Artificial intelligence is the next big thing but it is far from perfect.
All of the other issues aside, sometimes AI just can’t seem to “generate” what the user wants. Sometimes it “hallucinates” solutions altogether. But in the case of Google’s Gemini generative AI, it seems that the major problem users identified with it is that it seems to not know that caucasian people exist, The Verge reports.
And given the political climate around all of these things, it’s another reason to be wary of some of AI’s output. One major concern is when AI reinforces stereotypes. That wasn’t the case here, but probably no less offensive to some people as the generator reportedly showed well-known historical figures, such as the Nazis, as people of color, The Verge reports.
The problem was apparently widespread enough that Google had to issue a statement in addition to pressing pause on Gemini in the meantime.
“We’re aware that Gemini is offering inaccuracies in some historical image generation depictions… We’re working to improve these kinds of depictions immediately. Gemini’s AI image generation does generate a wide range of people. And that’s generally a good thing because people around the world use it. But it’s missing the mark here.”
Some critics of the whole thing have pointed out that perhaps the initial sentiments behind it aren’t misplaced and promoting diversity is a good thing but in a way that makes sense, particularly with regard to portraying historical figures or events.
Did you get to try out Gemini? Let us know your thoughts on Google’s generative AI effort – as well as that of other firms – in the comments below.
There are some other recent stories from the world of photography that you might want to read in our news section at this link.
