Google Search's AI Overviews Fail Miserably Worldwide

Date: May 31, 2024

Google recently introduced a new AI offering that provides search overviews to summarize tasks for users’ convenience. However, there were glaring mistakes.

Google has historically admitted its mistakes, but only after an effortful confrontation by the community. A week after the Google AI Overview launched, the company landed in a bad spotlight due to evident output mistakes. The latest AI offering introduced by the tech giant has been giving wrong summaries and has hallucinated multiple times during rare searches. The AI overviews were bizarre, unrelated to the original search query, and in some cases, also justified misinformation.

AI has been famous for inaccuracies and spreading misinformation. The primary reason behind this is that any artificial intelligence tool can only guess but never understand. It collects data, interprets it, and uses NLP systems to generate an output that is in maximum proximity to the user’s input. 

Currently, the AI Overview feature is only available in the US for select users. Multiple users have reported the issue and posted their bizarre versions of Google’s evident mistake online on social media platforms like Reddit. People are calling Google AI Overview a fake product that does not have the basic skill set of decent Generative AI software. Google quickly responded to the ongoing chaos and accepted its mistake, but only to some extent.

The tech giant has apologized for the inaccuracies but has also associated the majority contribution to this issue with fake news, sarcastic undertones, and incorrect content. According to sources, Google uses its own algorithm to rank websites, which fall completely under its control. That’s why Google could instantly remove all the wrong overview summaries and is actively working to improve AI accuracy and correctness.

Liz Reid, VP Head of Google Search, posted an official blog on Google’s website responding to the overall scenario and its various micro-aspects. She claimed that the inaccuracies come from the user-generated content online that builds wrong interpretations. However, the tech giant is focusing on improving the data security layers while ensuring the AI features work well. While Google clarifies its mistake and rectifies it's doing to safeguard its business, here are some of the best  Google search alternatives you can use to ensure top-notch security while enjoying added-value features.