Google’s plan to show off at the 2024 Paris Olympics how its Gemini AI assistant has improved by leaps and bounds crashed into a hurdle at the opening ceremonies when its new “Dear Sydney” commercial provoked some very low scores from some viewers. The ad aimed at tying Gemini to how Olympic medalist Sydney McLaughlin inspired a little girl. Instead, it seemed to suggest that the girl’s father should outsource helping his daughter write a fan letter to the AI.
The ad’s story is told by the girl’s father, who first uses Gemini to look up ways to help his daughter train for track and field events. But he then asks Gemini to compose a letter for his daughter to send to McLaughlin. The piece ends with a cute bit about the girl apologizing for her dream of surpassing McLaughlin’s record as Eve’s 2001 song, “Who’s That Girl?” plays. But, the letter request came off as jarring to some viewers.
“She wants to show Sydney some love and I’m pretty good with words, but this has to be just right,” the father says. “Help my daughter write a letter telling Sydney how inspiring she is.”
The reaction from many online was that it implied that the father took his daughter’s sweet request for help writing a letter to her hero and fobbed it off on Gemini as though it were a tedious chore. Plus, getting AI to compose a child’s heartfelt letter telling McLaughlin how much the Olympian inspired her rather than getting coached by her dad might seem a little cold.
Father Gemini
Some critics argued that the ad undermines the value of personal, human connections and creativity, suggesting that AI could replace meaningful interactions. These are common anxieties around generative AI like Gemini, but Google inadvertently seems to be endorsing those consequences as a positive goal. And that’s even before addressing the fact that the father is “pretty good with words” and, therefore, shouldn’t even need the help. The bit asking Gemini for help with training didn’t cause the same visceral reaction, though it might have had the father said he was “pretty good” at coaching kids to Olympic Gold.
Google is heavily invested in making Gemini part of the Olympics this year. The tech giant struck a deal with NBCUniversal and Team USA to embed Gemini in the games’ broadcast. NBC commentators are using Google Search’s AI Overviews feature during their coverage, including “chief superfan commentator,” Leslie Jones.
Google weathered the backlash for a while. The company obliquely acknowledged the complaints about the ad by disabling comments on the YouTube video and indirectly implying that people didn’t understand the ad.
“Our goal was to create an authentic story celebrating Team USA,” Google said in a statement early on in the furor. “It showcases a real-life track enthusiast and her father, and aims to show how the Gemini app can provide a starting point, thought starter, or early draft for someone looking for ideas for their writing.”
Eventually, Google managed to read the writing on the wall that had collapsed on top of them and pulled the ad before the end of the Olympics. Whether this means the company will adjust its Gemini marketing overall or simply do more tests before releasing commercials is unclear.
“While the ad tested well before airing, given the feedback, we have decided to phase the ad out of our Olympics rotation,” Google said in a statement. “We believe that AI can be a great tool for enhancing human creativity but can never replace it.”
Perhaps the company should have asked Gemini. When asked, “Is it a good idea to advertise AI with a commercial showing how AI can be better at helping teach a child to write a letter than their parent?” Gemini responded with, “No, it’s not a good idea to advertise AI with that commercial. This approach undermines the fundamental role of parents in a child’s life and education.”