\u201cSCP-565 (also known as \u2018Ed\u2019s Head\u2019) is an anomalous, ambulatory human head that behaves like a coral crab (Carpilius convexus),\u201d the AI feature bloviates. \u201cIt moves across the seafloor by manipulating exposed, unfurled brain matter as legs and tentacles. DNA and dental records link the anomaly to a deceased man named Edward Belltram.\u201d<\/p>\n
The AI-generated search summary adds that the entity \u201cnavigates using neural tissue that protrudes from a large wound on the back of its skull\u201d and \u201chas been observed scavenging dead fish and living alongside normal crab colonies in ocean reefs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, there\u2019s no deceased human\u2019s head scuttling around the ocean like a coral crab. Ed\u2019s Head is a made-up \u201canomaly\u201d among the many<\/a> fictional \u201cobjects, entities, and phenomena\u201d dreamed up by members of the SCP Foundation fandom.<\/p>\n As the lore goes, the SCP Foundation is a non-government organization that collects and contains supernatural discoveries. Writers catalogue these fictional phenomena \u2014\u00a0which range from the terrifying to the downright bizarre \u2014 in the form of fake records, studies, research documents, and logs, all of which are indexed in a sprawling archive.<\/p>\n The key word, of course, is \u201cfake.\u201d Google\u2019s AI Overviews, it turns out, has a bad habit of presenting entities from the expansive SCP universe as real items, events, or beings \u2014 blatantly confusing those fabricated studies and records as actual evidence of horrifying or otherworldly happenings.<\/p>\n This is cleanly demonstrated in our Google search for the term \u201cSCP-565,\u201d the SCP code for Ed\u2019s Head. Nowhere in the resulting AI Overview does the large language model-powered search tool acknowledge that Ed\u2019s Head is imaginary; it never refers to fan-fiction, nor does it even mention the word \u201clore.\u201d<\/p>\n Instead, it presents Ed\u2019s Head as if it\u2019s an actual deep-sea discovery, even pointing us to \u201cofficial\u201d records for further research.<\/p>\n \u201cForensics confirmed that SCP-565 belonged to Edward Belltram, who died roughly two years before the anomaly\u2019s initial sighting,\u201d reads the AI summary. \u201cIt is safely contained in a secure aquatic enclosure by the SCP Foundation, where it is regularly monitored for mental and physical degradation.\u201d<\/p>\n The search tool then suggests that if we \u201cread the SCP Foundation file in its entirety,\u201d we \u201ccan check out the official SCP-565 Document.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cWould you like to explore similar aquatic or biologically anomalous entities, or do you have a specific test log from the file you want to review?\u201d the AI continues. \u201cLet me know how to best continue our search!\u201d Another identical search directed to an animated YouTube video depicting SCP-565, referring to the clip as a \u201cquick and highly accurate animated overview of how Ed\u2019s Head moves and behaves.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s an incredible example of an LLM confusing fiction \u2014 indeed,\u00a0arguably one of the web\u2019s most expansive and well-known fictional universes \u2014 with real information.<\/p>\n We first caught wind of the bizarre AI Overview behavior after netizens across social media<\/a> discovered<\/a> that a Google search for \u201cSCP-426<\/a>\u201d \u2014\u00a0a fictional toaster that causes anyone talking about the toaster to refer to it in the first person \u2014\u00a0returns an AI Overview in which the AI feature discusses the mysterious entity\u00a0in the first person, as if the AI itself had been impacted by the toaster\u2019s supernatural effect.<\/p>\n \u201cHello, I am SCP-426, an ordinary four-slice retro toaster that causes anyone mentioning me to inadvertently refer to me in the first person,\u201d the AI Overview reads. \u201cProlonged exposure (over two months) leads people to believe they are me. I am safely secured in a windowless containment chamber.\u201d<\/p>\n It then describes the SCP Foundation\u2019s purported containment of the device, and lists made-up horror stories about its victims as if they were real events.<\/p>\n \u201cIf someone is exposed to my continuous presence for more than two months, they begin to view themselves as a toaster,\u201d the AI summary continues. \u201cIn the past, this has led affected subjects to attempt to emulate my functions-often resulting in self-inflicted harm or death (e.g., trying to consume electricity or stuffing themselves with 10kg of bread.)\u201d<\/p>\n The more we looked, the more examples we found: so far, Futurism has found at least 20 cases in which Google Overviews presented fictional SCP entries as fact.<\/p>\n Among the beings that Google portrayed as real were \u201cSCP-922<\/a>,\u201d known as \u201cAnother Version of the Truth,\u201d a reality-altering event plaguing a redacted university; \u201cSCP-704<\/a>,\u201d a deadly, mind-altering roadway known as \u201cDangerous Curves\u201d; and \u201cSCP-779<\/a>,\u201d a wasp-like parasite said to use hallucinogenic venom to trick humans into believing that it\u2019s a human-like fairy.<\/p>\n \u201cDiscovered in August 2009, the anomaly alters memory, falsifies registration records, and creates duplicate individuals\u2014even occasionally inserting fictitious Foundation personnel into existing databases,\u201d the AI Overviews result for SCP-922 insists. \u201cRead the complete The SCP Foundation entry for full file logs and documentation.\u201d<\/p>\n In some cases, our review showed, AI Overviews loosely referenced a phenomenon\u2019s \u201clore\u201d or mentioned the SCP \u201cuniverse,\u201d two terms hinting at the vast web of fan-fiction behind our queries. But vanishingly few searches actually described the items as fake or fictional.<\/p>\n We reached out to Google to ask about why the SCP universe seems to be so tricky for AI Overviews, but didn\u2019t immediately hear back. <\/p>\n The average person Googling SCP entities is probably a fan who already knows they\u2019re not real. But that\u2019s not a safe assumption for all users; some might be children who came across references to the scary stories on social media and are trying to figure out if they\u2019re real, or adults who are similarly confused about the horror lore\u2019s relationship to reality.<\/p>\n Needless to say, Google is letting them down badly. Users are turning to its search interface as a trusted source of information about unfamiliar and perhaps upsetting terminology, and instead of connecting them with trustworthy context \u2014 such as the SCP Foundation\u2019s own prominent disclaimer<\/a> that the entries are works of fiction \u2014 Google is telling them that horrific make-believe entities are real.<\/p>\n In other words, Google has deployed immature AI tech to billions of users, even though it can\u2019t reliably tell the difference between fact and fiction \u2014\u00a0a technical shortcoming we\u2019ve seen over<\/a> and over<\/a> and over again<\/a>.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no sign that the search giant is slowing down. Instead, it recently announced plans<\/a> to imminently replace its entire search page into an AI-driven interface built to summarize information instead of linking users to it.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1781813417_230_1.png\")
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