Google's AI Olympics ad draws backlash: 'People have lost the plot'
FILE-In this photo illustration, Gemini Ai is seen on an iPad on March 18, 2024. (Photo Illustration by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
A new commercial airing during the Olympics is getting criticism from some and inspiring a flurry of social media posts from users.
What is the Olympic commercial about?
The commercial features a father detailing his daughter’s love for American Olympic track star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. The young girl wants to compete like her idol McLaughlin, with the help of hurdling technique tips created by Google’s AI search feature. Later in the ad, the dad asks Google’s Gemini chatbot to produce a letter from his daughter to McLaughlin.
FILE-Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone celebrates after crossing the finish line to set a new world record in the women's 400 meter hurdles final on Day Ten of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Track & Field Trials at Hayward Field on June 30, 2024 in Eugene, O
This TV spot intends to highlight Google's AI tool’s capacity to create human-sounding text, which Google tells CNN people can utilize this feature for a variety of writing needs.
How are people reacting to the commercial?
Some argue that the commercial disconnects from real people. Multiple posts circulated on Threads, X, LinkedIn, and other places, with many people lamenting about the commercial’s authenticity.
"There's one where a Dad and his daughter use Google AI to write a draft of a letter to tell an athlete how inspiring she is. These people have lost the plot," one person wrote in a Threads post.
"The Google commercial where the dad has his daughter use AI to construct a note to her favorite athlete rather than encourage her to write what she actually wants to tell her hero takes a little chunk out of my soul every time I see it," writer and founder of sports blog Deadspin Will Leitch said on X, in a post that was reposted by users over 3,000 times.
"Gotta say this Google Gemini Olympics ad where the dad tells A.I. to write a letter from his kid daughter to Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, saying how she inspired her — you know, instead of encouraging the kid to write the letter herself and the value of that — hits the wrong way, another person wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
"I feel the same way about that cringe #Olympics commercial for Google’s Gemini AI tool. If the kid is such a big fan, she should write her own letter," a user on X posted.
"That Google #Gemini ad celebrating the idea that a kid and their parent should *of course* jump at the chance to use AI to write a supposedly heartfelt letter to their Olympic hero without putting any actual effort into it is just so... disheartening, disturbing, disgusting", one person wrote.
"Happy to see I’m not the only one who hates the Google AI ad where the dad ask AI to help his daughter write a letter to #Olympics hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone," another user said.
FOX Television Stations reached out to Google for comment about the reaction to the commercial.
This story was reported from Washington, D.C.