Pizza Pandemonium: How Google AI's Fake Deals Devastated a Beloved Queens Pizzeria

Imagine the bustling scene at your favorite local pizzeria, the air thick with the aroma of melting cheese and freshly baked dough. Now, imagine that same pizzeria suddenly swamped by a torrent of angry, disappointed customers, all demanding deals that simply don't exist. This was the surreal and utterly frustrating reality for Mr.

Slices, a cherished pizza joint in Queens, New York, courtesy of Google's experimental AI Overview feature.

For weeks, Mr. Slices found itself at the epicenter of a digital disaster. Customers, lured by tantalizing promotions like “25% off all orders” or “2 large pies for $25,” poured into the shop, only to be met with the bewildering news that these fantastic offers were completely fabricated.

The culprit? Google's much-touted Search Generative Experience, or SGE, which, in its AI Overview summaries, had conjured up these irresistible but ultimately non-existent discounts.

Rocco Dragonetti, the exasperated owner of Mr. Slices, initially stumbled upon the problem when his phone began ringing off the hook with inquiries about deals he’d never advertised.

A quick Google search revealed the shocking truth: his business was being misrepresented by an AI system that was supposed to enhance search results, not invent them. The fake promotions, bold and authoritative, appeared prominently in Google’s AI-generated summaries, making them seem undeniably legitimate to unsuspecting customers.

The fallout was immediate and severe.

Staff members were constantly put in the uncomfortable position of having to explain that the advertised deals were fake, leading to an endless stream of awkward confrontations. Disappointed customers often lashed out, questioning the integrity of the business, or worse, leaving disgruntled reviews online.

This wasn't just a minor inconvenience; it was a daily siege, undermining customer trust and adding immense pressure to an already demanding job.

Dragonetti’s struggle to rectify the situation became a testament to the frustrating bureaucracy of big tech. He spent countless hours trying to report the errors to Google, navigating labyrinthine support channels, and repeatedly attempting to remove the misleading information.

The process was agonizingly slow and often futile, highlighting the immense power imbalance between small businesses and the monolithic tech platforms they rely on for visibility. Despite his persistent efforts, the fake deals continued to appear, a digital ghost in the machine haunting his business.

The incident at Mr.

Slices is more than just a quirky tale of AI gone wrong; it’s a stark warning about the unchecked power of generative AI and the potential for “hallucinations” to inflict real-world harm. While tech giants like Google push the boundaries of AI, the mechanisms for accountability and immediate correction for businesses on the receiving end remain woefully inadequate.

For small businesses, whose reputations and livelihoods are intricately tied to their online presence, such AI blunders can be catastrophic.

As the dust slowly settles at Mr. Slices, the experience serves as a sobering reminder of the need for robust oversight and rapid response protocols when AI systems disseminate misinformation.

For Rocco Dragonetti and his team, the ordeal was a harsh lesson in the unpredictable nature of artificial intelligence, and a call for greater responsibility from the companies that wield its immense power.