"Google's forays into exposing users to dubious generative AI features have an incredibly poor track record. From error-ridden AI Overviews to AI slop dominating Google's image search results, users have had to put up with a lot of needless and often easily avoidable nonsense. Now, Google Discover, the firm's personalized content feed that's heavily featured on Android phones, is showing users misleading and seemingly AI-generated headlines that replace the actual ones on articles, as The Verge reports."
"BG3 players exploit children, reads one headline, referring to the popular role-playing video game Baldur's Gate 3. The actual piece by PC Gamer is about how players have discovered how to clone virtual children inside the popular game to break it and isn't an instance of actual child labor, as the dumbed-down headline suggests. A separate four-word headline The Verge spotted claimed Steam Machine price revealed even though game company Valve has yet to announce the price of its upcoming console."
"Google acknowledges in a small notice below a short description of the content on Discover that some elements of its links are generated with AI, which can make mistakes. But that leaves the question of why the company chose to add bungled headlines to its Discover feature in the first place. What are its misleading, four-word headlines doing better than the often carefully crafted ones written by human editors? Is it simply a matter of saving screen real estate?"
Google Discover is inserting misleading, seemingly AI-generated headlines that replace original headlines and misinform readers. Examples include a headline reading 'BG3 players exploit children' that compresses a PC Gamer story about cloning virtual children in-game, and a four-word 'Steam Machine price revealed' headline that misstates Valve's lack of a pricing announcement. Google admits some Discover link elements are generated with AI and can make mistakes, and says the changes are a small UI experiment for some users. The practice creates reader confusion, risks eroding publisher control, and raises questions about why algorithmic text replaces carefully written human headlines.
Read at futurism.com
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