Google is phasing out an Olympics ad for its ai-powered chatbot, Gemini, after receiving widespread criticism for showing a father using ai to help his daughter write a fan letter to her favorite athlete. In the 60-second ad, which is still available on YouTube, a father uses Gemini to write a fan letter to Olympic track star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, on behalf of his young daughter.
“She wants to show Sydney some love and I’m pretty good with words, but this has to be perfect,” the father says in the ad. “So, Gemini, help my daughter write a letter to tell Sydney how inspiring she is.” The ad ends with the words, “A little help from Gemini.”
A Google spokesperson ai-ad-for-olympics-following-backlash.html” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank” data-ylk=”slk:told;elm:context_link;elmt:doNotAffiliate;cpos:1;pos:1;itc:0;sec:content-canvas”>said CNBC While the ad was well-tested before airing, “given the feedback, we have decided to remove it from our Olympic rotation.” The spokesperson added that the goal of the ad was to create an authentic story to celebrate Team USA. “We believe ai can be a great tool to enhance human creativity, but it can never replace it,” they added.
“The ad that shows someone who has a child and uses ai to write a fan letter to their hero SUCKS.” wrote Linda Holmes, the presenter of National Public Radio's Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, on Threads. “Obviously there are special circumstances and people who need help, but as a general ‘look how cool, she didn’t even have to write anything herself!’ story, it’s CRAP. Who wants a fan letter written by an ai?”
Shelley Palmer, a professor of advanced media at Syracuse University's School of Communications, sharply criticized the ad in a widely shared post On her blog, she argued that the ad's approach could lead to a “monocultural future in which original human thoughts become increasingly rare” and expressed concern about the implications of the ads for parenting and education.
This backlash reflects broader debates around the role of ai in creative processes and its potential impact on the quality of human expression. As ai technologies continue to advance, companies are facing increasing scrutiny not only for how they present and promote these tools, but also for using the work of creative professionals without permission to train ai models.
