TL;DR Google has quietly removed AI Overviews for liver test queries after they were found to give incorrect medical advice.
An investigation found the feature gave oversimplified liver test ranges without critical context like age, sex, or ethnicity.
Google only removed AI summaries for specific flagged phrases, not health searches as a whole.
Google has quietly removed AI Overviews for certain liver test searches after a report found the feature was giving out wrong medical advice.
AI Overviews are designed to make Google Search faster. When you ask a question, you see a short, confident summary at the top of the page instead of a list of links. This should make things easier, but health-related searches have shown some serious problems.
A recent investigation by The Guardian found that for important health questions, the AI has given information that experts describe as “alarming” and “dangerous.” For example, the AI listed standard ranges for liver function tests without saying that these numbers can change a lot depending on a person’s age, sex, or ethnicity. This kind of mistake could make someone with serious liver disease believe they are healthy and avoid getting the care they need.
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Google responded by removing AI Overviews for the specific search terms that were flagged, such as “what is the normal range for liver blood tests.” A spokesperson stated that Google acts according to its policies and makes “broad improvements.”
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