Google’s new AI feature is receiving criticism after providing inaccurate answers to questions. It appeared to reinforce conspiracy theories that Barack Obama is secretly Muslim, and also suggested dangerous food choices.
By means of Mickey Carroll, science and technology reporter
Friday May 24, 2024 5:19 PM, UK
Google’s new search tool, which uses AI to answer some users’ questions, has been criticized for inaccurate answers, including telling users to eat rocks and mix pizza cheese with glue.
AI Overview rolled out in the US last week and became available to some users in the UK last month.
It’s designed to make searching for information easier, but since its rollout, social media has been flooded with examples of the feature’s erratic behavior.
In one example: the artificial intelligence (AI) appeared to tell users to mix glue with cheese to make it stick to pizza. It even gave specifics: “You can also add about ⅛ cup of non-toxic glue to the sauce to make it more sticky.”
That recommendation seems to come from a joke Reddit post 11 years ago and should not be followed. Eating glue is dangerous.
Another response told users that only 17 of the 42 U.S. presidents were white. “I’m learning a lot about American history with Google’s AI overview,” said Bobby Allyn, who noticed the blunder.
AI Overview also claimed the former US president Barack Obama is Muslim. While President Obama was in power, there were several untrue conspiracy theories that he was secretly practicing Islam despite being a Christian.
Former President Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor posted the search result and sarcastically said, “Google’s new AI overview search is off to a great start.”
In response to the question “what is the safe temperature for cooking chicken”, one user posted a result that appeared to show Google’s answer at 38 degrees Celsius.
The safe temperature is actually 73.9 degrees Celsius and the chicken should be at this temperature all the time. Doing so lower puts you at risk of developing some dangerous diseases.
As for the things you shouldn’t eat, AI Overview also recommended that one user eat “at least one small stone per day,” according to X user Heshiebee.
The response even cited “UC Berkeley geologists” as the source for the recommendation, saying that rocks “contain vitamins and minerals important for digestion.” However, it does warn that eating stones “can be dangerous”.
To be clear: you are not allowed to eat stones. If you do, you could die.
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However, Google says these answers are not representative of how the tool works in general.
“The examples we’ve seen are generally very unusual questions and are not representative of most people’s experiences,” a Google spokesperson told Sky News.
“The vast majority of AI overviews provide high-quality information, with links to dig deeper on the web. We conducted extensive testing before launching this new experience to ensure AI overviews meet our high quality standards.
“Where there have been violations of our policies, we have taken action – and we are also using these isolated examples as we continue to refine our systems overall.”