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From eating rocks to putting glue on your pizza and smoking while pregnant, here's what Google's new AI tool is (incorrectly) telling users to do
It looks like Google's latest attempt at making people's lives easier with artificial intelligence (AI) is backfiring.
The tech giant's new tool, 'AI Overviews', gives users AI-powered summaries of search results on Chrome, Firefox and the Google app browser.
But since it started rolling out this month, people have noticed that it's returning incorrect statements and suggestions – many of which are dangerous.
Among them, it claims you can 'use gasoline to make a spicy spaghetti dish', eat rocks and put glue on your pizza.
In response to the search 'cheese not sticking to pizza', Google suggests adding 'non-toxic glue' to the sauce to give it more tackiness'.
In response to the search 'cheese not sticking to pizza', Google suggests adding 'non-toxic glue' to the sauce to give it more tackiness'
According to the Verge, this answer originally comes from a jokey comment made on Reddit more than a decade ago.
Another user who searched 'How many rocks should I eat' got a response originating from an article by satirical site The Onion in 2021.
AI Overviews says: 'According to geologists at UC Berkeley, you should eat at least one small rock per day.'
It continued: 'They say that rocks are a vital source of minerals and vitamins that are are important for digestive health.'
The Google tool has also claimed that a dog has played in the NBA, that astronauts have met cats on the moon and that Former US President James Madison graduated from the University of Wisconsin 21 times.
On X, internet analyst Jeremiah Johnson posted a thread of even more bizarre answers, including cockroaches being able to live in your penis without you noticing, doctors recommending smoking during pregnancy, and staring at the sun being safe for 5 to 15 minutes.
Toby Walsh, a professor of AI at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, said UNSW Sydney, called it a 'PR disaster for the search giant'.
As Professor Walsh explains, AI Overviews is a type of 'generative AI' – the same technology that powers rival product ChatGPT – to provide summaries of search results, cribbed from data on the web.
But generative AI tools don't know what's true and what's not – just what's popular (for example the Onion article about eating rocks).
'Ask “how to keep bananas fresh for longer” and it uses AI to generate a useful summary of tips such as storing them in a cool, dark place and away from other fruits like apples,' the academic wrote in The Conversation.
AI Overviews says: 'According to geologists at UC Berkeley, you should eat at least one small rock per day.'
On X, internet analyst Jeremiah Johnson posted a thread of even more bizarre answers, including doctors recommending smoking during pregnancy
'But ask it a left-field question and the results can be disastrous, or even dangerous.'
In an official statement, Google said it is 'taking swift action where appropriate' to make the tool's responses more accurate.
'The vast majority of AI Overviews provide high quality information, with links to dig deeper on the web,' a spokesperson said.
'Many of the examples we’ve seen have been uncommon queries, and we’ve also seen examples that were doctored or that we couldn’t reproduce.
'We conducted extensive testing before launching this new experience, and as with other features we've launched in Search, we appreciate the feedback.
'We're taking swift action where appropriate under our content policies, and using these examples to develop broader improvements to our systems, some of which have already started to roll out.'
Staring at the sun is safe for 5 to 15 minutes 'or up to 30 minutes if you have darker skin', according to the AI
Like other tech companies, Google has turned its focus towards AI since the success of ChatGPT (file photo)
AI Overviews has been rolling out first for people in the US, although more than 1 billion people globally will have access to it by the end of the year, Google hopes.
Announcing the feature in a blog post on May 14, the firm said it gives users quick answers and helps those who need information in a hurry.
Like other tech companies, Google has turned its focus towards AI since the success of ChatGPT.
Last year, Google launched its own AI, Gemini, as a rival to ChatGPT but the chatbot has been plagued with issues.
This culminated with Google pausing the Gemini AI after it was accused of replacing white historical figures, including Nazi soldiers, with people of colour.