Using AI for Every Web Search Is Much More Dangerous Than You Think

AI search feels fast and smart. It responds in seconds and sounds convincing. But that smooth delivery can hide serious flaws that you'll soon discover.

7. Sound smart even when wrong

The most surprising thing about AI search is that it can be incredibly convincing even when it's completely wrong. The words flow, the tone is confident, and the facts are neatly arranged. That polish can make even the most outlandish claims sound plausible.

We've seen this play out in the real world. In June 2025, the New York Post reported that Google 's AI Overview feature asked users to add glue to pizza sauce—a strange and unsafe suggestion, but one that still sounded plausible.

Kiplinger reported on a study of AI-generated life insurance advice that found more than half of the answers were misleading or completely inaccurate. Some Medicare answers contained errors that could cost people thousands of dollars.

6. You don't always get the whole picture

AI tools are built to give you a clear, concise answer. This can save time, but it also means you may only see a small fraction of the information available. Traditional search results show you a series of sources to compare, making it easy to spot discrepancies or gaps. AI search, on the other hand, combines pieces of information into a single answer. You rarely see what has been cut out.

The danger lies not only in what you see, but also in what you never realize you are missing. Without knowing what is being overlooked, you can distort your perception of reality.

5. Not immune to misinformation or manipulation

Like any system that learns from human-generated content, AI chatbots can pick up on misinformation, half-truths, and intentional distortions that spread online. If inaccurate information appears frequently enough in the sources they learn from, it can be repeated as if it were true.

During the July 2025 Pacific tsunami, SFGate reported that some AI assistants provided false safety updates. Grok even told Hawaii residents that the alert had ended when it hadn't, a potentially life-threatening mistake.

4. AI can silently replicate biases in training data

AI does not form independent opinions. It reflects the patterns found in the material it is trained on, and those patterns can be deeply biased. If certain voices or perspectives are overrepresented in the data, the AI's answers will be biased toward them. If other perspectives are underrepresented, they may disappear from the conversation altogether.

Some of these biases are hard to spot. They might show up in the examples an AI chooses, the tone it uses toward certain groups, or the types of details it emphasizes. In other cases, they're easy to spot.

3. What you see may depend on who the system thinks you are

The answers you get can be shaped by what the system knows — or assumes — about you. Your location, language, and even subtle cues in how you ask a question can influence the answer. Some tools, like ChatGPT , have memory features that help personalize results.

Personalization can be useful when you want to know the local weather, nearby restaurants, or news in your own language. But it can also narrow your perspective without you even realizing it. If the system believes you like certain viewpoints, it can silently prioritize them, ignoring information that doesn't.

2. Your question may not be as private as you think

Many AI platforms are open about storing conversations, but what often goes unnoticed is the ability for humans to review them. Google's Gemini privacy notice states: "Humans will review some saved conversations to improve Google's AI. To stop this for future conversations, turn off Gemini Apps activity. If this setting is enabled, do not enter information that you do not want to be reviewed or used . "

That means anything you enter—whether it's a simple question or personal information—can be read by human reviewers. While companies say this process improves accuracy and safety, it also means that the sensitive information you share isn't just passed through algorithms. It can be seen, stored, and used in ways you might not expect.

1. You may be held liable for its failures

When you rely on AI-generated answers, you are still responsible for what you do with them. If the information is wrong and you repeat it in a school assignment, business plan, or public post, the consequences will be on you, not the AI.

There are real-world examples of this. In one case, ChatGPT falsely linked a George Washington University law professor to a harassment scandal, according to USA Today. The claim was completely fabricated, but it appeared so convincingly in the AI's response that it became the basis for a defamation lawsuit. The AI was the source, but the damage was done to the person it named—and the responsibility for spreading it could just as easily have been laid by the person who shared it.

Marvin Fry

Update 13 August 2025