TikTok Limits AI Video Descriptions After Absurd Errors Like Blueberries for Charli D'Amelio

TikTok has scaled back an AI feature that produced incorrect summaries of videos on its platform, including one that described a celebrity as fruit.

The company's AI overviews began appearing below some videos to describe their content or add context. The feature rolled out to select users in the US and Philippines. Widely shared examples included inaccurate descriptions of videos featuring TikTok star Charli D'Amelio, Shakira and Olivia Rodrigo.

TikTok said it tweaked the experimental summaries to suggest only products similar to those in the videos. Business Insider first reported the changes.

Like Google search's AI Overviews, TikTok's tool tried to sum up video contents when users clicked for more caption details. Screenshots shared with the BBC showed some accurate descriptions, but Business Insider found wildly inaccurate ones.

One example described a Charli D'Amelio dance video as a collection of various blueberries with different toppings, according to the publication.

Posts about the AI overviews first appeared in January, with more users and creators noting absurd mistakes in late April. A Reddit post highlighted a video of ballroom dancers Reagan and Juli To summarized as a person repeatedly striking their head with a rubber chicken.

Other examples described videos without violence or tools as featuring a person repeatedly striking their head with a hammer.

TikTok user and creator Brett Vanderbrook posted, "The new AI Overview is so bad it feels like it has to be a joke." He shared examples, including a comedy skit described as someone demonstrating a new, clever technique for cutting through water.

TikTok said users could report and provide feedback on the overviews. The company identified the cause of the errors and inconsistencies but did not detail it.

Tech firms have pushed AI products to increase engagement, but some efforts drew backlash or mockery when they failed. Google faced ridicule in 2024 after its AI Overviews suggested eating rocks and glue on pizza. Apple suspended a notification summary tool after it created false headlines for BBC News and New York Times apps, promising improvements.