

Ernie Smith, a journalist and a writer, seems to have found a way around these irrelevant AI suggestions. Smith has built a website that reroutes all the searches made through Google to avoid any AI-generated answers. This website has gained a lot of attention and has even surpassed the traffic of Smith’s 10-year-old blog.

The trend seems to be moving towards a new meme format. In such a situation, it’s not possible—even for a tech giant like Google—to inspect each screenshot.

At a time when Google is putting the foot down on the accelerator when it comes to AI features, such hiccups are expected—although the company’s responses could use some toning down. I hope Google fixes the error soon and comes up with a much improved AI Overviews.