Google has seemingly disabled its AI Overviews for several health-related searches after a Guardian investigation revealed they were providing inaccurate information.
The Guardian’s initial report highlighted that queries like “what is the normal range for liver blood tests” yielded generic numbers, failing to consider individual factors like nationality, sex, ethnicity, or age. This omission could potentially mislead users into believing their test results were normal when they were not.
Currently, the Guardian states that AI Overviews no longer appear for searches such as “what is the normal range for liver blood tests” and “what is the normal range for liver function tests.” Nevertheless, the investigation noted that similar phrasing, like “;lft reference range”; or “;lft test reference range,”; might still produce AI-generated summaries.
My own tests this morning, conducted hours after the Guardian’s report, showed no AI Overviews for these queries, though Google did offer the option to engage AI Mode for the same search. Interestingly, the Guardian’s article detailing the removals often appeared as the top search result.
A Google representative informed the Guardian that while the company refrains from commenting on “;individual removals within Search,”; it is dedicated to “;making broad improvements.”; The spokesperson further mentioned that an internal clinical team reviewed the Guardian’s highlighted queries and determined that “;in many instances, the information was not inaccurate and was also supported by high quality websites.”;
TechCrunch has sought further comment from Google. It’s worth noting that last year, Google unveiled new functionalities designed to enhance Google Search for healthcare applications, such as refined overviews and specialized AI models for health.
Vanessa Hebditch, Director of Communications and Policy at the British Liver Trust, described the removal as “;excellent news.”; However, she expressed a larger concern, stating, “;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.”;