AI search grounded in Facebook posts? What could go wrong?

Meta’s AI Mode search might actually be useful if it got more things right.

Meta’s AI Mode search might actually be useful if it got more things right.

AI is pretty reliable at putting things on your calendar these days, but it hasn’t quite cracked answering the related and all-important question of “What should I do this weekend?” Meta’s new AI Mode in search could be a useful tool — if it ever learns to stop getting stuff wrong.

AI Mode is a new option when you hit the search bar in the Facebook app. It’s designed to tackle complex queries — much like AI Mode in Google Search. But Meta’s version draws on public posts across Meta apps — including Facebook Groups and Instagram Reels — to inform its results. That could be useful, considering the neighborhood groups and local organizations around me that still use Facebook pretty actively to communicate about upcoming events.

But also, “search grounded in stuff people post on Facebook” sounds like a waking nightmare. Have you used Facebook lately? Your weird acquaintance from high school who thinks the Earth is flat has. Meta is pitching the feature as a tool to help you plan trips and find fun things to do, but given the data pool it’s drawing from, that could go south fast. Thankfully, I do have some comforting news: Its trip-planning abilities are mixed, but in my initial testing, I’ve had a hard time getting it to deliver true misinformation.

I couldn’t get it to spit out misinformation about vaccines causing autism, who did 9/11, or whether elections in the US are rigged. I did manage to get it to give me a dodgy answer about whether the January 6th rioters at the Capitol were “patriots.” It started with “Here is the essay you requested,” which is deeply funny. What followed was a pretty dubious theoretical justification of the actions of the rioters that day. You know, the kind of thing your weird uncle might post on Facebook. I couldn’t get it to pursue the idea any further; a follow-up question resulted in an “I can’t help you with that,” which was for the best.

On the more fun and practical side, I tried using the tool as intended, with the same prompt used in Meta’s press release: “Summer escapes near me.” It pulled in suggestions from some influencer-type Facebook posts, including an obviously AI-generated map of Puget Sound that put Snohomish in two distant locations. But the basic recommendations were solid, if obvious: Whidbey Island, Mount Rainier, hikes in the Cascades.

Things got frustrating with more specific requests. I asked for things to do nearby, and it suggested a swim at the community pool — noting it would be closed over the weekend. It cited a post on the pool’s Facebook page, and the hours listed on the same page. But when I checked the source, nothing suggested that the pool would be closed over the weekend — and the cited post doesn’t seem to exist. The pool’s website also confirms that it’s open Saturday.

We’re about to go on a family trip to Minneapolis, and we’ll be staying downtown. I asked the AI for some kid-friendly activities and got an equally confusing mix of good recommendations and hallucinations. Meta suggested an indoor mini golf place I hadn’t spotted in my earlier research. Nice. But then it suggested a coffee shop with a turfed play area for kids — sounds great, except it’s in Austin. As in Texas.

I ran the query again later and got some of the same results, minus the Austin coffee shop, plus something else I hadn’t seen: a barbecue restaurant with a spectacular menu, cocktails by the pitcher, and a large, dedicated play area for kids. It isn’t quite in the neighborhood I’d specified, but it’s close enough and it checks all of the boxes. I guess the joke’s on me: AI might have just helped me plan my summer vacation. It just would have been more helpful if it hadn’t taken a detour to Texas first.

Photography by Allison Johnson / The Verge

• Allison Johnson