Google has dropped a new artificial intelligence search feature that gave users crowdsourced health advice from amateurs around the world.
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 Google has since quietly removed the feature, according to three people familiar with the decision.
A Google spokesperson confirmed “What People Suggest” had been scrapped. The move came as part of a “broader simplification” of its search page and had nothing to do with the quality or safety of the new feature, the spokesperson said.
The revelation comes as the company faces mounting scrutiny over its use of AI to provide millions of users with health information and advice.
In January, a Guardian investigation 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 2 billion 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.
The company had said the launch of What People Suggest tool showed ‘the potential of AI to transform health outcomes across the globe’. Photograph: Google
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 organize 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. “It’s dead,” said one person familiar with the decision.
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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.”
Google’s next “The Check Up” event is on Tuesday. Chief health officer Michael Howell and other company staff will “share how we’re bringing together new AI research, technological innovations and partnerships to help address some of the world’s most pressing health challenges”.
