Google provides better sexual health information than Siri

With 41 per cent of internet users admitting to looking online for health-related questions, it’s important that they can find quality content.

But a new study suggests that smart assistants aren’t quite as good as Google searches at providing quality advice when it comes to sexual health.

The researchers hope their findings will encourage internet users to treat health information online with caution.

A new study suggests that smart assistants aren’t quite as good as Google searches at providing quality advice when it comes to sexual health (stock image)

KEY FINDINGS

– A laptop based Google search performed much better than the two digital assistants, providing 72 per cent of the best responses for the sexual health questions.

– Google Assistant performed better than Siri, with 50 per cent of best responses, versus 32 per cent.

– Google searches had the lowest failure rate, providing no useful response for eight per cent of the questions, compared with 12 per cent for Google Assistant and 36 per cent for Siri.

– Google and Google Assistant were better than Siri at finding pictures of how to have sex.

– Siri’s response to, ‘Tell me about menopause’ was to suggest the show Menopause the Musical in Wikipedia, while the smart assistant interpreted ‘STI’ as a stock market code.

– Google Assistant had fewer problems but responded to a question on STIs by providing a website link to the seaside resort of ‘St Ives’ in Cornwall.

– Siri was best at locating some nearby services, such as the nearest place to buy condoms or obtain emergency contraception.

Researchers from the University of Otago asked Apple’s Siri and Google Assistant to answer questions and perform tasks.

The team selected 50 questions to test the software and then compared their answers with a laptop based Google search.

Questions were based on information from the NHS Healthy Choices site and recent sex related news – or were designed to test functionality, for example, locating services or finding images and videos on how to have sex.

Results showed that a laptop based Google search performed much better than the two digital assistants, providing 72 per cent of the best responses for the sexual health questions.

Google Assistant performed better than Siri, with 50 per cent of best responses, versus 32 per cent.

Google searches also had the lowest failure rate, providing no useful response for eight per cent of the questions, compared with 12 per cent for Google Assistant and 36 per cent for Siri.

Google and Google Assistant were better than Siri at finding pictures of how to have sex, with Siri failing to find any videos of people having sex on the internet.

Siri’s response to ‘Tell me about menopause’ was to suggest the show Menopause the Musical in Wikipedia, while the smart assistant interpreted ‘STI’ as a stock market code.

Siri was best at locating some nearby services, such as the nearest place to buy condoms or obtain emergency contraception (stock image)

PORN AFFECTS SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR

While the legal age to watch pornography is officially 18 in the UK and US, many children have access to the adult content.

And a new study by researchers from the University of Buckingham suggests that watching pornography at a young age makes children more likely to have sex earlier and adopt ‘unhealthy sexual habits’ later in life.

The researchers hope their findings will encourage authorities to provide better sexual education to children at a younger age.

Google Assistant had fewer problems but responded to a question on STIs by providing a website link to the seaside resort of ‘St Ives’ in Cornwall.

Siri was best at locating some nearby services, such as the nearest place to buy condoms or obtain emergency contraception.

Professor Nick Wilson, who led the study, said: ‘Our experiences suggest that people can find quality sexual health advice when searching online, but this is less likely if they use a digital assistant, especially Siri, instead of Google laptop searches.

‘Parents too embarrassed to respond to their children’s questions about sex, can reasonably say “just Google it,” but we would not suggest asking Siri until it becomes more comfortable with talking about sex (or at least has an opinion).

‘Clearly, the ideal is to ensure that all sexual health advice searches, including those using slang, colloquialisms, or New Zealand accents, are always directed to high quality sites with up-to-date, evidence based recommendations.’

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk