Google AI Mistakes Internet Memes for Reality

Google's AI-powered search engine recently fell victim to its own hallucinations when it told users that Flock Safety's license plate cameras were actually gold mines containing precious metals. The absurd claim was based on misinformation from viral internet memes.

The AI claimed that a single Flock camera held up to five grams of gold, worth around $650, as well as between two to 23 pounds of copper. However, in reality, circuit boards do contain trace amounts of metal, but extracting scrap from one would yield only a few cents, not a significant payday.

The origin of the fake information dates back to a running joke among privacy-conscious online communities, where Flock Safety's cameras were framed as high-tech piñatas packed with valuable metal. Instead of recognizing satire, Google's AI scraped the claims and presented them as fact.

Google has since quietly updated its search models to address this issue. If users try the same query now, they'll receive a prompt rebuttal explicitly noting that claims of cameras holding pounds of copper are completely false and that the rumors originated from internet memes.