Google has recently announced that it will be imposing restrictions on the types of election-related queries that users can ask its Gemini chatbot. These changes have already been implemented in the United States and India, where elections are scheduled to take place this spring.
In a blog post titled “Supporting the 2024 Indian General Election” on March 12, Google, which is owned by Alphabet, stated its intention to avoid any potential pitfalls in the deployment of its technology. This announcement comes after Google faced controversies and subsequently withdrew its artificial intelligence (AI) image generation tool in February. The tool had received criticism for historical inaccuracies and contentious responses.
The image generator was initially introduced in February as part of Google’s rebranding efforts through Gemini, its suite of AI models. The progress made in generative AI, particularly in image and video generation, has raised concerns about misinformation and fake news, prompting governments to consider regulating this technology.
In its blog post, Google stated that countries like South Africa and India are also preparing for national elections. India has mandated that tech companies obtain government approval before publicly releasing AI tools that are either deemed “unreliable” or in a trial phase. These tools must also be appropriately labeled to indicate the potential for incorrect results.
The rise of publicly accessible AI tools has led to an increase in political deepfakes, which require voters to develop new skills in order to distinguish between what is real and what is not. Senator Mark Warner, the Chair of the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, expressed concerns on February 27 that America is “less prepared” for election fraud in the upcoming 2024 election compared to the previous one in 2020.
In Europe, the European Commission has formulated guidelines to address AI misinformation on platforms operating within the region. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, subsequently released its own strategy for the European Union to combat the misuse of generative AI in content on its platforms.
In other news, Google is working to rectify the issues related to diversity in its Gemini AI, while ChatGPT has been exhibiting erratic behavior.