Google’s new AI search tool keeps claiming dogs play professional sports
Screenshots of wonky search results from Google’s new AI Overview search feature are going viral, including claims that dogs have played in the NHL, NBA, and NFL.
“Yes, a dog has played in the NBA,” the AI Overview responded to one search asking “has a dog ever played in the nba?”
In response to another search by New York Times reporter Aric Toler asking if a dog has played in the NHL, the AI Overview answer was yes, pointing to Martin Pospisil, a center for the Calgary Flames.
Another search by @Dazzleox showed that apparently, according to AI, a dog has played NCAA basketball, but hasn’t played in the EuroBasket League
“Referees generally have leeway to keep games fair, and dogs are ineligible by default,” the AI answer claims, pointing to rules that players have to be human.
Google didn’t immediately offer an explanation for why such wrong answers were being generated.
The Daily Dot was able to replicate the searches and learned that dogs have played in the NFL (the answer given referenced the Cleveland Browns bull mastiff mascot Swagger Jr.), that a viral dog named Drake the Pupstar played in the NHL, and that a dog called Brodie the Goldendoodle has played for the Miami Heat, thrown out the first pitch at a Florida Marlins game, and attended a Lakers game.
Some of the answers are sort of based in fact—Brodie once fetched a pitch at a Marlins game, and the Browns do have a dog mascot—but they’re clearly not answers to the questions being asked.
Google’s Gemini chatbot, which also uses generative AI to provide its answers, fares a little better than the AI overview answers, flatly stating that neither cats nor dogs can play in the NBA or the NHL.
But doesn’t always get it right either.
For instance, Gemini claims that “only humans can be drafted and play,” in the NBA, based on regulations. But the NBA rulebook doesn’t actually explicitly require players to be human.
Which led to a number of users highlighting an infamous quote from AirBud.
“Ain't no rule that says the dog can't play,” posted more than a few people, riffing on Google's latest disastrous AI rollout.
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox
Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.
The post Google’s new AI search tool keeps claiming dogs play professional sports appeared first on The Daily Dot.