If you're looking for advice from a search engine, make sure you take any results generated via AI with a grain of salt.
A Google user shared their less-than-super experience with the platform's artificial intelligence overview after they entered "what to do if you are attacked at a supercharger."
The prompt may have been designed to elicit a wacky response, and the plugin churned out this curious summary: "If you are attacked at a Tesla Supercharger, you can ask if you can leave, and if they say yes, thank them and leave or let them know you'll be leaving in a certain amount of time. If you're still unsure, you can ask for a supervisor or call Tesla."
Someone else tried again, and the AI overview produced another result that read in part: "If you are comfortable, you can ask the police if you are free to leave if you are surrounded by police cars at a Tesla Supercharger."
"Seriously Google?" the Reddit commenter asked.
While this exchange might seem innocuous, it highlights a problem with the growing use of AI. The data centers and supercomputers needed to power generative AI run 24/7, consuming vast amounts of electricity. Demand by these facilities is expected to more than double by 2026 from 2022 levels, Time reported.
The centers are also wreaking havoc on communities by using massive amounts of water to cool their machinery. Google itself has come under fire for engaging in this practice amid a record drought in South America.
In Uruguay, which is almost entirely reliant on renewable energy, changes were made to cool a planned data center with air conditioning instead. However, critics argue it will greatly increase the country's production of planet-warming polluting gases and toxic waste.
There are unquestionable benefits to such technology, including the ability for people to access information, for example. But that's hard to square with such bad user experiences and damage to our already besieged environment.
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And the Google plugin cannot be turned off, as another Redditor noted in a similar discussion about a not-quite-right overview in which the AI tried to differentiate sauces and dressings.
Google encourages users to "think critically" about the overview responses, though we're all waiting for the day when AI takes a step toward that uniquely human feature.
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