Google has stopped showing AI-generated summaries for certain health-related searches.
Google has removed AI Overviews for searches like “what is the normal range for liver blood tests” and “what is the normal range for liver function tests.”
However, variations of these searches, such as “lft reference range” or “lft test reference range,” can still trigger AI-generated summaries.
Google has removed AI-generated summaries, known as AI Overviews, for certain health-related searches following a report by The Guardian. The investigation highlighted that some AI Overviews were providing misleading information that could affect users’ understanding of their health. For example, the Guardian reported that when users asked, “what is the normal range for liver blood tests,” the AI Overviews gave numbers that didn’t consider important factors such as nationality, sex, ethnicity, or age. This could have led some people to incorrectly assume their test results were normal.
SurveyAfter the report, Google has now removed AI Overviews for searches like “what is the normal range for liver blood tests” and “what is the normal range for liver function tests.” However, variations of these searches, such as “lft reference range” or “lft test reference range,” can still trigger AI-generated summaries.
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A Google spokesperson told the Guardian that the company does not “comment on individual removals within Search,” but emphasised that it is working to “make broad improvements.” The spokesperson also said that an internal team of clinicians reviewed the queries highlighted by the Guardian and found that “in many instances, the information was not inaccurate and was also supported by high quality websites.”
Vanessa Hebditch, director of communications and policy at the British Liver Trust, called the removal “excellent news,” but added, “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.”
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Last year, Google introduced new features to improve healthcare searches. Despite these updates, concerns remain about the reliability of AI-generated medical information.
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Ayushi Jain
Ayushi works as Chief Copy Editor at Digit, covering everything from breaking tech news to in-depth smartphone reviews. Prior to Digit, she was part of the editorial team at IANS. View Full Profile
