Google has dumped a new artificial intelligence search feature that gave users crowdsourced health advice from amateurs around the world – not because of any problems, it claims, but as part of a “broader simplification” of its search page, reports The Guardian.
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 it has since removed the feature, say sources.
A Google spokesperson confirmed “What People Suggest” had been scrapped but denied it was linked to the quality or safety of the new feature.
The company has been dealing with mounting scrutiny over its use of AI to provide millions of users with health information and advice, and comes in the wake of a Guardian probe earlier this year which 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 2bn 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.
Build-up
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 organise 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.
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.”
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