Google says it is fixing AI Overview spelling and letter counting errors

In short: Google says it is working to fix a problem that makes its AI answers in Search struggle with spelling and counting letters in words.

What happened

People noticed that Google’s AI Overview, the AI written summary that can appear at the top of Google Search results, has been making basic mistakes. In examples shared online, it said there are two “P” letters in the word “Google,” and it misspelled words while trying to explain how many letters they contain.

Google told TechCrunch in an emailed statement that “counting within words has been a known challenge for LLMs, and we’re working to fix this particular issue.” LLMs stands for “large language models,” the type of AI used in many chatbots and writing tools.

This comes as Google pushes more AI into Search. TechCrunch noted that earlier versions of AI Overviews also caused problems, including citing jokes and giving unsafe advice. Google has patched some recent issues, like a strange result where searching for the word “disregard” produced a reply that looked like a chatbot message instead of a definition.

Researchers say these letter counting errors happen because many AI systems do not handle text the way people do. They break text into chunks called “tokens” (like reading by groups of sounds or pieces, instead of looking at each letter), which can make spelling level tasks harder.

Why it matters

Many people use Google to quickly check facts. If an AI summary cannot reliably handle simple things like spelling, it is a reminder to double-check important information, especially for health, money, or legal questions.

Source: TechCrunch AI