Google's AI Overviews for Medical Searches Have Been Removed After 'Alarming' and 'Dangerous' Results Were Found.
The tech giant has removed its AI overviews for certain medical searches after experts described the results as "alarming" and "dangerous". The Verge reported earlier this month that Google had been serving up misleading and outright false information via its AI overviews in response to medical inquiries, prompting a serious investigation by The Guardian.
One case cited by the newspaper showed Google advising people with pancreatic cancer to avoid high-fat foods. Experts said this was the exact opposite of what should be recommended and may have increased the risk of patients dying from the disease. In another example, the company provided false information about crucial liver function tests, which could lead to people with serious liver disease thinking they were healthy.
As a result of these findings, Google has disabled its AI overviews for questions like "what is the normal range for liver blood tests?" entirely. The tech giant declined to comment on the specific removal but said it invests heavily in the quality of its AI overviews and that most provide accurate information. In cases where the overviews fail to provide context, Google works to improve them broadly and takes action under its policies as necessary.
This move comes amidst a growing controversy surrounding Google's AI overviews, which have been criticized for providing questionable advice on various topics. The feature has told people to put glue on pizza, eat rocks, and has been the subject of multiple lawsuits.
The tech giant has removed its AI overviews for certain medical searches after experts described the results as "alarming" and "dangerous". The Verge reported earlier this month that Google had been serving up misleading and outright false information via its AI overviews in response to medical inquiries, prompting a serious investigation by The Guardian.
One case cited by the newspaper showed Google advising people with pancreatic cancer to avoid high-fat foods. Experts said this was the exact opposite of what should be recommended and may have increased the risk of patients dying from the disease. In another example, the company provided false information about crucial liver function tests, which could lead to people with serious liver disease thinking they were healthy.
As a result of these findings, Google has disabled its AI overviews for questions like "what is the normal range for liver blood tests?" entirely. The tech giant declined to comment on the specific removal but said it invests heavily in the quality of its AI overviews and that most provide accurate information. In cases where the overviews fail to provide context, Google works to improve them broadly and takes action under its policies as necessary.
This move comes amidst a growing controversy surrounding Google's AI overviews, which have been criticized for providing questionable advice on various topics. The feature has told people to put glue on pizza, eat rocks, and has been the subject of multiple lawsuits.
. As you know, I'm all for innovation, but when it comes to health info, we gotta be super careful. I mean, if Google's AI overviews are serving up false info on something as serious as cancer or liver disease... that's just not okay 
. It's like they're playing with people's lives. And to make matters worse, the fact that they were doing this for so long without anyone catching it is just, like, unbelievable 
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. It's a tough spot, but I think they need to find a way to balance accuracy with speed. And, like, what about the people who've already been affected by this? They deserve answers 
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google can't even get medical info right? it's not like they're trying to help or anything. this is what happens when you let AI run wild without proper human oversight. i mean, who needs accurate information about liver function tests anyway? a little misinformation never hurt anyone... 
google is really slaying right now lol i mean i was just browsing around and saw this news like what even is going on with their AI overviews? they're literally removing them because the results are "alarming" and "dangerous"? like yeah that's kinda serious 
. can't believe google would mess up something as important as health info. i mean i know they invest a lot in tech but come on, prioritize accuracy over convenience or whatever 
anyway, glad google is taking steps to fix this and provide accurate info in the future 
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i'm glad they took action tho and are working on improving those overviews ASAP. it's always better to be safe than sorry 
. The fact that experts said these results could lead to people dying from pancreatic cancer... my god 
. This is a major wake-up call for Google and the tech industry as a whole. We can't have AI systems spewing out questionable advice like that, especially when it comes to health. 
. what's even more alarming is that these errors have been going on for a while, and now people are dying from them 
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! like, i was reading this article about pancreatic cancer and they said you should avoid high-fat foods... but that's literally the opposite of what doctors say 
. i mean, who wants to put glue on pizza or eat rocks? 
that's not what you want to hear when you're searching for health advice 
. google needs to step up their game and make things right ASAP 
! I mean, Google's AI overviews are supposed to be all about helping us get accurate info, but now they're just removing them altogether? That doesn't add up, you know? I'm thinking there must be some hidden agenda going on here... maybe they're trying to cover something up or something 
. And what's with the cases of people getting wrong advice on medical stuff? That's like, super serious and could cause real harm 
. I mean, Google invests a ton in this stuff and we should expect better results from it, you know? 
So, fingers crossed that they'll come out with some new features or improvements soon. That would be a huge win for people trying to find reliable info online 
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. I mean, we can't just leave it up to the companies themselves to police their own tech - that's like leaving a public square for anyone with an opinion to express it without fact-checking 
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they took down their AI overviews for med searches cuz like what even is that? how can u trust some algorithm 2 find out if u got pancreatic cancer or not? and they gotta take responsibility for spreading false info 
my heart goes out 2 those ppl who might've died cuz of it 
but at least google admitted they messed up & are tryin 2 fix it 
. And liver function tests? Forget about it. I'm glad Google is taking responsibility for their mistakes, but this should've happened a long time ago 
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. Maybe next, they'll get their act together and come up with some decent advice 
... but I won't hold my breath 
... those AI overviews were literally terrifying think about searching for medical info online when you're trying to get better and getting some super sketchy info instead 
