Google’s Olympic-themed ad Gemini AI ProductsA show titled “Dear Sydney” is not exactly winning over viewers.
The ad features a young female runner, narrated by her father, who wants to write a letter to her American hero. Athletics For star Sydney McLaughlin-Levroni, her dad enlisted the help of Gemini AI.
“She wants to show Sydney some love and I’m good with words, but it has to be just right,” the girl’s father says.
He then gives the AI product instructions like this: “Help me write a letter telling Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone how much of an inspiration she is to my daughter, and be sure to mention that she plans to break the world record one day. (She says “Sorry, but I’m not sorry.”)”
The chatbot ad drew immediate backlash, with online criticism that an over-reliance on generative AI tools is denying children learning opportunities.
Why didn’t she write it herself?
Public backlash to the ad included questions about why the girl hadn’t written the letter herself or asked her father for help, and indeed the ad alleges that the girl, a McLaughlin-Levrone fan, had no role in drafting the letter delivered by Google’s Gemini AI.
“The father in the video is not encouraging his daughter to learn to express herself,” Shelley Palmer, a media studies professor at Syracuse University, wrote in a blog post titled “Why Google’s ‘Dear Sydney’ Ads Will Make You Want to Scream.”
He said society’s over-reliance on AI-generated text tools could have far-reaching effects on how young people learn to communicate, losing much of the individuality expressed through language.
“If this way of communicating becomes widespread — and Google says it’s working to make it so — it will lead to a future dominated by homogenized modes of expression, a monocultural future in which examples of original human thought become increasingly rare. It’s easy to imagine a future in which the richness of human language and culture is eroded as we increasingly rely on AI to generate content,” Palmer writes.
Others targeted the place even more vigorously.
“Every time I see this ad, it makes me want to throw a sledgehammer at my TV,” said Alexandra Petri, a humorist and opinion columnist for The Washington Post.
Google defended the ad, which it released in collaboration with the US national team, reiterating that the company does not consider AI-generated text a substitute for human language.
“We believe that while AI can be an incredible tool to enhance human creativity, it can never replace it,” Google said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch. “Our goal was to create an authentic story that celebrates the U.S. National Team, introduces a real-life athletics enthusiast and his father, and aims to show how the Gemini app can provide a starting point, thought spark, or early draft for anyone looking for writing ideas.”
McLaughlin-Levrone shared the ad on her Instagram account last week. “This is for everyone who watches Team USA compete and knows that one day it could be them,” she captioned the post.
Instagram user @susieewegh commented on the post, writing: “I love Sydney and I love the spirit of this ad. But really: ‘Instead of making kids write letters, let’s use AI to draft them’? Aren’t we teaching kids to communicate for themselves anymore?”
Writers of all stripes have expressed concern about the possibility of AI taking over their jobs. The threat to people who make a living from words was highlighted by the 2023 Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike. A major point of contention between writers and studios was the use of generative AI to write and rewrite scripts. Eventually, the two sides reached an agreement. contract This allows writers to decide how, or if, to utilize generative AI.
2024 Paris Summer Olympics
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