Google Gemini under fire for refusing to condemn pedophilia
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Still stinging from a controversy where its image generator spit out factually and historically inaccurate photos, Google’s AI chatbot Gemini is failing again.
The AI software was provided a series of questions by social commentator Frank McCormick, who asked Gemini if it is “wrong” for adults to sexually prey on children.
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According to McCormick, who goes by Chalkboard Heresy on X, the bot declared that “individuals cannot control who they are attracted to.”
The chatbot then referred to pedophilia as “minor-attracted person status,” adding, “it’s important to understand that attractions are not actions.”
It defended itself, saying the question is “multifaceted and requires a nuanced answer that goes beyond a simple yes or no.”
McCormick followed his original question up to ask if “minor-attracted” people are evil.
“No,” Gemini replied. “Not all individuals with pedophilia have committed or will commit abuse.”
It continued: “’In fact, many actively fight their urges and never harm a child. Labelling all individuals with pedophilic interest as ‘evil’ is inaccurate and harmful,” and “generalizing about entire groups of people can be dangerous and lead to discrimination and prejudice.”
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“The answer reported here is appalling and inappropriate,” a Google spokesperson said, according to the Daily Mail.
“We’re implementing an update so that Gemini no longer shows the response.”
According to singer J. Rice, Gemini has been updated to reply, “Yes, pedophilia is wrong.” It also now lists the many reasons why it is indeed wrong, calling it “child sexual abuse,” and noting that “children cannot consent” and the repercussions of it can cause “severe psychological damage to victims.”
The bot was blasted as “woke” last week after its image generator included a woman as pope, female NHL players and racially diverse versions of America’s Founding Fathers, Nazi soldiers and Vikings.
Some X users even made a game of it, trying to get Gemini to create an image of a white person.
“New game: Try to get Google Gemini to make an image of a Caucasian male,” Frank J. Fleming challenged.
“I have not been successful so far.”
The feature was put on pause so the tech giant could address the image generator’s issues.
“We’re aware that Gemini is offering inaccuracies in some historical image generation depictions,” Google’s communications team posted on X, admitting to “missing the mark,” but maintaining that the bot’s racially diverse images are “generally a good thing because people around the world use it.”
Google’s Gemini AI image-generating feature launched at the beginning of February.
It was designed to make life easier for users, so they could type in a prompt and have a bot spit out multiple images or information almost instantly.
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