A controversial Google commercial from this summer's Olympic Games serves as a good example of the abilities and perils of using artificial intelligence, with a Reddit post sparking good debate about Google's decision to showcase its Gemini AI's ability to help write fan letters.
The poster in the r/CommercialsIHate subreddit showed a commercial in which a fan used Google's Gemini AI system to write track star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone a letter.
"I'm not totally against AI, but how can Google promote this as a positive?" the poster said. "Can we all be on board that this is cheating at life? Who wants to receive a heartfelt, 'inspirational' letter from a fan who had AI write the letter for her? The fact that Google is promoting this seems vastly out of touch with basic human decency."
The ad drew a fair degree of criticism at the time it aired, and Google wound up pulling the campaign in August.
AI and machine learning remain incredibly controversial. Generative AI, in particular, has drawn the ire of many people due to a combination of the low quality of what it produces, the factual inaccuracies of what it writes, and the fact that it takes work away from actual human artists and writers.
While AI can have benefits, including projects from Google such as satellites that can help detect wildfires or the Google-backed Climate TRACE program that detects polluting companies, the tech can also have a profound negative impact on the environment. And that's a factor that has begun to feel increasingly important in the battle to keep average global temperatures from continuing to increase.
A University of Colorado professor noted that many of the generative models used consume massive amounts of energy to function, while other experts are concerned about poachers using the technology to illegally hunt endangered animals illegally. Companies are working to improve the technology's energy efficiency, but there's still a long way to go.
Commenters on this post were unimpressed by Google's algorithm.
"And I thought I was cutting corners in school," one said. "AI is going to make kids even dumber."
🗣️ Do you think kids spend too much time in front of screens?
🔘 Yes — it's rotting their brains 🧠
🔘 No — screens are the future 💻
🔘 There should be a good balance ⚖️
🔘 No idea — I don't have kids 🤷
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
"Saw this last night and totally agree," said another. "The whole thing is pretty sad."
"The kid's hero is the track star but she can't even be bothered to even write a letter?" said a third. "Is this the future we want? Generative AI is so lame. This commercial truly is the worst ad ever."
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