AI has found ways to screw up everything from airline ticket pricing to rental car inspections. Now it seems you can't even trust AI to take two numbers and correctly tell you which of them is bigger. That's pretty bad, considering that computers were invented specifically to automate routine calculations.
An important part of car shopping is doing your homework, learning as much as you can about the models you are considering, and making a choice based on the information you find. A member of the excellent Apex Automotor Facebook group posted about his experience researching whether the Ford F-150 Raptor he's considering will fit in his garage. He previously owned an Expedition Max that fit, and wanted to compare the two to see how the Raptor would do. According to Google AI Overview, the Raptor is 232.6 inches long, and the Expedition Max is 221.9 inches. Therefore, the Expedition Max is longer. That does not compute.
I asked Google the same question myself, and got the same result. It uses different wording than the original poster shared in his post, but the meaning is the same: The 232.6-inch Raptor is shorter than the 221.9-inch Expedition Max. This must be some strange use of the word "shorter" that I wasn't previously aware of.
Read more: These Cars Are Going To Age Terribly
It's Not Just Ford
Giving AI the benefit of the doubt, I tried some other comparison scenarios to see if this error was a freak one-time occurrence. Google AI Overview correctly told me that a Chevy Suburban is longer than a Tahoe. Yes, it's a softball question, but it established a baseline that AI Overview isn't completely stupid. Then I tried a comparison closer to the one that sparked this exploration, a Suburban vs. a Silverado.
AI Overview was correct that the Silverado varies in length depending on the cab and bed configuration. Any configuration was possible since I neglected to specify exactly which Silverado to compare. It was also correct that the longest version can exceed 240 inches. So clearly the Silverado is longer than the Suburban, right? Nope. The first sentence of the AI Overview reads, "The Chevrolet Suburban is longer than the Chevy Silverado 1500." The rest of the explanation is correct, but many people won't read past the first sentence in our short attention span society.
I tried another truck vs. SUV comparison, the Toyota Tundra and 4Runner. This time, AI Overview got it mostly right.
I say "mostly" because it didn't take into account the Tundra 1794 Limited Edition, which is 245.6 inches long. But that doesn't affect the overall result, which is that the Tundra is longer than the 4Runner.
Who Do You Trust?
I find the inconsistency of correctness in these answers more disturbing than if AI Overview was always wrong. If it were, you could just ignore it. But it gives just enough correct info to lull you into a false sense of security. The specific dimensions in these examples are close, but in two out of three examples, AI misinterprets the results and says that 232.6 is less than 221.9, and 225 is more than 240.
Where do you go to find the right answers? As a journalist, I have to get my facts right. If I don't, I'll get roasted in the comments, and rightfully so. To make sure you get the correct stats, do what the pros do and go straight to the source: the manufacturer's website.
h/t: Apex Automotor
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