Google just removed AI Overviews for certain medical searches, and what they were telling people is deeply concerning

Google removed some of its AI-generated answers after a news investigation found the feature was giving out misleading health information. The Guardian discovered that Google’s AI Overviews were showing incorrect medical advice when people searched for certain health topics. The tech giant acted quickly to take down the dangerous content after being confronted with the findings.

One major problem was with liver test results. When users typed “what is the normal range for liver blood tests,” Google’s AI showed numbers without explaining that these ranges change based on things like age, sex, nationality, and ethnicity. This could make people think their test results were fine when they actually weren’t, potentially causing them to ignore serious health problems that needed medical attention.

According to TechCrunch, after The Guardian reported this issue, Google took down the AI answers for some of these searches. Queries like “what is the normal range for liver blood tests” and “what is the normal range for liver function tests” no longer show AI-generated summaries. Google has not commented on whether it plans to review other medical AI overviews for similar accuracy problems.

The removal only fixes part of a bigger problem

However, people could still get AI-generated answers by typing slightly different versions of the same question. Searches like “lft reference range” or “lft test reference range” were still showing AI summaries, though these also appear to have been removed now.

When tested hours after The Guardian’s story came out, none of these searches showed AI Overviews anymore. In many cases, The Guardian’s article about the removal appeared as the top search result instead. This isn’t the first time Google has had to address problems with its keyboard and software features.

A Google spokesperson told The Guardian that the company doesn’t talk about specific removals from search results, but said they work on making “broad improvements.” The spokesperson also said Google’s team of doctors reviewed the searches The Guardian highlighted and found that “in many instances, the information was not inaccurate.”

Google has been trying to make its search better for health questions. Last year, the company announced new features to improve healthcare searches, including better overviews and health-focused AI models. The company has also been working on improving Gmail’s email writing features to help users communicate better.

Vanessa Hebditch from the British Liver Trust called the removal “excellent news” but said, “Our bigger concern with all this is that it is nit-picking a single search result and Google can just shut off the AI Overviews for that but it’s not tackling the bigger issue of AI Overviews for health.”