Google's recent rollout of AI overviews in India has highlighted significant challenges in catering to the country's linguistic diversity. Despite the introduction of Hindi support in August, the results have been inconsistent and often misleading, revealing gaps in the technology's ability to accurately process and present information in multiple languages.
For instance, a simple query about sugar substitutes in tea yielded no results when the word order was changed slightly in Hindi, exposing the AI's limitations. More concerning are the mistranslations and context errors—like confusing "sticky" with "oily" in a food-related query and misrepresenting the tenure of Google's CEO in Hindi, suggesting a lack of nuance in the AI's language processing.
Even more troubling are the AI-generated answers on sensitive topics like menstruation and pregnancy, where the information provided was not only confusing but also potentially harmful. For example, a vague recommendation for couples to wait "three years" after marriage to have children lacked the necessary context, showing how the AI struggles with delivering clear and relevant information.
These issues are compounded by the fact that Google's AI often misses critical context, such as when it suggested visitors could get snacks inside Delhi's Bangla Sahib Gurudwara, failing to clarify that the snacks are actually available outside the place of worship. This oversight, among others, points to a broader problem in Google's AI overviews: a reliance on algorithms that don't always discern the most reliable sources or provide accurate translations.
Google has defended the feature, stating that AI overviews only appear for queries where there is high confidence in the output. However, the company's reliance on its algorithms to determine the quality of sources and content has led to significant errors, particularly in Hindi, where the AI's performance has been notably poorer compared to English.
As India continues to grow as a digital market, with over 830 million internet users, Google's AI technology needs substantial improvement to meet the demands of its diverse linguistic landscape. The current state of AI overviews in India falls short of expectations, raising concerns about the accuracy and reliability of AI-generated content in local languages. If Google aims to encourage widespread use of this feature, it must prioritize accuracy and cultural sensitivity in its AI-driven search results.
