Google AI Presents April Fool’s Joke As True

Google’s AI Overview feature has presented an invented April Fool’s story from 2020 as authentic information, according to the journalist from Wales who wrote the original story as a joke.

Journalist Ben Black told the BBC he wrote an April Fool’s article in 2020 for community news site Cwmbran Life claiming that the South Wales town had been recognised by Guinness World Records for having the most number of roundabouts per square kilometre.

He said he was “shocked” and “worried” to find that the joke was being presented by Google’s AI Overview feature as real information.

AI shortcomings

After finding the gaffe, Black updated the original article to clearly indicate that it was an April Fool’s joke.

Google said it was looking into the matter.

Black told the BBC that the incident shows how fake news can spread through trusted outlets, while AI was repurposing content from publishers and taking away traffic.

The April Fool’s story, which claimed Cwmbran had taken the record from Milton Keynes for the most roundabouts per square kilometre, has fooled other news outlets in the past.

As of the time of writing, Yahoo News UK carried an article from 2020 summarising the one from Cwmbran Life as real information.

Search results indicated that news service UPI also carried such an article, but that it has now been removed.

Misinformation

Guinness World Records does have a genuine entry for the most roundabouts in a single roundabout, with the award going to Plough Roundabout in Hemel Hempstead, built in 1973 with six roundabouts linked within a single large roundabout.

Google’s AI Overviews were ridiculed when testing began last year after they generated false information, for instance saying people could obtain minerals by eating rocks or recommending that users could use glue to secure cheese to pizza.

Apple’s AI notification summary feature previously generated several false news headlines after wrongly summarising multiple BBC News notifications, leading Apple to suspend the feature.