These AI Overviews are awful. I've been documenting the ones I've gotten over the past few months. Examples:
- 2025-09-19. My query: "is mics an abbreviation for micrograms." AI Overview: "No, MICs is not an abbreviation for micrograms; it is an abbreviation for Minimum Inhibitory Concentration."
- 2025-09-19. My query: "75 mics of medication." AI Overview: "When discussing medication, 'mics' is a common abbreviation for micrograms (mcg)."
- 2025-11-03. My query: "copilot 'replace string in file'." AI Overview: "While Copilot in tools like Visual Studio Code can assist with code generation and refactoring, its primary function is not directly to perform 'replace string in file' operations across an entire project." ("Replace string in file" is the name of an operation that Copilot performs, and I was looking for more info about how it works.)
- 2025-11-22. My query: "u2 'spirits move you'." AI Overview: "The phrase 'spirits move you' is not a direct U2 song title, but it likely refers to their song 'With or Without You,' a famous track from their album The Joshua Tree." (Who said anything about it being a "direct U2 song title"? It's a lyric from "Mysterious Ways.")
It's so frequently wrong and so frequently makes insulting assumptions that it's worse than worthless. And when you click the "Dive deeper in AI mode" button at the bottom, the new response often contradicts the old one. Just garbage.
therobots927•18m ago
I Googled “can X and Y medications be combined” today actually and to my surprise was provided with an AI overview. It took the cautious route and recommended they not be combined, but I’m surprised that AI overviews for this type of thing would be allowed. In the event that someone were incorrectly advised to combine X and Y and died as a result, would it be possible for a lawyer to subpoena the search history of the individual and hold Google liable for giving incorrect medical advice?
Edit: Expanding the thought process here, if the DOJ wanted to could they force Google to release records of instances when such health-related queries were made, and instances where that was the last thing the person had googled since?
brushfoot•40m ago
- 2025-09-19. My query: "is mics an abbreviation for micrograms." AI Overview: "No, MICs is not an abbreviation for micrograms; it is an abbreviation for Minimum Inhibitory Concentration."
- 2025-09-19. My query: "75 mics of medication." AI Overview: "When discussing medication, 'mics' is a common abbreviation for micrograms (mcg)."
- 2025-11-03. My query: "copilot 'replace string in file'." AI Overview: "While Copilot in tools like Visual Studio Code can assist with code generation and refactoring, its primary function is not directly to perform 'replace string in file' operations across an entire project." ("Replace string in file" is the name of an operation that Copilot performs, and I was looking for more info about how it works.)
- 2025-11-22. My query: "u2 'spirits move you'." AI Overview: "The phrase 'spirits move you' is not a direct U2 song title, but it likely refers to their song 'With or Without You,' a famous track from their album The Joshua Tree." (Who said anything about it being a "direct U2 song title"? It's a lyric from "Mysterious Ways.")
It's so frequently wrong and so frequently makes insulting assumptions that it's worse than worthless. And when you click the "Dive deeper in AI mode" button at the bottom, the new response often contradicts the old one. Just garbage.