An ad for Google‘s Gemini AI tool has been pulled from Olympics broadcasts after critics slammed it as a tone-deaf spot that aimed to replace genuine human interaction with artificial intelligence, despite the company claiming it tested well before airing.
Key Takeaways
- The one-minute “Dear Sydney” ad, which is still available on the Google YouTube channel though comments have been turned off, stars a father talking about his young daughter idolising American hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.
- He calls his daughter, who appears to be about 6 or 7 years old in the ad, “the world’s No. 1 Sydney fan,” and then asks Gemini to help write a letter to the Olympian to tell her “how inspiring she is.”
- The ad was hit with immediate backlash from people who said it encouraged artificial intelligence to replace what otherwise could have been a sweet, coming-of-age moment of a child writing a fan letter to her hero with the help of her dad.
- Viewers called the ad “disturbing,” “the worst, saddest, most bummer of a use of AI that I’ve ever heard” and said it “completely negates why someone would write a letter to an athlete or anyone for that matter.”
- Google previously defended the ad, calling it “an authentic story celebrating Team USA,” but later said in a statement to AdAge it had decided to phase it out of the Olympic rotation.
Crucial Quote
“This ad makes me want to throw a sledgehammer into the television every time I see it,” Alexandra Petri of The Washington Post wrote. “Personally, I am not a big corporation, but I do not think that a good way of selling your product is to announce that it will suck all the joy out of being alive.”
Key Background
The outrage surrounding the ad comes amid a bigger conversation about the use of artificial intelligence in everyday life. Some have expressed fears AI will replace meaningful work (Hollywood productions ground to a halt for months last year as writers and actors fought to put in place limits on how AI can be used), but others say it’s just the latest tool to enhance human performance and productivity.
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