Artificial intelligence is increasingly being integrated into Google services, sometimes in ways that raise eyebrows. As noted by The Verge journalists, Google has begun testing the replacement of article headlines in Google Discover with automatically generated versions that do not always accurately reflect the content of the publications.
In some instances, the rewritten headlines were misleading. For example, Google Discover displayed an Ars Technica article with the headline "Steam Machine price revealed", while the original piece only discussed the device's design without revealing any pricing information from Valve. The Engadget editorial team also observed another aspect of the experiment: original headlines were accompanied by generated short summaries.
Google labels these elements as "Generated with AI, which can make mistakes," but this has not stopped users from criticizing the new feature for potential misinformation.
Google representative Mallory DeLeon informed The Verge that it is a "small UI experiment" for a portion of Discover users. According to her, the goal is to "alter the layout of headlines to make it easier to familiarize oneself with topics before moving on to other materials."
Despite this, the experiment raises concerns among online media, with whom Google has previously clashed over the use of their texts in search and news services. In past years, publishers have repeatedly demanded compensation for displaying their content, and Google has responded by limiting access to their materials in search.
At the same time, Google continues to more actively integrate AI into its main search. Google Search Vice President Robby Stein announced that the company is testing the combination of AI Mode and AI Overviews on a single mobile search screen, making AI suggestions more prominent and influential in the results.
