Google has removed AI Overview from certain medical search queries after an investigation by. guardian We have discovered a feature that provides potentially misleading health-related information.
The study found that when users browsed to search for questions such as “What are the normal ranges for a liver blood test,” Google's AI overview showed simplified reference ranges that didn't take into account several factors, including ethnicity, age, gender, and nationality.
Experts warned that this could lead to users mistakenly believing the test results were normal.
As per guardianSearches such as “What is the normal range for a liver blood test” or “Normal range for a liver function test” no longer show AI summaries.
However, previously variations such as “LFT Reference Range” continued to trigger AI-generated summaries. As of January 11, some of these queries no longer generated AI summaries, but Google still gave users the option to ask the question in AI mode.
A Google spokesperson said: guardian The company did not comment on individual deletions, but said it was preparing to make significant improvements.
Vanessa Hebditch from the British Liver Trust welcomed the removal, but warned that disabling AI summaries for certain searches does not acknowledge widespread concerns about using AI-generated summaries for health-related information.
However, Alphabet's Google has not yet officially acknowledged it.
