New sources of inaccuracy? A conceptual framework for studying AI hallucinations

Abstract

In February 2025, Google’s AI Overview fooled itself and its users when it cited an April Fool’s satire about “microscopic bees powering computers” as factual in search results (Kidman, 2025). Google did not intend to mislead, yet the system produced a confident falsehood. Such cases mark a shift from misinformation caused by human mistakes to errors generated by probabilistic AI systems with no understanding of accuracy or intent to deceive. With the working definition of misinformation as any content that contradicts the best available evidence, I argue that such “AI hallucinations” represent a distinct form of misinformation requiring new frameworks of interpretations and interventions.

Topics & Concepts