Google has retracted its Olympics ad for the Gemini chatbot following public backlash over its portrayal of a young girl using AI to write a fan letter. The advertisement, titled “Dear Sydney,” depicted a father using Gemini to help his daughter craft a letter to her favorite athlete, U.S. hurdler and sprinter Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.
In the ad, the father says, “Gemini, help my daughter write a letter telling Sydney how inspiring she is.” The commercial then shows Gemini's drafted letter and concludes with the girl running on a track, accompanied by the text, “A little help from Gemini.” Despite its initial positive reception, the ad faced criticism for promoting AI over personal creativity, especially in children.
Google has since pulled the ad from TV broadcasts, although it remains available on YouTube. A Google spokesperson said, “While the ad tested well before airing, given the feedback, we have decided to phase the ad out of our Olympics rotation.” They emphasized that Gemini is intended to provide a “starting point” for writing ideas, asserting that AI can enhance but not replace human creativity. “Our goal was to create an authentic story celebrating Team USA,” the spokesperson added.
Critics argued that the ad encourages reliance on automation at the expense of genuine human expression. Shelly Palmer, a professor of advanced media at Syracuse University, expressed strong disapproval, writing in a widely circulated blog post, “I flatly reject the future that Google is advertising.” She warned that such technology could lead to a "monocultural future" devoid of original human thoughts.
Google is not alone in facing such scrutiny. Apple recently apologized and pulled an ad featuring a hydraulic press machine crushing musical instruments and paint cans to reveal the new iPad Pro after receiving similar criticism. OpenAI’s technology chief, Mira Murati, also acknowledged that while AI might displace some creative jobs, many of these roles, in her view, should not have existed in the first place. This comment followed controversy over Scarlett Johansson’s accusation that OpenAI used her voice without permission for the ChatGPT AI voice, "Sky."
The debate over AI’s role in creative fields continues to heat up, with tech giants navigating the fine line between innovation and the preservation of authentic human creativity.
