Some users on social media, including Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk, have criticized Google for being “woke” after its Gemini artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot failed to generate accurate images of the Founding Fathers.
Former Reddit CEO Yishan Wong chimed in, too. His issue, however, was less about being “woke” and more about the “bigger problem” of wielding AI irresponsibly.
"Google's Gemini issue is not really about woke/DEI, and everyone who is obsessing over it has failed to notice the much, MUCH bigger problem that it represents,” he said on social media.
He gave the example of famous science fiction writer Isaac Asimov, whose "Robot" series has inspired several movies. In one of those stories, robots end up doing something unpredictable and sometimes scary, despite the “Three Laws Of Robotics.” This causes users to panic and ask if the robots are actually trying to kill them.
It would eventually be found that the robots were not malfunctioning but sticking to their programming instead. They even managed to develop their own “Zeroth Law.”
Essentially, this would be because of the inability to predict all the outcomes of laws governing the robots.
"In fact, in the later novels, we even see how (spoiler) the robots develop a ‘Zeroth Law’ where they conclude that it's a good idea to irradiate the entire planet so that people are driven off of it to colonize the galaxy,” he added.
Why It Matters: Wong thinks that while Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Google might have had the right idea while designing Gemini AI's guardrails, the outcome shows these rules can backfire in unpredictable ways.
As a result, Google removed the ability from Gemini to generate images of people temporarily, saying it will re-release an “improved version” soon.
Meanwhile, Wong argues that by debating the merits of being "woke,” people are missing the forest for the trees.
Former CIA contractor and whistleblower Edward Snowden also thinks it would be wiser for people to grow outraged over more important things like drone swarms and military robots instead of making software engineers "henpecked" about their "agenda."
Musk, ever the opportunist, used the situation to promote his own AI chatbot, Grok, adding that pursuing truth has “never been more essential” in light of the Gemini incident.
The X owner also claims to have spoken to Google brass about the issue.
“A senior exec at Google called and spoke to me for an hour last night,” Musk wrote on X. “He assured me that they are taking immediate action to fix the racial and gender bias in Gemini. Time will tell.”
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Photo courtesy: Google
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