This is not the first time Google's AI has caused controversy. Last year, Google's AI chatbot Bard made an error during its first live demo, highlighting the risks of replacing search engines with chatbots. Despite these issues, Google has tried to position itself as a responsible AI leader. However, the recent controversy has impacted Google's brand perception, with some questioning the company's rush to market and the potential societal consequences of their products.
Key takeaways:
- Google has faced backlash over its AI chatbot's image-generating feature, which was creating historically inaccurate images of people of color. The company paused the feature and senior executives apologized for the incident.
- Google's co-founders Sergey Brin and CEO Sundar Pichai addressed the complaints, with Brin attributing the issue to a lack of thorough testing and Pichai promising structural changes.
- The company's rush to compete in the AI market, particularly against rivals like Microsoft and OpenAI, has been suggested as a reason for the oversight, with some suggesting that the pressure to bring products to market quickly could lead to corners being cut.
- Google's 'Gemini era' is seen as the company's response to OpenAI's GPT-4, but the recent controversy over the image generation feature has raised questions about the company's brand perception and the need for responsible AI development.