Google AI Is Wrong. Expired Aspirin Will NOT Give You a Stroke

Hallucination by Google Search AI Explained

While tidying up at my mother's home in rural Arkansas' Ozark Mountains, I found two bottles of aspirin, in the same bathroom medicine cabinet.  Maybe I could combine them in to one bottle?

But I noticed - by sight and by taste, that the bottle on the left was considerably older than the one on the right. Does it matter? Does aspirin "expire" or deteriorate in effectiveness with time? It's an acid, so acids probably do weaken over time if there's anything non-acid to interact with.

So I googled "Does Aspirin Expire?"  And Google AI suggests three responses, without links to easily check them out - though there are dates.

First - Aspirin is most effective within five years, and is safe and effective for years after the expiration date on the label - looks very accurate.

Second - OEM Bayer advice that aspirin should be discarded after Bayer's suggestd 2-3 year expiration date. No link to Bayer's study, and no citation of FDA recommendation.  Sure, Bayer wants us to buy more aspirin from them, and may be paying Google to place this "self interested" content.

Third - Insanity.

"Taking expired aspirin could raise your risk of serious health issues, such as stroke". Nov 1, 2022

So it sounds like Google AI is saying that I may have a stroke for taking the older aspirin.  And there's no easy way to see where the AI is getting that, but I eventually found it.

The website the AI appears to feed from is specifically saying that if your physician prescribed you to take an aspirin daily to prevent high blood pressure or stroke, that you should probably used full strength according to the subscription (though most doctors prescribe baby aspirin, so maybe the slightly less acidic older aspirin is just fine). 

But millions of people would read this Google AI summary to say that the expired aspirin could CAUSE the stroke.  It is also probably programmed to cover Google's A** and if there is any risk - such as Bayer's claims - Google AI probably is programmed to err on the side of caution.

But this is just an example of why AI should not automatically be answering Google and Bing searches.