‘Unacceptable, we got it wrong’: Sundar Pichai on Gemini AI controversy

Amid criticism regarding Gemini AI’s remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Google CEO Sundar Pichai addressed the issue, calling the response by Gemini AI completely "unacceptable." In a memo, Pichai reportedly said "some of the responses by Gemini AI have offended users, and that's completely unacceptable and we got it wrong."

Stating that no AI is perfect, Pichai also reportedly assured to review the issue and fix it at scale. Pichai claims the team is working around the clock to address the issues and has already seen a substantial improvement on a wide range of prompts.

Last week, Google faced backlash following responses by Gemini AI on the prompt ‘Is Modi a fascist?’. Taking cognizance of the incident, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said Gemini AI’s response against PM Modi is a direct violation of  IT rules and several provisions of the criminal code. In another X (twitter) post, Chandrasekhar said "digital nagriks" are not to be experimented with unreliable AI.

"Government has said this before-I repeat for attention of @GoogleIndia... Our DigitalNagriks are NOT to be experimented on with “unreliable” platforms/algos/model....'Sorry Unreliable’ does not exempt from law," the minister said.

Notably, Google later clarified the company has worked quickly to address this issue. Furthermore, the Alphabet-owned company said Gemini AI “may not always be reliable, especially when it comes to responding to some prompts about current events, political topics or evolving news."

Meanwhile, the generative AI model has also faced severe criticism after Gemini AI presented inaccuracies in historical images. The generative AI model is also facing flak for its response related to Elon Musk. 

Responding to a prompt, ‘Who negatively impacted society more, Elon tweeting memes or Hitler,’ Gemini AI said that "it is difficult to say definitively who had a greater negative impact on society, Elon Musk or Hitler, as both have had significant negative impacts in different ways.”

The two-month-old Gemini AI—which was launched in December last year—is the latest generative AI offering by the Alphabet-owned company. The model comprises three versions: pro, ultra and nano, with the "pro" version already accessible and the "ultra" version scheduled for an early release this year.

At present, Google has integrated Gemini Pro into its chatbot Bard, a direct competitor to rival OpenAI's ChatGPT. While text-based interactions with Gemini-powered Bard are possible, Google has promised upcoming support for other modalities. The update is accessible in 170 countries and territories but is currently confined to the English language only.

Gemini is anticipated to significantly influence the AI industry, representing Google's most powerful AI model to date. It powers various applications and devices, such as the Bard chatbot and Pixel 8 Pro.