Google quietly edits Super Bowl ad to cut glaring error by Gemini AI ...
Google made adjustments to its latest Super Bowl ad campaign following a mistake made by its AI chatbot regarding the popularity of Gouda cheese. The ad highlighted small US businesses utilizing Gemini AI and incorrectly stated that Gouda cheese makes up "50 to 60 percent of the world’s cheese consumption." This claim sparked a backlash on social media, prompting Google to remove the reference to the exaggerated percentage.
Wisconsin Cheese Mart, the shop featured in the ad, also removed the AI-generated claim from its website, according to SFGATE.
Expert Insight
Andrew Novakovic, E.V. Baker Professor of Agricultural Economics Emeritus at Cornell University, expressed doubts about the accuracy of the claim, stating that Gouda is unlikely to be the most widely consumed cheese globally.
Contrary to the disputed ad assertion, it is reported that more than half of the Netherlands’ national cheese production is dedicated to Gouda, not more than half of the world’s cheese consumption.
According to statistics from the International Dairy Foods Association, Gouda ranks as the 12th most popular cheese globally, following Swiss and preceding Monterey Jack.
Response from Google Cloud
Despite the modifications made to the Gouda claims, Jerry Dischler, president of cloud applications at Google Cloud, defended the ad, stating that multiple websites support the 50-60% statistic regarding Gouda cheese consumption.
Google later revealed that changes were implemented following a discussion with Wisconsin Cheese Mart. A spokesperson stated that the business owner suggested revising the product description, leading to an update reflecting the business’s preferences.
Potential Source of Error
One possible source of Google AI’s inaccurate claim was a page on Cheese.com. The page asserts that Gouda accounts for a significant portion of the world's cheese consumption, although it may have been intended to refer specifically to the world's Dutch cheese consumption.
This incident highlights the ongoing focus of Google on AI-powered tools, with Gemini recently integrated into the Workspace suite and subscription service prices being raised. In the past, Google had temporarily suspended Gemini AI’s image generation function due to controversies surrounding historically inaccurate and overly diverse image outputs.
Social media users criticized the AI for being excessively 'woke' and producing images that distorted historical accuracy, such as depicting a Black George Washington and a Southeast Asian woman as a pope.
