ELI5: why does google ai overview fail

Google AI Overview sometimes fails because it tries to answer questions it doesn't really understand, like a kid making stuff up to sound smart.

Imagine you ask your magic talking parrot (that's Google AI Overview) how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Usually, it's great and tells you all the steps. But sometimes, it gets confused.

• Maybe you ask it, "How do I glue a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to the ceiling?"
• Instead of saying, "That's silly, you shouldn't do that!" the parrot tries to be helpful and gives you bad advice, like "Use super-strong glue and hope it sticks!"

• It can get confused by:

So, Google AI Overview fails when it tries to answer questions without really knowing the right answer, leading to silly or even wrong information, just like a parrot trying to give advice on things it doesn't understand. It's learning, but sometimes it needs a little help to know what's real and what's not.