Was that a long read? I’ll make it easier…
What is the story
Google is expanding its AI Overviews feature, which provides precise answers to complex web queries, to six more countries.
The expansion includes India, Japan, Mexico, Indonesia, Brazil and the United Kingdom.
This move came less than three months after the film’s rocky debut in the United States.
The service will support both English and local languages in these new regions.
Google’s AI Overview Feature: A Brief History
The AI Overviews feature first rolled out in the US, where it initially encountered some issues. It recommended that users eat “at least one small stone a day” for healthy digestion. In another case, AI Overviews recommended adding glue to pizza sauce to keep the cheese from sliding off.
In response to these issues, Google introduced additional safeguards in May, including restrictions on the types of queries that enabled the feature and a reduction in satirical or humorous content.
Google’s approach to language-specific testing
Hema Budaraju, senior director of product management for search at Google, acknowledged the challenges associated with quality assurance across languages and integrating large language models (LLMs).
To avoid similar problems in other languages such as Hindi or Japanese, Google has conducted language-specific tests of the AI overviews.
They have also deployed red teaming, a strategy to assess how systems respond to potential threats from malicious entities.
AI overviews for prominent display of source links
To increase transparency, Google now clearly displays links to sources on the right side of each AI-generated answer.
This change is intended to make it easier for users to access the original website from which the answer came.
For a select group of users, links are also embedded directly into the text of the AI overviews.
Additional features for Search Labs users
Users who choose Search Labs, Google’s platform for testing future features, have access to additional features.
These include the ability to “save” a specific AI summary for later reference and an option to simplify the language of an AI-generated response.
In India in particular, the feature will be available in English and Hindi in the coming weeks.
