Don't use Google AI Search
Personally (and apparently this is a rather widespread view) I NEVER
trust Google Search AI Overview answers and I recommend you do the
same. And don't use Google's AI Search Mode they're now pushing.
NEVER.
As Google forces Google Home/Assistant users to Gemini AI from
Assistant (Assistant almost always tells you the source of any
nontrivial answer so you can judge its veracity), the same will hold
true there.
It's impractical to gather rigorous statistics but I find that around
a half to three quarters of all AI Overview answers are either totally
or partially incorrect. In my view, this "poisons" the well
sufficiently that trusting any Google AI-generated answers is a fool's
errand, and for some searches, a dangerous one.
It is not practical to take the time (as Google suggests you do!) to
VERIFY every AI answer for accuracy. The associated links (when
present) typically lead to pages where it is not possible to evaluate
how the information on the pages actually relates to the provided
answer.
Perhaps most importantly, Google refuses to take any responsibility
for its AI answers, and basically tells you that you should assume
they are garbage and it's up to you to figure out whether they're
accurate or not. No thanks, Sundar.
I've seen far too many totally wrong answers from Google's AI systems
relating to medical and other critical issues to ever be willing to
trust ANYTHING that comes from those systems going forward under
current circumstances.
If Google took full responsibility for those answers, this calculus
might change. But there's no indication that Google plans to do this.
Save yourself a lot of potential grief. Pretend that Google's AI
Overview answers and AI Search Modes do not exist. DO NOT USE THEM.
IGNORE THEM.
If Google ever decides that "Don't be evil" matters again, we might be
able to reevaluate this situation. For now, in this respect, Google
Just Doesn't Care. -L
- - -
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
[email protected] (https://www.vortex.com/lauren)
Lauren's Blog: https://lauren.vortex.com
Mastodon: https://mastodon.laurenweinstein.org/@lauren
Signal: By request on need to know basis
Founder: Network Neutrality Squad: https://www.nnsquad.org
PRIVACY Forum: https://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility
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