How many ‘P’s are in Google? Just two, according to Google’s AI. And it has its quirks: it says there’s one ‘r’ in “poop” but spelled “journalism” as j-o-u-r-n-a-d-i-s-m. While it managed to identify one ‘P’ in President Trump’s last name, it misspelled it.
Google’s recent push to incorporate AI into its search engine is not without hiccups. In the past, it misquoted satirical posts, suggesting users eat rocks and glue on pizza. Now, as Google continues to bet on generative AI, the slip-ups aren’t surprising.
Google stated to TechCrunch, “Counting within words has been a known challenge for LLMs, and we’re working to fix this particular issue.” Many users chuckle at these spelling errors, which seem almost childlike in their simplicity. But it reflects a bigger issue with AI technology.
Language models (LLMs), like those used by Google, have trouble with basic spelling. When these models process text, they don’t read it the way people do. Instead, they break down words into ‘tokens,’ which can be entire words or just parts of them. Matthew Guzdial, an AI researcher, explained, “When it sees ‘the,’ it has an encoding of what ‘the’ means but doesn’t know about the letters or even the word itself.”
These limitations aren’t surprising. Sheridan Feucht, a PhD student at Northeastern University, noted that defining what constitutes a “word” for these models is tricky. Even experts might struggle to agree on a perfect way to tokenize language.
Despite the fun and oddity of these errors, they’re a reminder that AI isn’t infallible. A recent survey found that about 70% of users are wary of trusting AI outputs without additional verification. This skepticism is healthy, as it encourages a critical view toward technology that many consider groundbreaking.
In conclusion, while AI continues to evolve, it still faces significant challenges, especially with language. The laughter these mistakes inspire serves as a reminder: always double-check those AI-generated results. AI may seem smart, but it’s not always correct.
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