Google AI Overviews may have started the year with a laughable reputation, but by the end of 2025, they’ve quietly earned the last laugh — even from skeptics like me. Back in 2024, I became a reluctant internet celebrity after following Google’s AI advice to use glue on pizza to keep the cheese from slipping. The suggestion, lifted from a Reddit joke, went viral. Instead of dismissing it, I took it seriously — a true test of journalistic integrity — and made a glue-infused pizza. I even ate a slice. (I’m a professional idiot; please don’t try this at home.) That moment became a symbol of how far off the mark Google’s AI Overviews were at the time. They were full of absurdities, hallucinations, and bizarre logic. The “You can’t lick a badger twice” problem was just one example — the AI would treat made-up idioms as real, offering elaborate explanations for nonsense phrases. I tested it with my own fake sayings: “you can’t fit a duck in a pencil,” “the road is full of salsa.” The AI took them all seriously, spinning detailed, fake meanings. A Google spokesperson at the time explained that the system was trying to be helpful, even when faced with nonsense — it was just working with the limited content available online. That made sense, but it didn’t excuse the absurdity. Fast forward to late 2025, and things have changed. The AI Overviews are still far from perfect, but they’ve improved dramatically. When I recently tested it with “you can’t tell a yak not to dance,” it responded with a measured, accurate reply: “This isn’t a common idiom, but could be a playful or poetic expression.” It didn’t invent a fake meaning — it acknowledged the absurdity. The shift is subtle but meaningful. The AI now better recognizes when it’s being tricked. It’s less eager to fabricate answers and more willing to admit uncertainty. It’s also better at filtering out nonsense and delivering useful, concise summaries — especially for straightforward factual queries. I’ve grown used to relying on AI Overviews instead of clicking through to websites. And while that’s a problem for content creators who depend on traffic, there’s no denying they’re now genuinely helpful. I’ve learned to adjust my queries to fit what the AI does well — and it usually delivers. So yes, Google’s AI Overviews may have started the year as a punchline. But by the end of 2025, they’ve earned their place as a surprisingly reliable tool — even if I still can’t forget the glue pizza.