I hate Google Search’s AI overviews, so I replaced them with Brave

One of these is access to Brave’s search engine, which prioritizes higher quality results with fewer ads and sponsored results compared to Google Search. But as I’ve continued to use Brave Search across devices, I also realized something else: AI summaries don’t have to be terrible.

There are several reasons I avoid most generative AI tools, but a major one is the accuracy of chatbot responses. Google’s AI Overviews perfectly encapsulate this problem; since their implementation, the summaries have often given me incorrect information.

The first obvious instance of this was when I was researching whether chronic migraines counted as a Prescribed Minimum Benefit (PMB) in South Africa. These are conditions that medical aids have to cover and I was struggling to find up-to-date information about this. Google delivered an AI Overview stating that the condition is a PMB, but linked to a blank page that had no information for its citation. As I continued to research, including discussing the topic with my neurologist, I confirmed that the information is incorrect. I was able to replicate the response for weeks, with the AI summaries only providing an accurate response recently.

The AI summaries incorrectly presented information on some of the games I play, as well as a procedure my cat has to undergo this month. These results always come with citations, even if the linked item doesn’t actually include this information. For example, when I looked up whether a cystocentesis on a cat involves shaving the stomach, the AI response stated that it may involve this step. I clicked on the citation to watch the YouTube video it linked to, but shaving the stomach wasn’t mentioned once.

I tried to replicate the error when writing this up, but saw that the AI no longer links to the YouTube video on the procedure. However, it does still say that shaving the belly is often recommended, even though the linked sources only state that some vets might opt to do this.

When I was looking for information on how to remove the split notification panel in MagicOS, it linked to an Android Authority article on One UI. It still gives inaccurate information about this, advising me to use the Honor Health app or disable notifications for apps completely. In one instance, it linked to a YouTube video on One UI.

Furthermore, changing the order of words somehow affects the accuracy of the answers, despite using the exact same search terms. So one person may get a better answer than another depending on which word they used first. The answers also sometimes differ for repeated searches using the same terms.

You may wonder why I decided to use Brave’s AI summaries if I have so little trust in these tools. The truth is, I disabled it initially. But when I switched devices, my settings didn’t transfer over, and I was greeted by these AI answers once again. Due to forgetfulness and general procrastination, I left them on.

As I continued to use Brave Search as one of my essential Android widgets, I actually started finding these summaries useful. They have plenty of citations and contextualization and could even recommend apps to try out based on Reddit posts.

I haven’t encountered an error with Brave Search’s summaries yet. At the same time as Google was still classifying chronic migraines as a PMB, Brave was able to confirm that this is not the case.  When looking up whether a veterinary cystocentesis involves shaving the cat’s belly, the summary correctly identified that some vets choose to do this, while others don’t. It also added context that the vet may choose to do this if an ultrasound is involved — which will be the case for my cat’s procedure.

Even when it comes to researching events in Ark: Survival Evolved, the game I currently play the most, Brave gives the superior answers. Chrome says the particular weather event I’m looking for happens “approximately every 30 minutes or more”. On the other hand, Brave notes that it is a rare event and that it is randomly generated, with no specified interval. I’ve confirmed this over the past two nights as I’ve spent a total of around five or six hours on the map where this event occurs, with a heat wave only happening once.

When it comes to that MagicOS split notification query, Brave correctly identifies that there’s no native way to revert back to a combined notification view in newer versions of the OS.

Besides the quality of the answers, Brave’s summaries encourage me to visit the cited sources. This is thanks to the frequent citations for specific statements, as well as the wide range of sources it uses — including medical papers. For its app summaries, I can go ahead and explore the sources it provides, as well as doing further research on the items it names.

If you want bullet points and concise options, then you may not enjoy Brave’s summaries as much. They include plenty of context and often don’t highlight specific parts of the text. But I’d rather read a longer response that includes more context, than a concise but inaccurate answer.

Another benefit of Brave’s AI summaries is that they are optional. While enabled by default, you can choose to switch the feature off completely. On the other hand, Google makes people use workarounds to avoid AI Overviews.

If Brave’s search summaries ever decline in quality, I can simply turn the feature off. But even with all its faults, Google keeps pushing more AI-generated responses for searches, including the introduction of its AI Mode.My current workaround for getting rid of Google AI Overviews is to add the term “-ai” to the search query. But I’m not sure how much longer this will remain viable.

While Brave is my primary browser on my smartphone, I’m still making the switch on my PC, as I still need to import login information and set up syncing between my devices. Still the continued quality of Brave’s results is giving me the final push I need to move away from Chrome completely. The only use I really still have for Chrome is its shopping results, since Brave does not have as many local shops indexed for specific products. However, for the majority of my search needs, Brave proves to be the better option, especially when it comes to AI summaries.