Google AI Overviews: Public Health Risks and Confidence

Do I have the flu or Covid? Why do I wake up feeling tired? What is⁤ causing the pain⁢ in my chest? For more than two decades,typing medical questions⁤ into⁢ the⁤ world’s most​ popular search‌ engine has served up a list of ‍links to websites with the answers. ​Google ⁣those health queries today and‍ the response will likely be written by artificial‌ intelligence.

sundar Pichai, Google’s chief⁣ executive, first set out⁤ the company’s plans​ to enmesh AI into its search‌ engine at its annual conference in‌ Mountain View, California, in May 2024. Starting that month, ⁣he said, US ‍users would see a new feature, AI Overviews, which​ would provide details summaries above traditional search results. The change‌ marked the biggest shake-up of Google’s core product‍ in a quarter of a ​century. By July 2025, the ⁤technology had ⁣expanded to more than 200 ⁤countries in 40 languages, with⁣ 2 billion ⁤people served AI Overviews each month.

With ⁣the rapid⁢ rollout of ⁤AI Overviews, Google is racing to protect its traditional search business, which​ generates about $200bn (£147bn) a year, before upstart AI rivals can derail it. “We are leading at the frontier of AI and shipping at an incredible pace,” Pichai said last July. AI Overviews in particular‍ were⁢ “performing well”, he added.

But overviews carry risks, ⁣experts say.They use generative ⁤AI to provide snapshots of information about a topic or ⁣question,adding conversational answers above the traditional search ⁣results‍ in the blink of an eye. They ‍can ​cite sources, ‍but do not​ necessarily know when that‌ source is ​incorrect.

Google’s chief executive, ⁤Sundar ‍Pichai, hopes AI ​Overviews can ⁣definitely⁤ help ​to maintain its online search ⁣revenues. Photograph:‍ kylie Cooper/Reuters

Within weeks of the feature launching ⁣in the ⁤US, users ‍encountered untruths across a range of subjects. One AI Overview said Andrew Jackson, the‍ seventh US president,

Google is scaling back⁤ its AI-powered search‌ summaries,‌ known as AI Overviews,‌ after repeated instances of inaccurate and harmful information, notably ⁣in health-related ‍searches. The company began ​removing AI Overviews for health queries last week and is⁤ now making broader⁢ adjustments to improve the feature’s reliability.

The move comes‌ after widespread criticism and reports highlighting⁢ the potential for AI Overviews to provide misleading medical‍ advice. A recent study analyzing over ⁤50,000 health searches in ⁤Germany found ⁢that YouTube was the⁤ most frequently cited source by the AI, raising concerns given the⁣ platform’s lack of medical editorial oversight. ​ The Guardian reported on the study findings earlier today.

“While⁤ experts welcomed the removal⁤ of some‌ AI‌ summaries for health‍ queries,​ many‌ remain⁤ worried,” says Vanessa Hebditch, the director of communications and ⁣policy at ​the British Liver Trust. “Our bigger concern with all this ⁣is that it is nit-picking a​ single search result and Google can just shut off the⁤ AI Overviews ⁣for that but it’s not tackling the bigger ​issue of AI‌ Overviews for health.”

Sue⁤ Farrington,chair ⁤of the Patient Information Forum,echoed ‍those concerns,stating,”There are still too many ​examples out there⁤ of Google AI Overviews giving ​people inaccurate health ‍information.”

Google maintains ​it is committed to improving ⁤AI Overviews. In a statement, ⁢a spokesperson said that when AI⁤ Overviews “miss some context, we ​work to make broad improvements, and we also‌ take action under our policies ⁢where⁣ appropriate.” Related:​ How thousands ⁤of ‘overworked, underpaid’ humans train Google’s AI to seem smart

Researchers at SeRanking conducted ⁤the study that highlighted ​YouTube’s prominence⁣ in AI Overview citations.