Google is now using AI to change search headlines

In a not-so-shocking turn of events, it now looks like Google Search is incorporating generative AI to make questionable changes to the headlines of its search results. Google Search has been a trustworthy search engine for people of all kinds since its inception, with a very straightforward "what you see is what you get" approach. Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced plans to integrate AI into search in 2025, and now it seems they are expanding on it even further.

In a recent discovery by The Verge, it seems like Google is putting its own unwelcome twist on several headlines using the power of our "good" friend, generative AI. The Verge uncovered multiple instances in which Google replaced headlines it had written with new ones that sometimes detracted from the original meaning.

One particularly egregious example was that the headline "I used the 'cheat on everything' AI tool, and it didn't help me cheat on anything" was changed to "Cheat on everything AI tool." This was particularly infuriating, as it almost entirely changes the meaning the article's author was trying to convey. The new AI-generated headline can easily be mistaken for a product endorsement rather than the scathing criticism it was.

Google spokespeople responded to a query from The Verge, stating that the changes were part of a "small" and "narrow" experiment that had not yet been approved for a full launch. Google's words do not fill us with confidence that this practice will not become mainstream in the near future.

Google claims that the new dynamically generated headlines are based on user context, search history, location, and other personalized factors. This means that the same webpage can be displayed with different headlines depending on who's typing the search query.

According to Google spokesperson Mallory De Leon, the test currently uses generative AI, but the company does not plan to use it for the full release.

"If we were to actually launch something based on this experiment, it would not be using a generative model, and we would not be creating headlines with generative AI."

- De Leon responded to The Verge

Now, a sliver of good news is that these headlines seem uncommon and not that egregious in the few examples we have seen. Mostly, Google just seems to be shortening every headline into a digestible 4-to-5-word package. However, it is fair to say that the short, boring headlines do not convey the full meaning the publisher intended.

Google is firm on its stance that this is a very limited experiment; however, it also claimed that the AI-generated headlines found in Google Discover earlier this year were an experiment. They ended up making the feature permanent after all, which does not bode well for the future of Google Search.