Google restricts AI chatbot Gemini to comment on election queries

Google on global elections: Google on Wednesday announced restrictions on its AI chatbot Gemini from responding to inquiries regarding global elections slated for this year, citing a desire to mitigate potential errors in deploying the technology. This decision aligns with growing concerns surrounding misinformation and fake news fueled by advancements in generative AI, particularly in image and video generation, prompting governments to seek regulation.

Gemini, when queried about elections such as the upcoming US presidential contest between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, currently replies, "I'm still learning how to answer this question. In the meantime, try Google Search." Google had initially announced these restrictions within the US in December, with plans to implement them before the election.

A spokesperson for the company stated, “In preparation for the many elections happening around the world in 2024 and out of an abundance of caution, we are restricting the types of election-related queries for which Gemini will return responses.”

Beyond the United States, several large countries, including South Africa and India, are gearing up for national elections. India, the world's largest democracy, has mandated that tech firms obtain government approval before releasing AI tools that are deemed "unreliable" or are still in the trial phase, with a requirement to label them for their potential to yield incorrect answers.

Google's AI products have come under scrutiny following inaccuracies in some historical depictions of individuals created by Gemini, prompting the suspension of the chatbot's image-generation feature. CEO Sundar Pichai acknowledged these issues, describing Gemini's responses as "biased" and "completely unacceptable," with efforts underway to address them.

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, recently announced plans to establish a dedicated team to combat disinformation and misuse of generative AI leading up to the European Parliament elections scheduled for June.

(With Reuters inputs)