Description: Google's search AI erroneously claimed no African country begins with 'K', along with various other geography-and-letter-based questions, misguiding users with a flawed featured snippet. Originating from ChatGPT-written posts and inaccurately scraped by Google, this incident highlights issues in AI-generated content and misinformation in search results, compromising Google's reliability as an information source.
Editor Notes: Incident 609 is occasionally being referenced in reports associated with Incident 693.
Entities
View all entitiesIncident Stats
Risk Subdomain
A further 23 subdomains create an accessible and understandable classification of hazards and harms associated with AI
3.1. False or misleading information
Risk Domain
The Domain Taxonomy of AI Risks classifies risks into seven AI risk domains: (1) Discrimination & toxicity, (2) Privacy & security, (3) Misinformation, (4) Malicious actors & misuse, (5) Human-computer interaction, (6) Socioeconomic & environmental harms, and (7) AI system safety, failures & limitations.
- Misinformation
Entity
Which, if any, entity is presented as the main cause of the risk
AI
Timing
The stage in the AI lifecycle at which the risk is presented as occurring
Post-deployment
Intent
Whether the risk is presented as occurring as an expected or unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal
Unintentional
Incident Reports
Reports Timeline
There is no easy way to explain the sum of Google’s knowledge. It is ever-expanding. Endless. A growing web of hundreds of billions of websites, more data than even 100,000 of the most expensive iPhones mashed together could possibly store.…
Google's AI-powered search doesn't understand geography. Or, apparently, the alphabet. And definitely not both at the same time.
It all started when a Bluesky user declared that Google is now "dead." They included a screenshot of Google's f…
Variants
A "variant" is an AI incident similar to a known case—it has the same causes, harms, and AI system. Instead of listing it separately, we group it under the first reported incident. Unlike other incidents, variants do not need to have been reported outside the AIID. Learn more from the research paper.
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