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TechRadar
TechRadar
Graham Barlow

Researchers say Google AI Mode changes recommendations based on your emails — and it risks creating a giant confirmation-bias machine

Google Gmail Gemini Google Search
Google logo is being displayed on a mobile phone screen in front of a computer screen displaying AI Overviews and AI Mode logos.
  • Researchers found brands linked to Gmail activity appeared far more often in Google AI Mode results
  • The effect was strongest for shopping searches like clothing, coffee machines and running shoes
  • AI-powered search could reinforce existing habits instead of helping users discover new things

We all know that AI is often so eager to help that it can feel like it's simply reflecting whatever you think back at you in a way that feels sycophantic and artificial. We’ve written quite a few articles about how to stop chatbots like Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini from doing this, usually using some variation of the “be brutally honest” or “invert” prompt.

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