Google responds to claims of racial bias and historical inaccuracies in its AI technology
OAN’s Elizabeth Volberding
6:10 PM – Monday, March 4, 2024
Google Admits Bias in AI Tool, CEO Pledges to Fix
In a memo to staff on Tuesday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai stated that the company is now addressing issues with its Gemini artificial intelligence (AI) tool. Pichai admitted that certain text and picture responses produced by the tool were completely “biased” and “wholly unacceptable.”
Last week, the corporation had paused the use of its Gemini tool, which generates photos based on inputted descriptions. However, the AI-created images have been deemed inaccurate by its users.
The tech giant’s CEO informed staff last Tuesday that the company is now working “around the clock” to address the tool’s racial bias, as well as other biases, and stated that the images produced by the model were “completely unacceptable.”
The full text of the memo from Pichai reads:
“I want to address the recent issues with problematic text and image responses in the Gemini app (formerly Bard). I know that some of its responses have offended our users and shown bias — to be clear, that’s completely unacceptable and we got it wrong. Our teams have been working around the clock to address these issues. We’re already seeing a substantial improvement on a wide range of prompts. No AI is perfect, especially at this emerging stage of the industry’s development, but we know the bar is high for us and we will keep at it for however long it takes. And we’ll review what happened and make sure we fix it at scale. Our mission to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful is sacrosanct. We’ve always sought to give users helpful, accurate, and unbiased information in our products. That’s why people trust them. This has to be our approach for all our products, including our emerging AI products. We’ll be driving a clear set of actions, including structural changes, updated product guidelines, improved launch processes, robust evals and red-teaming, and technical recommendations. We are looking across all of this and will make the necessary changes. Even as we learn from what went wrong here, we should also build on the product and technical announcements we’ve made in AI over the last several weeks. That includes some foundational advances in our underlying models e.g. our 1 million long-context window breakthrough and our open models, both of which have been well received. We know what it takes to create great products that are used and beloved by billions of people and businesses, and with our infrastructure and research expertise we have an incredible springboard for the AI wave. Let’s focus on what matters most: building helpful products that are deserving of our users’ trust.”
As a result, legislatures have begun reacting to Google’s acknowledged racial and historical bias, with one GOP senator demanding for the “breakup” of the well-known tech company.
“This is one of the most dangerous companies in the world. It actively solicits and forces left-wing bias down the throats of the American nation,” Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo in a Sunday Morning Futures exclusive interview.
After discontinuing Gemini’s image-generation features, Google is now reportedly attempting to turn things around. Social media users claimed that Gemini had been producing historical photographs that were inaccurate and often substituted images of White people with Black, Latino[a], Native American, and Asian people, replacing images of Caucasians in order to be more racially diverse.
Additionally, a number of media outlets have similarly tested Gemini, asking the tool to display a photo of a White individual. However, Gemini responded, stating that this request could not be fulfilled since it “reinforces harmful stereotypes and generalizations about people based on their race.”
The Ohio senator elaborated on how the reported bias can have effects on outside information segments, including politics.
“Think about the effect this has on the presidential election when unbiased, non-committed voters are searching things about Donald Trump, and also about Joe Biden, right before they cast their ballots,” Vance stated. “We cannot allow a company that is in bed with some of the worst people in the world to control the flow of information and to bias it in a left-wing direction. We [have] got to break this company up and bring back some common sense standards.”
Regarding the potential of legal action being taken against Google, Vance asserted that there are “growing calls” from all political persuasions for the tech giant to be broken up, citing its emergence as “too big, too powerful.”
“My friends on the left, Maria, say they feel like our democracy is under threat. The biggest way our democracy is under threat is you have these massive, international companies that are sort of controlling what we think, what we read, what information we consume,” Vance explained.
“That’s a big problem. But I actually do think that there’s going to be growing momentum to rein Google in,” he continued. “We saw this with the release of Gemini. This is a radically left-wing company that is trying to control how we consume information. If we let that happen, we are going to get exactly what we deserve.”
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, demanded in a letter sent on Saturday that the Google parent company “Alphabet” provide an explanation for any indication that Gemini’s AI errors may have been influenced by the Biden administration.
Google is now intending to relaunch the Gemini AI tool within the next few weeks, according to a Google spokesperson.
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What significant improvements are Google planning to make in order to address the biases and inaccuracies identified in its AI tool?
The next few weeks, but with significant improvements to address the biases and inaccuracies that were identified. The company is committed to ensuring that its AI products provide helpful, accurate, and unbiased information to users.
The acknowledgment of bias in Google’s AI tool raises important questions about the role and responsibility of tech companies in shaping public discourse and information access. The ability of AI algorithms to influence public opinion and perpetuate stereotypes has become a growing concern, and Google’s admission of bias underscores the need for greater transparency and accountability in AI development.
In response to Google’s admission, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio called for the breakup of the tech company, citing its dangerous influence and left-wing bias. Vance argued that Google’s control over the flow of information poses a threat to democracy and common sense standards. He emphasized the potential impact of biased search results on political elections and the need to address the company’s dominance in the tech industry.
Vance’s call for the breakup of Google reflects the increasing scrutiny and calls for regulation of big tech companies. The influence and power of these companies have raised concerns about their impact on democracy, privacy, and fair competition. The demand for greater accountability and regulation continues to grow, with politicians from both sides of the political spectrum expressing concerns about the concentration of power in the hands of a few tech giants.
As Google works to address the bias in its AI tool, the debate over the role of tech companies in shaping public discourse and information access is likely to intensify. It remains to be seen what steps the company will take to address the identified biases and ensure that its AI products meet the highest standards of accuracy and neutrality.
In conclusion, Google’s admission of bias in its AI tool highlights the challenges and responsibilities that tech companies face in developing and deploying AI algorithms. The call for greater transparency, accountability, and regulation in the tech industry is growing, and Google’s case serves as a wake-up call for the need to address biases and ensure the fair and unbiased use of AI technologies. The outcome of Google’s efforts to fix the issue in its AI tool will have broader implications for the future of AI development and the role of tech companies in shaping public discourse.
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