Google AI's comical response to astronomy question sparks uproar online: 'That is mindblowing'

Google's AI search feature made a cosmic-sized blunder that is making waves across Reddit.

A user searching for the "number of stars in the universe" received an answer that would make astronomers face-palm: "Astronomers estimate that there are at least 1,024 stars in the observable universe."

The Reddit post — titled "Google AI got bored of counting and called it a day" — quickly drew eyes on the r/technicallythetruth subreddit, where users are having a field day with the massive underestimation.

For context, scientists estimate there are around 100 sextillion to 200 sextillion stars (10^22 to 10^23) in the observable universe.

In the screenshot the Redditor shared, Google's AI Overview confidently declared: "Astronomers estimate that there are at least 1,024 stars in the observable universe, which is a staggering number that's hard to imagine. This is more stars than all the grains of sand on Earth."

"It's still dumb, guys. We're safe." — Photo Credit: Reddit

The comical AI mishap draws attention to a broader issue: tech companies rolling out AI tools before they're ready. While we chuckle at these errors, these systems demand enormous computing resources, consuming vast amounts of electricity and water for cooling data centers. Each quirky mistake represents wasted energy that could be better used elsewhere.

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This particular AI failure shows how even the most basic factual information can be mangled, making the user experience worse rather than better. Instead of providing a helpful answer about our vast cosmos, the AI offered up misinformation that would have been easily caught by even basic fact-checking.

Reddit commenters had plenty to say about the astronomical error.

"It's still dumb guys. We're safe," one wrote.

Another commenter sarcastically noted: "I'm also confident there are at least 1,024 stars in the observable universe and I'm not even an astronomer so I think Gemini may be dead on tonight." "There's only 1,023 grains of sand on Earth!? That is mindblowing," a third commenter joked.