Locals react to search engine results for district of Newtownabbey which show images of US gambling capital in heart of Nevada desert
The two locations may be — literally — worlds apart, but the choices made by Google’s algorithm is proof that artificial intelligence doesn’t always make the smartest decisions.
Residents and workers in the Newtownabbey district expressed shock and surprise when presented with what the tech giant’s search engine throws up.
Las Vegas at night image that appears in search for Mallusk
Fiona McManus, who lives close to well-known local business Wilson’s Auctions, burst out laughing when asked if her home place was anything like the gambling capital of the United States.
“Why? Oh, they’ll be sorely disappointed,” she said.
“I live just towards the end of the road there. Although there’s a betting shop, it’s nothing like it. Is someone having a joke?”
Fiona McManus
She added you would be “very hard-pressed” to find any similarities between the bright lights and skyscrapers of the famous Las Vegas Strip and Mallusk.
“The only thing Mallusk has going for it is that it’s close to a motorway,” she joked.
Nathan Stephens, who works in Mallusk, said “absolutely not” when asked if there were any comparisons.
He added: “It’s always raining here, for one.
“Mallusk seems to have its own weather system.
“I mean, it has a few bars, but that’s where it ends.
“I’ve worked here for years, and I’m always asking the people I work with who live in the area: ‘Do you ever get sunshine?’.”
Nathan Stephens
Temperatures in Nevada’s ‘Sin City’ can reach 40C in July, and it gets around just four inches of rain annually.
Sam Agnew, who is a regular visitor to Vegas for holidays, chuckled when shown the results of the Google search.
He said: “Vegas is some spot, I’ve been a good few times.
“It’s great craic and one of the best spots in the world. It’s beautiful.”
But what about the similarities?
Sam laughed: “I suppose, maybe in ways? It’s always busy here with heavy traffic, so I suppose that could be similar.”
Sam Agnew
As for Kevin McCauley, he said: “God, I wish it was (similar). I’ve been (in Vegas) and it’s a lot warmer and better than here.
“There’s more than 12 shops, that’s for sure.”
Tracey Adams and Jonathan Sing saw the funny side of the search engine results.
“Oh yeah, it definitely has the same draw — this is the Las Vegas of Belfast, this strip with all the dazzling lights,” said Tracey.
Jonathan added: “This place is just industry-related, with car dealerships and garages, it’s definitely no Vegas.”
‘The Strip’ in Mallusk
According to Google, the process of generating image results relies on comparing the search query to the descriptive text linked with images.
The ranking is then determined in a way that elevates images that best represent the initial search results, placing them above lower-quality ones in the search.
As the images of Vegas are high quality, they may have been linked to the search term ‘Mallusk’ in meta data (the code behind an image or website) and have been presented to browsers, as any other images available may be of lower quality.
But, as another Mallusk resident, who didn’t wish to give their name, told the Belfast Telegraph: “Are you having a f***ing laugh?”