Google is reaping shitstorm for Olympic advertising
A young girl strives to emulate her idol, U.S. hurdler Sydney Michelle McLaughlin-Levrone, and wants to write her a fan letter - naturally with the help of AI. That's the premise of Google's new ad campaign promoting its own AI tool. But the clip has sparked outrage online.
A girl writes a fan letter to her sports idol - with Artificial Intelligence: Google's ad during the Olympic broadcasts in Paris has caused a storm of indignation on the internet. "Who wants a fan letter written by AI?" asked, among others, writer Linda Holmes.
In the Google ad "Dear Sydney", it was about the US company's AI program Gemini. A running little girl is shown. Her father tells us that his daughter is the biggest fan of US hurdler Sydney Michelle McLaughlin-Levrone - and that Gemini helped his daughter write a fan letter to her idol.
Many internet users criticized this, saying it promotes teaching children to trust AI instead of expressing themselves. "This is one of the most disturbing ads I've ever seen," wrote media professor Shelly Palmer of Syracuse University in New York in a blog. "That's exactly what no one should do with AI. Ever."
Palmer criticizes that the father in the video does not encourage his daughter to learn to express herself. "Instead of guiding her to use her own words and communicate authentically, he teaches her to rely on AI for this essential human skill." Google has not yet responded to the criticism.
The Olympic Games 2024 in Paris will undoubtedly be a topic of discussion as U.S. hurdler Sydney Michelle McLaughlin-Levrone will be competing, inspiring a young fan to write her a fan letter using Google's AI tool, which has sparked debate about the role of AI in fostering authentic human expression.
Despite the ongoing controversy surrounding the use of AI in writing fan letters, such as the one for Sydney Michelle McLaughlin-Levrone in preparation for the Olympic Games 2024 in Paris, there are those who argue that the technology can assist in crafting well-articulated messages.
