Google Overview Is Happy to ‘Stop’ Defining Words

Google’s AI Overview will “disregard” your request to define verbs.

Instead of surfacing dictionary definitions or useful links upfront, many users on Friday encountered a sparse, strange response and a blank space when searching for single verbs such as “disregard” in the search bar.

The usual links, including the one to Merriam-Webster’s definition, are still there, but they’re buried below the fold.

Similar command phrases, including “ignore,” “quit,” and “stop,” are running into the same problem.

Phrases like “look” and “forget are also prompting chatbot-like responses.

Earlier this week, Google began rolling out a redesigned Search page that displays AI-generated summaries at the top, pushing the traditional “10 blue links” farther down. Compared to when the links appear more immediately, the company has pitched the new design as a faster, more conversational way to search the web.

“We believe the best version of search is one created just for you,” said Robby Stein, vice president of product for Google Search, during the I/O presentation this week.

A Google spokesperson told Business Insider that the responses don’t relate to the new updates.

“We’re aware that AI Overviews are misinterpreting some action-related queries, and we’re working on a fix, which will roll out soon,” the Google spokesperson said.

By comparison, Microsoft Bing, which also offers AI-generated summaries through Copilot, still surfaces more immediately useful information for the same search.

Merriam-Webster, the American dictionary, also weighed in on the AI Overview mishap.

Google’s AI Overview and the new update have raised concerns about what they mean for the search experience. Earlier this week, Business Insider’s Katie Notopoulos wrote that Overviews could become “potentially very bad news for websites,” and that the search bar would become “just an AI chatbot that answers highly specific questions.”