Google is addressing the inaccuracies that emerged with its AI-generated search results. Earlier this month, the results began providing incorrect and sometimes dangerous responses. Meanwhile, Google is recovering from an unexplained outage Friday, May 31, that disrupted news searches worldwide.
Although the service is operational again, the interruption did little to restore confidence, which waned since Google started implementing AI initiatives last year.
The company announced plans to scale back some features and implement at least a dozen technical improvements. Google’s head of search, Liz Reid, explained in a recent blog post that the issues were due to “data voids” and searches designed to generate bizarre results. In a notable example that went viral, the AI suggested adding non-toxic glue to pizza to help the cheese stick better, a tip traced back to an old Reddit post.
Reid elaborated on the challenges of interpreting nonsensical queries and satirical content, using the query, “How many rocks should I eat?” as an example, which gained attention only after screenshots went viral.
As Google strives to refine its search results, it encountered another setback when its Google News services failed, leaving users without results under the “News” panel. DownDetector.com reported a spike in global outages, causing widespread frustration among users.
These incidents underscore the critical importance of reliability as Google aggressively expands into the AI market. The company has not yet confirmed if the new AI-enhanced features were responsible for the recent service disruptions.