It’s no secret that Google is trying to implement AI across practically every product that comes under its vast umbrella. Last year, we saw Google testing AI-generated blurbs for stories in Discover. The company then decided to “experiment” with AI-generated headlines in December, and stopped calling it an experiment over a month later.
An extensive report by The Verge has now shed light on a similarly concerning development, but in Google Search. This “experiment” swaps out the original news headline in conventional search results (commonly known as 10 blue links) with AI-generated ones.
One of the publication’s articles appeared in Search with the following headline: ‘Cheat on everything’ AI tool. If you hadn’t read the article before, you’d think this is an endorsement of the tool. Meanwhile, the original headline read: “I used the ‘cheat on everything’ AI tool and it didn’t help me cheat on anything,” which is basically the opposite of what the writer intended to convey (via 9to5Google).
Evidently, this can become problematic quickly, particularly as users rely on search engines to find accurate, up-to-date information on current events. The Verge heard back from Google spokespersons about this particular change, who described the experiment’s scope as “narrow” and added that a wider launch hasn’t been approved yet.
Is this just an experiment or a sign of things to come?
There are also instances where search results ignore text before or after an em-dash in the headline, as the screenshots above show. The original headlines say the following: “You can’t replace the battery in Lego’s Smart Bricks — and many of its sensors aren’t active yet,” and “I met Olaf — the Frozen robot who might be the future of Disney Parks.”
Offering some respite, a spokesperson told The Verge that even if Google went ahead with this experiment, “it would not be using a generative model and we would not be creating headlines with gen AI.” However, there was no clarification on what means would be used instead. Another spokesperson said this test is designed to “identify content on a page that would be a useful and relevant title to a users’ query.”
The experiment won’t be limited to news articles indexed in Search and will also extend to websites, per Google. It goes without saying that using AI for news headlines is the bigger concern, as such headlines can be read by millions within a few hours of appearing in Google Search.
For what it’s worth, I haven’t seen any instances of Android Police headlines being replaced with AI-generated ones. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not happening. There’s every chance this test is limited to a few regions, and that Google may soon extend it to other parts of the world.
While we hope the idea won’t go much further than the experimental stage, considering what happened with Google Discover not long ago, this may be wishful thinking on our part.
