Google informs us it’s a ‘minor UI test for a select group of Discover users.’
Google informs us it’s a ‘minor UI test for a select group of Discover users.’
Did you know that BG3 players exploit children? Are you aware that Qi2 slows older Pixels? If we crafted those misleading titles, our audience would be furious — yet Google is starting to replace original titles on articles it delivers with AI-generated absurdities like that.
I consume a lot of my nighttime news via Google Discover, also known as “swipe right on your Samsung Galaxy or Google Pixel homescreen until a news feed appears,” and that’s the platform where these new AI titles are appearing.
They aren’t all terrible. For instance, “Origami model wins award” and “Hyundai, Kia gain market share” appear acceptable, even if not as engaging as the original titles. (“Hyundai and Kia are outperforming their rivals as US market share hits a new record” and “14-year-old wins award for origami that can support 10,000 times its own weight” sound like they actually merit a click!)
However, in what seems like an effort to condense every story into four words or fewer, Google’s latest headline initiative is applying numerous misleading and nonsensical headlines to journalists’ work, all with minimal notification that Google’s AI is transforming them.
The very first one I encountered was “Steam Machine pricing disclosed,” which it certainly was not! Valve won’t disclose that until next year. Ars Technica’s original title was the far more sensible “Valve’s Steam Machine resembles a console, but don’t expect it to be priced like one.”
“Microsoft developers utilizing AI”? No kidding, Sherlock. (That headline was tacked on my colleague Tom Warren’s article about “How Microsoft’s developers are utilizing AI” — Google omitted the two words that convert a bland title into a genuine one!)
I also observed Google attempting to assert that “AMD GPU surpasses Nvidia,” as if AMD had unveiled a groundbreaking graphics card, when the actual Wccftech coverage is about how a single German retailer managed to sell more AMD units than Nvidia within a single week. Wccftech’s title was relatively sound, but Google turned it into clickbait.
Then there are headlines that simply lack clarity without context, a mistake real human editors avoid fervently. What does “Schedule 1 agriculture backup” imply? How about “AI tagging argument intensifies”?
Let it be clear, the issue isn’t simply that these AI-generated headlines are poor. It’s that Google is undermining our ability to promote our own work, similar to if we authored a book and the bookstore chose to substitute its cover.
We strive diligently to create headlines that draw in readers, ones that accurately summarize the news, ones that clarify why a story is important immediately and generate excitement when justified. (Does my title for this article seem appropriately enthusiastic?) Yet Google appears to believe it can simply supplant these titles, potentially confusing our audience and implying that we’re the creators of clickbait, as our publications’ identities are right next to them.
Google does indicate that something regarding these news items is “Generated with AI, which can commit errors,” but not what specifically, and users only view that notice if they click the “See more” button:
It’s far too simple for readers to assume we intentionally submit our articles to Google Discover with these headlines.
The silver lining is, this is a trial by Google. If there’s sufficient pushback, the company is unlikely to continue. “These images depict a minor UI trial for certain Discover users,” Google spokesperson Mallory Deleon informs The Verge. “We are evaluating a new design that modifies the positioning of existing titles to enhance topic details before users explore links from different sources online.”
However, the overarching trend at Google has been to prioritize its own offerings, detracting from directing traffic to news websites. While the company claims it isn’t harming the web with AI search, you would struggle to find a news platform that concurs, and even Google has confessed in court that “the open web is currently in rapid decline.”
This is why The Verge now offers a subscription: We can’t endure Google Zero without your support.
