Google’s AI Overviews Hilariously Fall for Made-Up Sayings

Google’s new AI Overviews feature is becoming an internet sensation for all the wrong—and hilarious—reasons. Designed to give users quick, AI-generated summaries of answers, the tool is now being trolled by internet users entering completely fake or absurd idioms just to see how convincingly the AI will try to explain them. Phrases like “a penny stapled is a dollar earned” or “you can’t throw a tomato at Costco twice” have made their way into searches, and the AI dutifully spins detailed, confident explanations of their (nonexistent) meanings.

The resulting AI Overviews are being shared widely on social media, where users are entertained by the creative nonsense. While the episodes raise real concerns about AI’s understanding of context and fact-checking ability, they also highlight the growing public engagement with—and scrutiny of—AI tools. As Google attempts to balance innovation with accuracy, these incidents show just how far we are from AI systems robust enough to avoid being gamed by pranksters. Funny as they are, they underscore the need for tighter content validation and transparency within generative AI platforms.