“Many of the examples we’ve seen have been uncommon queries, and we’ve also seen examples that were doctored or that we couldn’t reproduce,” the spokesperson said. “We’re taking swift action where appropriate under our content policies, and using these examples to develop broader improvements to our systems, some of which have already started to roll out.“
As synthetic content grows, so does the likelihood of errors
As the amount of synthetically generated content increases on the web, so does the risk of inaccuracies. By 2026, experts project that 90% of online content will be AI-generated, raising concerns that AI Overview could unwittingly amplify misleading content.
Google’s push for AI-generated answers has also been controversial for denting publisher revenue, with some experiencing cuts in referral traffic by as much as 80% after using that content to train AI models.
On the flip side, publishers including Axel Springer, Dotdash Meredith, The Financial Times and most recently News Corp have struck deals with ChatGPT maker OpenAI to have content used in ChatGPT outputs.
“This is another demonstration of why Google, OpenAI and others should be aggressively pursuing licensing arrangements with premium publishers that have a track record of creating trusted content,” said Jason Kint, CEO of Digital Content Next. “And brands are proxies for that trust both with consumers and advertisers.”
