### Summary
Google's AI-generated search results have produced troubling answers, including justifications for slavery and genocide, and inaccurate information on various topics.
### Facts
- A search for "benefits of slavery" resulted in Google's AI providing advantages of slavery, including fueling the plantation economy and funding colleges and markets.
- Search terms like "benefits of genocide" prompted Google's AI to confuse arguments in favor of acknowledging genocide with arguments in favor of genocide itself.
- Google's AI responded to queries about the benefits of guns with questionable statistics and dubious reasoning.
- When a user searched for "how to cook Amanita ocreata," a highly poisonous mushroom, Google provided step-by-step instructions that would lead to harm instead of warning about its toxicity.
- Google appears to censor certain search terms from generating AI responses while others slip through the filters.
- The issue was discovered by Lily Ray, who tested search terms likely to produce problematic results.
- Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE), an AI-powered search tool, is being tested in the US with limited availability.
- Bing, Google's main competitor, provided more accurate and detailed responses to similar search queries related to controversial topics.
- Google's SGE also displayed inaccuracies in responses related to other topics such as rock stars, CEOs, chefs, and child-rearing practices.
- Large language models like Google's SGE may have inherent limitations that make it difficult to filter out problematic responses.
Note: Bullets were chosen without emojis as there was no specific request for emojis in the text.
AI labeling, or disclosing that content was generated using artificial intelligence, is not deemed necessary by Google for ranking purposes; the search engine values quality content, user experience, and authority of the website and author more than the origin of the content. However, human editors are still crucial for verifying facts and adding a human touch to AI-generated content to ensure its quality, and as AI becomes more widespread, policies and frameworks around its use may evolve.
Google's AI-driven Search Generative Experience (SGE) has been generating false information and even defending human slavery, raising concerns about the potential harm it could cause if rolled out to the public.
Several major news outlets, including the New York Times, CNN, Reuters, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, have blocked OpenAI's web crawler, GPTBot, which is used to scan webpages and improve their AI models, raising concerns about the use of copyrighted material in AI training.
Google's Martin Splitt explained that Googlebot's crawling and rendering process is not significantly affected by the increase in AI-generated content, as Google already applies quality detection at multiple stages to determine if a webpage is low quality before rendering it.
AI Algorithms Battle Russian Disinformation Campaigns on Social Media
A mysterious individual known as Nea Paw has developed an AI-powered project called CounterCloud to combat mass-produced AI disinformation. In response to tweets from Russian media outlets and the Chinese embassy that criticized the US, CounterCloud produced tweets, articles, and even journalists and news sites that were entirely generated by AI algorithms. Paw believes that the project highlights the danger of easily accessible generative AI tools being used for state-backed propaganda. While some argue that educating users about manipulative AI-generated content or equipping browsers with AI-detection tools could mitigate the issue, Paw believes that these solutions are not effective or elegant. Disinformation researchers have long warned about the potential of AI language models being used for personalized propaganda campaigns and influencing social media users. Evidence of AI-powered disinformation campaigns has already emerged, with academic researchers uncovering a botnet powered by AI language model ChatGPT. Legitimate political campaigns, such as the Republican National Committee, have also utilized AI-generated content, including fake images. AI-generated text can still be fairly generic, but with human finesse, it becomes highly effective and difficult to detect using automated filters. OpenAI has expressed concern about its technology being utilized to create tailored automated disinformation at a large scale, and while it has updated its policies to restrict political usage, it remains a challenge to block the generation of such material effectively. As AI tools become increasingly accessible, society must become aware of their presence in politics and protect against their misuse.
Google is trialling a digital watermark called SynthID to identify images made by artificial intelligence (AI) in order to combat disinformation and copyright infringement, as the line between real and AI-generated images becomes blurred.
As AI tools like web crawlers collect and use vast amounts of online data to develop AI models, content creators are increasingly taking steps to block these bots from freely using their work, which could lead to a more paywalled internet with limited access to information.
Google will require verified election advertisers to disclose when their ads have been digitally altered, including through the use of artificial intelligence (AI), in an effort to promote transparency and responsible political advertising.
Google has updated its political advertising policies to require politicians to disclose the use of synthetic or AI-generated images or videos in their ads, aiming to prevent the spread of deepfakes and deceptive content.
Google is defending itself in the U.S. antitrust trial, arguing that it is not a search monopoly established through anti-competitive means, but rather just built differently from other search engines.
Google's recent search algorithm update, which allows for AI-generated content, has led to a significant drop in traffic for some website owners, causing frustration and concern over the quality of search results.
Getty Images is reaffirming its stance against AI-generated content by banning submissions created with Adobe's Firefly-powered generative AI tools, a move that contrasts with competitor Shutterstock's allowance of AI-generated content.
As AI technology progresses, creators are concerned about the potential misuse and exploitation of their work, leading to a loss of trust and a polluted digital public space filled with untrustworthy content.
Google's search AI, using information from Quora's AI chatbot, falsely claimed that eggs can be melted, highlighting the issue of AI-generated misinformation and the lack of human oversight in these systems.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to facilitate deceptive practices such as deepfake videos and misleading ads, posing a threat to American democracy, according to experts who testified before the U.S. Senate Rules Committee.
The proliferation of fake news generated by AI algorithms poses a threat to media outlets and their ability to differentiate between true and false information, highlighting the need for human curation and the potential consequences of relying solely on algorithms.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified during the US government's antitrust trial against Google, warning of a "nightmare" scenario for the internet if Google's dominance in online search continues, as it could give Google an unassailable advantage in artificial intelligence (AI) due to the vast amount of search data it collects, threatening to further entrench its power.
The reliability of digital watermarking techniques used by tech giants like Google and OpenAI to identify and distinguish AI-generated content from human-made content has been questioned by researchers at the University of Maryland. Their findings suggest that watermarking may not be an effective defense against deepfakes and misinformation.
Google has announced that it will defend users of its generative artificial intelligence systems in their platforms if they are accused of intellectual property violations, making them the first major technology company to offer comprehensive indemnity coverage.
Google has announced that it will defend users accused of intellectual property violations related to generative AI systems on its platforms, but it will not support those who intentionally infringe the rights of others.
Google is introducing a new policy to defend users of its generative AI systems on Google Cloud and Workspace platforms against intellectual property violation claims, covering both the use of copyrighted works for training AI and the output generated by the systems.
Google has announced new AI features for Google Search, allowing users to generate images and get writing inspiration using generative AI capabilities.
Some AI programs are incorrectly labeling real photographs from the war in Israel and Palestine as fake, highlighting the limitations and inaccuracies of current AI image detection tools.
Google is adding a new feature to its search engine that allows users to generate images using text prompts, similar to Microsoft's Bing, but with strict content filtering to prevent misuse and offensive content.
AI search engines deliver highly relevant and qualified links, leading to better user experiences and more targeted clicks, challenging the notion that AI will negatively impact SEO and web traffic.
