Google Autocomplete search predictions

Featured on Google Search and YouTube, Autocomplete is an AI-based system designed to help users complete searches faster and more accurately by predicting keywords and phrases based on what other people look for.

Autocomplete started as an experimental feature in 2004, and was publicly released in 2008 as Google Suggest. Google Suggest was renamed Autocomplete in 2010.

Risks and harms 🛑

Google Autocomplete search predictions can generate inaccurate, untrue, inappropriate, offensive, biased, unethical, and illegal search predictions that variously result in the manipulation of end users, religious and other forms of discrimination, emotional distress and anxiety, loss of privacy, and defamation, amongst others. 

Transparency and accountability 🙈

Autocomplete has been criticised for several transparency and accountability limitations:

• Decision-making processes. Google provides limited information on how Autocomplete works

• Legal accountability. Google regularly claims that it is not legally responsible for harms Autocomplete may have or has caused