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Controversy Surrounds Google’s Super Bowl Ad Featuring Gemini AI
Google’s recent advertisement aired during the Super Bowl has drawn criticism for allegedly misrepresenting the capabilities of its AI product, Gemini. The ad depicts a business owner utilizing Gemini to craft a description for a product on their website. However, an analysis reveals that the text presented as AI-generated has been publicly available on the business’s website since at least August 2020, as demonstrated by an archived page.
Notably, Google did not launch Gemini until 2023, which raises questions about the authenticity of the claim that Gemini could have generated the description featured in the advertisement.
The commercial is part of a broader series showcasing how small businesses across the United States are integrating Gemini AI into their operations via Google Workspace. In this instance, the Wisconsin Cheese Mart is shown using Gemini to create a product description for its Gouda cheese.
Initially, the commercial faced scrutiny for presenting an inaccurate statistic, claiming that Gouda constitutes “50 to 60 percent of the world’s cheese consumption.” This assertion was subsequently retracted after errors were highlighted, leading to a revision of the ad where the erroneous statistic was removed, alongside its mention on the business’s website.
Despite the adjustments, Google has maintained that the description was indeed created by Gemini. Jerry Dischler, president of Google Cloud apps, stated on X that contrary to criticism, the statistical claim was “not a hallucination” and that “Gemini is grounded in the Web.”
When questioned about the removal of the misstatement from the advertisement, Google spokesperson Michele Wyman mentioned to The Verge that the business owner recommended having “Gemini rewrite the product description without the stat.” According to her, Google then modified the user interface to align with the business’s intentions. However, it appears that the original product description was not authored by Gemini as the ad suggested.
The Verge reached out to Google for further comments but did not receive an immediate response.
Source
www.theverge.com