What happened

Patrik Hermansson, a researcher from the anti-racism organization Hope Not Hate, discovered that when he searched for IQ scores by country, these search engines provided specific figures directly sourced from Lynn's studies. 

For instance, Google's AI Overviews tool displayed an IQ of 80 for Pakistan and 45.07 for Sierra Leone, both numbers linked to Lynn's discredited research.

Hermansson's findings were replicated and shared by WIRED.

Why it happened

The issue stems from the reliance of these AI systems on existing datasets that include flawed or biased information. Lynn's work has been historically associated with racist ideologies, often used to justify white supremacy. 

The algorithms behind these search engines tend to amplify available data without understanding its context or validity. 

Experts argue that the lack of reliable alternative sources allows such discredited research to persist in search results, reflecting broader systemic biases in academia and information dissemination.

Google acknowledged the problem and stated they are working on improving their AI tools to prevent low-quality responses.