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German ruling declares Google liable for false answers in AI Overviews

the-decoder.com

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Re: German ruling declares Google liable for false answers in AI Overviews

#11

Post by Kina »

incompatible wrote: post #9
Kina wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Pretty much the exact thing that Google AI Overview does. No, the article implies the court’s logic is that the AI search results are presented as search results and that’s a big part of why they are liable. It seems like the court (again, according to the article) does not find the disclaimers that Google has slapped on the AI results compelling because again, it chose to represent these as a summary of search res…

Apparently, if they were search results, they wouldn't have been liable, since there's an exception to defamation laws. Without any exception, defamation is defamation, it doesn't matter how it's presented.

Yes, if it was that a search result returned a defamatory article that Google had nothing to do with outside of indexing, it is likely they would not be found liable. The court is clearly trying to make a distinction that the AI search results are produced by Google and thus they can make an editorial decision on whether to publish it despite knowing that it is potentially defamatory.

Re: German ruling declares Google liable for false answers in AI Overviews

#12

Post by sandeepkd »

Kina wrote: post #8
tristanj wrote: post #5

Anyone know if this ruling applies to answers generated by AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT/Gemini/Claude? All three have the ability to perform a web search, then compose a reply based on the search results. Pretty much the exact thing that Google AI Overview does. This ruling may make them liable for false answers.

> Pretty much the exact thing that Google AI Overview does. No, the article implies the court’s logic is that the AI search results are presented as search results and that’s a big part of why they are liable. It seems like the court (again, according to the article) does not find the disclaimers that Google has slapped on the AI results compelling because again, it chose to represent these as a summary of search res…

> You sold this to people as a search summary, you know it might be full of crap and you chose to do it anyway

There is a subtle difference in stating it as a search summary compared to an opinionated answer. Most users are always going to treat it as a response from google instead of search results where the user is still responsible for understanding and come up with their own interpretation.

This is probably the right step in some sense to make one liable for their statements/assertions.

Re: German ruling declares Google liable for false answers in AI Overviews

#13

Post by [deleted] »

tristanj wrote: post #5

Anyone know if this ruling applies to answers generated by AI chatbots, such as ChatGPT/Gemini/Claude? All three have the ability to perform a web search, then compose a reply based on the search results. Pretty much the exact thing that Google AI Overview does. This ruling may make them liable for false answers.

[deleted]

Re: German ruling declares Google liable for false answers in AI Overviews

#14

Post by keyle »

I'm surprised this is even a thing. After all, you go to Google not for the truth, but to search Google. Since when is truthiness the "guarantee of service"?

You're not even paying for a google service, search is free... You might be the product, and your data, but you didn't directly pay for a service and they didn't sell you a fake service.

I'm not taking Google's side, this isn't about whether it's right or wrong to rob websites of traffic, this is about AI's returning search metadata.

But I'm surprised that they lost this argument, and the line they took in the first place.

The Internet isn't made of fact checked data, it's crowd sourced. How can anyone be liable?

Re: German ruling declares Google liable for false answers in AI Overviews

#15

Post by sourcegrift »

keyle wrote: post #14

I'm surprised this is even a thing. After all, you go to Google not for the truth, but to search Google. Since when is truthiness the "guarantee of service"? You're not even paying for a google service, search is free... You might be the product, and your data, but you didn't directly pay for a service and they didn't sell you a fake service. I'm not taking Google's side, this isn't about whether it's right or wrong…

Nothing is free. Google benefits off you when they show you search page. Either today (ads) or later

Re: German ruling declares Google liable for false answers in AI Overviews

#17

Post by cortesoft »

keyle wrote: post #14

I'm surprised this is even a thing. After all, you go to Google not for the truth, but to search Google. Since when is truthiness the "guarantee of service"? You're not even paying for a google service, search is free... You might be the product, and your data, but you didn't directly pay for a service and they didn't sell you a fake service. I'm not taking Google's side, this isn't about whether it's right or wrong…

That is exactly the point of the ruling, though... they are saying that AI summaries are NOT the same as search. If Google was just returning search results, and then users clicked on a website and read the content there, Google is not responsible for the content.

If instead Google gives you an answer right there on google.com, without going to another site, they ARE responsible for it.

That makes sense to me?

Re: German ruling declares Google liable for false answers in AI Overviews

#18

Post by Swizec »

Good. The true mark of AGI is when a company accepts liability and doesn’t bury “for entertainment purposes only” deep in their TOS. Same as it works with employees.

Same for self-driving. Your car is not self-driving until it accepts liability and you count as just a passenger.

But watch as Germany soon loses AI Google results.

Re: German ruling declares Google liable for false answers in AI Overviews

#19

Post by BikDk »

keyle wrote: post #14

I'm surprised this is even a thing. After all, you go to Google not for the truth, but to search Google. Since when is truthiness the "guarantee of service"? You're not even paying for a google service, search is free... You might be the product, and your data, but you didn't directly pay for a service and they didn't sell you a fake service. I'm not taking Google's side, this isn't about whether it's right or wrong…

Playing the perception game wins you the perspective price.

Re: German ruling declares Google liable for false answers in AI Overviews

#20

Post by foolfoolz »

cortesoft wrote: post #17
keyle wrote: post #14

I'm surprised this is even a thing. After all, you go to Google not for the truth, but to search Google. Since when is truthiness the "guarantee of service"? You're not even paying for a google service, search is free... You might be the product, and your data, but you didn't directly pay for a service and they didn't sell you a fake service. I'm not taking Google's side, this isn't about whether it's right or wrong…

That is exactly the point of the ruling, though... they are saying that AI summaries are NOT the same as search. If Google was just returning search results, and then users clicked on a website and read the content there, Google is not responsible for the content. If instead Google gives you an answer right there on google.com, without going to another site, they ARE responsible for it. That makes sense to me?

why? tons of websites push misinformation intentionally. is there a truth requirement anywhere? i don’t get why this is a thing at all
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