AI Is Hurting, Not Helping Your Game

There’s no denying the buzzword that is AI (artificial intelligence). Both inside and outside of golf, AI has taken over meeting rooms, research labs, even our smartphones.

It’s not lost on me the impact that AI is having, specifically on golf clubs. I’m a big fan of the Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke Driver and there are plenty of other clubs this year whose tech stories center around artificial intelligence.

In that sense, AI can be helpful. I’m hitting better drives than ever with my new Callaway driver. That said, AI has started to creep into our search engines, namely Google. This new feature from Google is doing more to hurt your golf game than help it.

In a world where it’s already hard to trust the information that’s so readily available to us, Google’s new AI search feature is making it harder to find the truth.

Let me explain.

Google Is Making Golf Harder

Imagine for a second that you’re a beginning golfer (perhaps you are). As one does, you turn to Google to answer some of your most poignant questions.

“How do I choose golf clubs?”

A simple question but one you might ask if you’re just starting out.

Instead of sending you to a helpful article (like something from MyGolfSpy), Google populates an AI-written response to your question.

The problem? More often that not, I’ve found this AI response to be inaccurate or sometimes incorrect.

That simple question I asked? “How do I choose golf clubs?” Here’s one of the things that Google’s new AI tool suggested:

Cavity-back irons can be a good choice for beginners, because they’re forgiving.

Now instead of shelling out cash for something actually suited for a beginner, say the TaylorMade Stealth Irons, our hopeful golfer may go out and search for a player’s cavity-back iron.

The potential consequences? A golfer who quits before they even start.

That’s not the only mistake Google made. Let’s try another one. A simple search for “blade putters”.

You’d expect AI to nail this one. Instead, it suggested I buy a Scotty Cameron Phantom putter, obviously a mallet putter.

Again, put yourself in the shoes of a beginning golfer. They’re confused and unsure about what a blade putter actually is.

I’ll share one more example. Perhaps you’re wondering what a wedge is for. A rather common question for someone just starting out in the game. Here’s what Google’s AI had to say:

Wedges are scoring clubs and good players know that every shot from inside 125 yards should be a makeable putt.

Not only is Google feeding you information about blade putters that’s blatantly wrong and telling the beginning golfer to play cavity-back irons, but Google is also creating unrealistic expectations. Every shot from inside 125 yards should be a makeable putt? Really?

Shot Scope data shows that from 100-125 yards, the average 10 handicaps hit about 46% of greens and finish about 49’ from the pin. From 50-75 yards, the numbers jump to 58% of greens hit with an average distance distance to the pin of 37′.

Does Google know something Shot Scope doesn’t? Doubtful.

What Can Be Done?

Google’s new AI search is a problem. It’s suggesting blatantly wrong information and trying to pass it off as intelligent and accurate.

As a company that prides itself on cutting through the BS, you can understand why this is frustrating. You deserve the truth and it’s difficult to trust Google to provide that.

In the meantime, we’re going to continue to provide real, data-driven answers to your most important golf questions. And, hopefully, one day, Google will start using AI to actually help, not hurt golfers.

Have you tried Google’s new AI search tool? Have you found it helpful or hurtful?