Already seen it, thank you!
Already seen it, thank you!
Google glitches hit different in an AI-filtered world
A funny thing happens when you search the phrase “Roe v. Wade overturned” on Google: The search engine assumes “Roe v. Wade Overturned” is … a deeply unpopular TV show.1
A Google Knowledge Box invites you to watch the trailer. A prominent yellow button supplies dozens of “reviews.” You can even bookmark “Roe v. Wade Overturned” to watch later. (Already seen it, thank you!)
I can’t immediately guess at how this happened, except to theorize that it relates to Google’s Knowledge Graph — the “giant virtual encyclopedia of facts” that powers Google Knowledge Panels, Google Assistant and various other services where Google confidently dispenses unattributed information like some Old Testament God handing down inscribed tablets.
As of 2020, Knowledge Graph contained more than 500 billion data points. (I hesitate to call them facts.) “Inaccuracies in the Knowledge Graph can occasionally happen,” Google acknowledged at the time, because the search engine relies in part on “automatic systems” to surface and scrape information for the graph. Most of these inaccuracies don’t matter, I’d wager. The Roe v. Wade thing is dumb, not dangerous.
But Knowledge Graph glitches also hit different at a moment when Google and its competitors are seeking to filter more information through AI. Since May, Google has experimented with a generative AI feature, called Search Generative Experience, that summarizes the results of users’ queries and answers questions in real time. That may multiply these types of errors; it will almost certainly change our relationship with the wider internet.
Google, for its part, lets you flag these little errors as “misleading,” “outdated,” “incomplete” or “incorrect.” They all feel a little inadequate, though! You understand why people hit that thumbs down button, instead.
If you read anything this weekend
“Being 13,” by Jessica Bennett for The New York Times. I’m relieved the latest entry in the “girls” discourse takes actual children as its subject — three of them, specifically, all 13, and all navigating the age with such high drama and vulnerability that I felt more than a little triggered by it. I don’t interact with a lot of kids, but I felt like this got me into their heads/feeds/phones.
“Alex Cooper Went From Raunchy Podcaster to Gen-Z’s Barbara Walters,” by EJ Dickson for Rolling Stone. “What did Barbara Walters ever do to deserve this?” I thought to myself. But then Dickson almost maybe kinda convinced me that the host of “Call Your Daddy” has metamorphosed into some kind of quasi-journalistic genius.
“Airbnb Really Is Different Now,” by Kate Lindsay for The Atlantic. It’s not just the chore lists, the cleaning fees or the interchangeable Ikea decor: Airbnb is a marketplace for professionalized short-term rental firms now — and not a “gig” platform at all anymore.
“Best Foot Forward,” by Ziwe for The New Yorker. “WikiFeet is one of the most innocuous demonstrations of the pros and cons of being a famous woman. The pros, of course, are celebrity, fortune, and an unlimited supply of fedoras that you could only ever dream of. The con is a total invasion of privacy wherein strangers rank your body parts on a message board.”
“Who The Hell Are 2girls1bottl3?” By Nicolaia Rips for The Face. Much like enigmatic TikTok sensations 2girls1bottl3, this article toes some blurry line between art and parody and social media hype that I’ve not the taste nor education to sort out. Are they brilliant performance artists? Are they just hot weird girls wearing wigs? I really couldn’t tell you, but I’ve spent a not-insignificant portion of the past week thinking about it (!).
👉 ICYMI: The most-clicked link from the last newsletter was Max Read’s history of fake Apple text messages.
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Postscripts
The wild economics of airline points. The history of anti-glasses influencers. Why AI firms hire poets and microwaves remain mediocre. Airbnb’s party-prediction algorithm. Chatbots for your chores. 12-step programs for those who don’t want to be extremely online anymore.
RIP Scantrons and online “town squares.” (Man, I already forgot about Threads!) The countries that own .ai and .tv. The best times to buy concert tickets. “Intertextuality is the language of Gen Z.” Surface of Wikipedia. Last but not least: TikTok Shop is littered with cheap — and, uh, parasitic — knock-offs.
That’s it for this week! Until the next one. Warmest virtual regards.
— Caitlin
This is a bit of a shot in the dark, but — I was not Googling Roe v. Wade for my health!! I’m working on a story about Americans who haven’t been able to access the drug mifepristone to manage a miscarriage. If that’s you, first off, I’m so sorry. But please get in touch if you’d like to share. I can assure you I’m very sensitive to requests for privacy, etc.