Consumentenbond: Google must allow users to opt out of often inaccurate AI overview

The “AI overview” that now appears when users type a search query into Google is often flawed, and Google does not allow users to permanently disable this AI function. That has to change, the Consumentenbond, the Dutch Consumers’ Association, said on Thursday.

“The Google AI function is enabled by default and cannot be turned off. We find this objectionable, especially if the answers are incorrect,” Consumentenbond director Sandra Molenaar said.

The Consumentenbond asked Google 100 complex questions about consumer law, health, nutrition, and sustainability. The search engine provided an AI overview answer for 70 of these questions. Twenty of those overviews were “too commercial, too assertive, not nuanced, or outdated,” the association said. “For example, Google offered advice on booking a sustainable cruise, even though cruises are extremely polluting. And Google provided a step-by-step guide for a Skype call with the US, even though Skype has been offline for several months.”

The Consumentenbond also pointed out that AI searches often consume more energy than regular searches, and Google won’t allow people to not use this function, forcing them to make more unsustainable choices. Google says that the power consumption of its AI answers is about the same as for a traditional search, but “the Google search engine uses a combination of old search technology and AI answers.” So that cannot be the case.

The AI overview, often placed at the top of the search results, also causes unfair competition “because Google favors its AI overview over other search results.” That is prohibited by the Digital Markets Act. The Consumentenbond has therefore raised the issue with the European umbrella organization for consumers’ associations, BEUC.