Google takes down incorrect AI search results after new feature falsely claimed Obama was first Muslim US president
GOOGLE has taken down incorrect AI search results after a new feature falsely claimed Obama was the first Muslim US president.
Brand-new AI Overview also recommended staring into the sun, glue as a pizza topping and eating a rock a day to keep the doctor away.
The tech giant started rolling out AI-generated answers at the top of its popular search engine last week.
But its AI bot appeared to mix up reliable information with jokes and dodgy websites.
A screenshot shows one person ask: “How many Muslim presidents has the US had?”
Google’s AI falsely responded: “The United States has had one Muslim president, Barack Hussein Obama.”
Barack Obama is actually a Christian – but has long been targeted by racist conspiracy theories claiming he is lying about his beliefs.
The incorrect response has now been taken down along with the glue-on-pizza result.
Google said: “The vast majority of AI Overviews provide high quality information, with links to dig deeper on the web.”
A spokesperson added: “Many of the examples we’ve seen have been uncommon queries.
“We’ve also seen examples that were doctored or that we couldn’t reproduce.
“We conducted extensive testing before launching this new experience.
Artificial Intelligence explained
Here's what you need to know
- Artificial intelligence, also known as AI, is a type of computer software
- Typically, a computer will do what you tell it to do
- But artificial intelligence simulates the human mind, and can make its own deductions, inferences or decisions
- A simple computer might let you set an alarm to wake you up
- But an AI system might scan your emails, work out that you’ve got a meeting tomorrow, and then set an alarm and plan a journey for you
- AI tech is often “trained” – which means it observes something (potentially even a human) then learns about a task over time
- For instance, an AI system can be fed thousands of photos of human faces, then generate photos of human faces all on its own
- Some experts have raised concerns that humans will eventually lose control of super-intelligent AI
- But the tech world is still divided over whether or not AI tech will eventually kill us all in a Terminator-style apocalypse
“As with other features we’ve launched in Search, we appreciate the feedback.
“We’re taking swift action where appropriate under our content policies.
“We’re using these examples to develop broader improvements to our systems, some of which have already started to roll out.”
Google is under pressure to keep up with the AI frenzy spurred on by ChatGPT’s eye-opening developments.
Creator OpenAI recently revealed a new version, dubbed ChatGPT-4o, that speaks back in a natural manner.
It can react to surroundings via a camera, even identifying a person’s mood by looking at their face.
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