Google scraps AI search feature that crowdsourced amateur medical advice
Google has dropped a new artificial intelligence search feature that gave users crowdsourced health advice from amateurs around the world,The company had said its launch of “What People Suggest”, which provided tips from strangers, showed “the potential of AI to transform health outcomes across the globe”,But Google has since quietly removed the feature, according to three people familiar with the decision,A Google spokesperson confirmed “What People Suggest” had been scrapped,The move came as part of a “broader simplification” of its search page and had nothing to do with the quality or safety of the new feature, the spokesperson said.
The revelation comes as the company faces mounting scrutiny over its use of AI to provide millions of users with health information and advice.In January, a Guardian investigation found people were being put at risk of harm by false and misleading health information in Google AI Overviews.The AI-generated summaries are shown to 2 billion people a month, and appear above traditional search results on the world’s most visited website.Google initially sought to downplay the Guardian’s findings.The AI Overviews that alarmed independent experts linked to reputable sources and recommended seeking expert advice, the company said.
Days later, Google removed AI Overviews for some but not all medical queries,In March last year at an event in New York, Google said it planned to expand medical-related AI summaries in search,The company said it was adding a new feature, “What People Suggest”, which aimed to provide users with information from people with similar lived medical experiences,On the day of “The Check Up” event, Karen DeSalvo, then Google’s chief health officer, wrote a blog post outlining why the company was launching the new feature, and how it would help users,“While people come to search to find reliable medical information from experts, they also value hearing from others who have similar experiences,” wrote DeSalvo.
“That’s why we’re making it even easier to find this type of information on Search with a new feature labelled ‘What People Suggest’,“Using AI, we’re able to organize different perspectives from online discussions into easy-to-understand themes, helping you quickly grasp what people are saying,For example, a person dealing with arthritis might want to know how others with this condition exercise,“With this feature, they can quickly uncover real insights from people who also have the condition, with links to click out and learn more,”The feature was initially made available on mobile devices in the US.
Three people said “What People Suggest” had since been dropped.“It’s dead,” said one person familiar with the decision.If you have something to share about this story you can contact Andrew using one of the following methods:The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories.Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs.This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said.
If you don’t already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu,Select ‘Secure Messaging’,If you don’t need a high level of security or confidentiality you can email andrew,gregory@theguardian,comFinally, our guide at theguardian.
com/tips lists several ways to contact us securely, and discusses the pros and cons of each.A Google spokesperson said: “This feature was turned down months ago as part of a broader simplification of the search results page, which we shared publicly.”When the Guardian asked where the news was “shared publicly”, the spokesperson pointed to a blog post from November last year written by John Mueller, a search advocate at Google Switzerland.The post makes no mention of “What People Suggest”.Asked whether safety was a factor in the decision to scrap “What People Suggest”, the spokesperson said: “It had nothing to do with the quality or safety of the feature, and we continue to help people find reliable health information from a range of sources, including forums with first-person perspectives that people find incredibly useful.
”Google’s next “The Check Up” event is on Tuesday.Chief health officer Michael Howell and other company staff will “share how we’re bringing together new AI research, technological innovations and partnerships to help address some of the world’s most pressing health challenges”.
Thames Water lenders float new £10bn rescue plan
Thames Water’s lenders have put forward a £10bn rescue plan that would involve paying off the troubled water company’s hundreds of millions of pounds-worth of fines for leaks and pollution, as part of an effort to stave off financial collapse.A group of private equity firms and investment groups said they would inject about £3.35bn of cash into Thames Water and raise £6.65bn in debt, in exchange for the company not falling into a government-handled administration, in effect a temporary nationalisation.Bills for Thames Water’s 16 million customers in south-east England are already due to rise steeply until 2030 but the rescue plan would, at least, hold them at that level rather than pushing them even higher
Taxpayer bill for saving Scunthorpe steel furnaces could top £1.5bn by 2028, auditor says
The cost of keeping the UK’s last remaining blast furnaces going at British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant could exceed £1.5bn by 2028 if it continues at its current rate, according to the government’s spending watchdog.Ministers took the plant into public control in April last year, after its Chinese owner – industrial firm Jingye – threatened to shut down the loss-making site.The National Audit Office (NAO), which monitors state spending, said the intervention saved thousands of jobs at Scunthorpe and prevented a “serious impact” on UK industry, including Network Rail, which buys steel for the railways from the plant.Shutting the plant would also have ended Britain’s “primary” steel-making ability because blast furnaces allow steel to be made from scratch, rather than relying on scrap metal
AI has exposed age-old problems with university coursework | Letter
The frustration many academics are expressing about artificial intelligence and critical thinking is understandable (‘I wish I could push ChatGPT off a cliff’: professors scramble to save critical thinking in an age of AI, 10 March). But from my experience working with students on academic writing, blaming AI risks masking a problem that universities have lived with for years.In my work with students, I have long seen the ways in which thinking can be outsourced when assessment allows it: essay mills, shared past papers, model essays passed between cohorts, or heavy reliance on tutors and friends to structure assignments. Artificial intelligence did not invent this behaviour. It has simply industrialised a shortcut that already existed
Trump administration reportedly set to be paid $10bn for brokering TikTok deal
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Sydney Swans admit to altering Bondi attack tribute to omit mention of Jewish community
The Sydney Swans have again apologised for the club’s “error of judgment” that resulted in the Jewish community not being mentioned in the AFL’s opening round pre-match tribute to victims of the Bondi terror attack.In a statement on Monday, the club attempted to absolve the AFL of any blame after the league was referred to the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion by Liberal senator James Paterson.Before the Swans’ season-opening game against Carlton at the SCG, Sydney’s chief executive, Matthew Pavlich, led a tribute to victims of the Bondi attack and first responders, some of whom joined the teams on the field.The club has now apologised multiple times, after journalist and former player Gerard Healy revealed Pavlich’s speech had been edited to remove references to the Jewish community.“There was no directive or instruction from the AFL to remove or change the reference to the Jewish Community in the script,” the club said in a statement
Cheltenham raised a cheer – but fatalities and fallouts tainted bounce-back festival
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