"Now AI Writes Letters Too"…Google's New Chatbot Ad Faces Backlash [Paris Olympics]

Google Launches AI Chatbot Gemini Ad Targeting Paris Olympics
Fans Delegate Writing Letters to Olympic Athletes to Chatbot
"Are Parents Shifting Child Education to AI?" Flood of Criticism

Axios reported on the 31st of last month (local time) that Google's AI chatbot advertisement created for the Paris Olympics is facing backlash online.

The controversial ad features a girl and her father who want to write a fan letter to Sydney McLaughlin, the American track star competing in this year's Paris Olympics. McLaughlin is the world record holder in the women's 400m hurdles and is aiming for her second consecutive Olympic gold following the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Google's AI chatbot Gemini advertisement video
[Photo by YouTube capture]

The ad shows the girl training based on hurdling tips generated and provided by Google's AI search function. The father asks Gemini, Google's AI chatbot, "My daughter wants to express her affection to McLaughlin" and requests help in writing a fan letter. Gemini immediately drafts the letter, including a "plan to break the world record."

Axios reported that Google intended to promote Gemini's brainstorming capabilities through the ad, but the market reaction was different from expectations. There were criticisms that entrusting even heartfelt letters to AI is inappropriate, and concerns that it seemed to encourage leaving child education to AI.

Will Leitch, creator of the famous sports blog Deadspin, tweeted on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), "Google's ad, where a father entrusts AI to write what his daughter wants to say to her favorite athlete instead of encouraging her to write it herself, eats away at my soul a little every time I see it." Podcast host Linda Holmes criticized on social media, "Everything about this ad is disgusting," and urged, "Sit down with your child and write the letter together." Shelley Palmer, a communications professor at Syracuse University, pointed out on her blog, "The father in this video is not encouraging his daughter to learn how to express herself."

In response to the flood of criticism, Alana Biel, Google's Director of Advertising Communications, told Axios, "We believe AI can be a great tool to enhance human creativity, but it can never replace creativity itself," and explained, "The goal of the ad was to show that Gemini can provide a starting point and draft for people looking for ideas in writing."

Axios asked Gemini about the controversy, "Why do people dislike the Gemini ad so much during the Olympics?" The response was, "Using AI to create personal messages is hypocritical," and "A young fan's letter should be expressed personally with respect, not by a machine."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.