Google has pulled a Gemini ad after receiving widespread criticism for using AI to help a young girl write a letter.
"Gemini, help my daughter write a letter to Sydney telling her how she inspires her fans," read a Google ad that aired on television channels about the 2024 Paris Olympics in early August. In it, a father asks Gemini to write a letter to Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, an American track and field athlete competing in the Olympics.
Google ends the video with a shot of the girl running on a track with the caption "A little help from Gemini".
According to CNBC, the ad immediately faced a wave of backlash from the community. Across social networks from Threads, X, to LinkedIn, users continuously asked the question: Why would Google want to replace a child's emotions and creativity with words written by a computer?
Will Leitch, founder of sports blog Deadspin, commented: "Google's video shows a father asking his daughter to use AI instead of encouraging her to write what she wants to say to her idol. I'm extremely sad every time I see this ad." On Threads, some people rated this as a "shameful" AI ad.
Professor Shelly Palmer at the SI Newhouse School of Public Communications - Syracuse University (USA) told CNN: "I completely oppose the future Google is painting. I want to live in a culturally diverse world where people use AI to support their skills, not exploit AI to pretend to be human."
CNN said the ad marked a serious mistake by Google in positioning Gemini as a rival to ChatGPT. The video further fueled fears that AI would take away jobs from humans in creative fields.
Initially, Google tried to defend the ad, saying that Gemini could help "open the story" for an idea. "We believe AI can be a great tool to enhance human creativity," Google said. But on August 3, a company spokesperson admitted: "The ad was thoroughly reviewed, but after receiving a lot of feedback, we decided to remove it from the Olympic broadcasts."
Google is not the only company to face backlash for advertising creativity in the digital age. In early May, during the launch of the new iPad, the Crush video depicted Apple's tablet "crushing" musical instruments, paints, camera lenses, books, movie characters, sculptures and many other creative objects. Immediately, many people criticized the company for not respecting the artist's creativity. Apple later apologized and withdrew the ad.