The Finite Automaton

Aside from the hallucinations, immense energy requirements, and potentially negative mental health effects, generative artificial intelligence still has an issue with accuracy. However, that hasn’t stopped major tech companies like Google from rolling out features like AI search summaries to its users. Most of the results seem fine at first glance and usually feature multiple source citations, but that doesn’t mean the product works perfectly. A recent study reported by the New York Times found that Google’s “AI Overview” offers correct and reputably sourced summaries 9 out of 10 times. But while 90 percent sounds like a passing grade, the failure rate adds up in a matter of minutes. Given that the company will process over five trillion searches in 2026, the ensuing math means AI Overview is churning out tens of millions of questionable answers each hour. That’s hundreds of thousands of errors every minute.