An anonymous reader shared this report from The Verge: In early December, I brought you the news that Google has begun replacing Verge headlines, and those of our competitors, with AI clickbait nonsense in its content feed [which appears on the leftmost homescreen page of many Android phones and the Google app's homepage]. Google appeared to be backing away from the experiment, but now tells The Verge that its AI headlines in Google Discover are a feature, one that "performs well for user satisfaction." I once again see lots of misleading claims every time I check my phone... For example, Google's AI claimed last week that "US reverses foreign drone ban," citing and linking to this PCMag story for the news. That's not just false — PCMag took pains to explain that it's false in the story that Google links to...! What does the author of that PCMag story think? "It makes me feel icky," Jim Fisher tells me over the phone. "I'd encourage people to click on stories and read them, and not trust what Google is spoon-feeding them." He says Google should be using the headline that humans wrote, and if Google needs a summary, it can use the ones that publications already submit to help search engines parse our work. Google claims it's not rewriting headlines. It characterizes these new offerings as "trending topics," even though each "trending topic" presents itself as one of our stories, links to our stories, and uses our images, all without competent fact-checking to ensure the AI is getting them right... The AI is also no longer restricted to roughly four words per headline, so I no longer see nonsense headlines like "Microsoft developers using AI" or "AI tag debate heats." (Instead, I occasionally see tripe like "Fares: Need AAA & AA Games" or "Dispatch sold millions; few avoided romance.") But Google's AI has no clue what parts of these stories are new, relevant, significant, or true, and it can easily confuse one story for another. On December 26th, Google told me that "Steam Machine price & HDMI details emerge." They hadn't. On January 11th, Google proclaimed that "ASUS ROG Ally X arrives." (It arrived in 2024; the new Xbox Ally arrived months ago.) On January 20th, it wrote that "Glasses-free 3D tech wows," introducing readers to "New 3D tech called Immensity from Leia" — but linking to this TechRadar story about an entirely different company called Visual Semiconductor... Google declined our request for an interview to more fully explain the idea. The site Android Police spotted more inaccurate headlines in December: A story from 9to5Google, which was actually titled 'Don't buy a Qi2 25W wireless charger hoping for faster speeds — just get the 'slower' one instead' was retitled as 'Qi2 slows older Pixels.' Similarly, Ars Technica's 'Valve's Steam Machine looks like a console, but don't expect it to be priced like one' was changed to 'Steam Machine price revealed.' At the time, we believed that the inaccuracies were due to the feature being unstable and in early testing.... Now, Google has stopped calling Discover replacing human-written headlines as an "experiment." "Google buries a 'Generated with AI, which can make mistakes' message under the 'See more' button in the summary," reports 9to5Google, "making it look like this is the publisher's intended headline." While it is obvious that Google has refined this feature over the past couple of months, it doesn't take long to still find plenty of misleading headlines throughout Discover... Another article from NotebookCheck about an Anker power bank with a retractable cable was given a headline that's about another product entirely. A pair of headlines from Tom's Hardware and PCMag, meanwhile, show the two sides of using AI for this purpose. The Tom's Hardware headline, "Free GPU & Amazon Scams," isn't representative of the actual article, which is about someone who bought a GPU from Amazon, canceled their order, and the retailer shipped it anyway. There's nothing about "Amazon Scams" in the article.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

We’re about to get our first real look at the results of the recently announced AI partnership between Apple and Google.

Google Sheets is hiding a massive productivity feature in plain sight: the timeline builder. It's dynamic, it's colorful, and best of all, it updates itself. So, forget the manual formatting—here's how to build your own visualized project tracker in just five minutes.

If your Gmail account doesn’t seem to be working properly today, you’re not alone.

I used to spend a lot of time commuting, but these days I’m lucky enough to work remotely. My wife isn’t. She drives about 20 miles each way on busy highways, and like a lot of people, I worry about her every time she pulls out of the driveway. Late last year, I bought her a dashcam. It’s nothing fancy, just something recording in the background, but she really likes it and says it gives her peace of mind. That alone made it feel worth it to me.

A massive unsecured database exposed 149 million logins, raising concerns over infostealer malware and credential theft.

The post Data Leak Exposes 149M Logins, Including Gmail, Facebook appeared first on TechRepublic.

A massive unsecured database exposed 149 million logins, raising concerns over infostealer malware and credential theft.

The post Data Leak Exposes 149M Logins, Including Gmail, Facebook appeared first on TechRepublic.

Jan. 20–23 recap: Code went corporeal as Big Tech bet on bodies, and your weekend chores suddenly look negotiable.

The post Daily Tech Insider Spotlights the Week Silicon Sprouted Legs and Lanyards appeared first on TechRepublic.

Jan. 20–23 recap: Code went corporeal as Big Tech bet on bodies, and your weekend chores suddenly look negotiable.

The post Daily Tech Insider Spotlights the Week Silicon Sprouted Legs and Lanyards appeared first on TechRepublic.

The addition is meant to just be a fun way to explore your photos and experiment with Google's Gemini AI technology, and specifically Nano Banana.

The visit comes as New Delhi prepares to host a major AI summit expected to draw top executives from Meta, Google, and Anthropic. This will be Altman's first visit to the country in nearly a year.

Google Photos is rolling out a new AI feature called Me Meme that lets you recreate trending memes with photos of yourself.

The post Google Photos introduces a fun new way to turn yourself into a meme appeared first on Digital Trends.

Waze has started a wider rollout of previously announced road alerts, navigation improvements, and personalized routing, enhancing driver awareness and safety after delays since 2024.

The post Waze expands speed bump, toll, and emergency vehicle alerts worldwide appeared first on Digital Trends.

Google Search is adding new features to Personal Intelligence in AI mode, allowing it to pull context from Gmail and Photos so it can answer questions that depend on your own history.

The post Google Search can now answer questions using your Gmail and Photos in AI mode appeared first on Digital Trends.

It's no secret that students worldwide use AI chatbots to do their homework and avoid learning things. On the flip side, students can also use AI as a tool to beef up their knowledge and plan for the future with flashcards or study guides. Google hopes its latest Gemini feature will help with the latter. The company has announced that Gemini can now create free SAT practice tests and coach students to help them get higher scores.

As a standardized test, the content of the SAT follows a predictable pattern. So there's no need to use a lengthy, personalized prompt to get Gemini going. Just say something like, "I want to take a practice SAT test," and the chatbot will generate one complete with clickable buttons, graphs, and score analysis.

Of course, generative AI can go off the rails and provide incorrect information, which is a problem when you're trying to learn things. However, Google says it has worked with education firms like The Princeton Review to ensure the AI-generated tests resemble what students will see in the real deal.

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Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis says the tech giant isn't pressuring him to insert ads into the AI chatbot experience.

Students can prompt Gemini by typing "I want to take a practice SAT test,” and the AI will provide them with a free practice exam. Gemini then analyzes the results, highlighting strengths and identifying areas that need further review. It also offers detailed explanations for any incorrect answers. 

Is your child’s data safe? Google settles for $8.25M over claims it tracked kids under 13 without parental…

Gemini in Chrome is rolling out to Chromebooks on ChromeOS 144, bringing page summaries and tab-aware answers as Google expands AI in its browser.

The post The Wait Is Over: Chromebooks Finally Get Gemini in Chrome appeared first on TechRepublic.

Gemini in Chrome is rolling out to Chromebooks on ChromeOS 144, bringing page summaries and tab-aware answers as Google expands AI in its browser.

The post The Wait Is Over: Chromebooks Finally Get Gemini in Chrome appeared first on TechRepublic.