We got it wrong: Sundar Pichai calls Gemini errors unacceptable
Google's CEO Sundar Pichai has spoken up about the problems surrounding the Gemini app (previously known as Bard). He admitted that some of its text and image responses have displayed bias and upset users. The CEO called these mistakes "completely unacceptable" and confessed that the company messed up. Google's teams have been working non-stop to correct these issues, and they've apparently noticed significant improvements in response to various prompts.
Commitment to organizing information and ensuring unbiased AI products
Pichai highlighted Google's mission to organize the world's information and make it accessible universally and useful, describing it as "sacrosanct." He claimed their goal has always been to offer users accurate, helpful, and unbiased information through their products, which is why people trust them. This approach must extend to all their products, including emerging AI ones like Gemini. The company plans to implement a clear set of actions to guarantee this.
Actions to improve AI products and maintain user trust
To tackle Gemini's issues, Google will initiate structural changes, update product guidelines, enhance launch processes, carry out thorough evaluations and red-teaming, and provide technical recommendations. The firm will also continue building on recent AI product and technical announcements, such as their one million long-context window breakthrough and open models. The CEO reaffirmed the company's dedication to developing excellent products that earn users' trust, and utilizing their infrastructure and research expertise for the AI wave.
How did the problem arise?
Last week, Google's Gemini model was found creating incorrect images. It generated Nazi-era racially diverse German soldiers, non-white US Founding Fathers, and Native American/Black US senators belonging to the 1800s. Even the races of Google's co-founders were incorrectly portrayed. Following this, activists raised objections to the alleged white erasure and rewriting of history by the AI model, and Gemini's ability to generate images was paused.
