Google’s artificial intelligence tool, Gemini, has recently been criticized for its “woke” approach that avoids showing images of white people. This decision from the tech giant has sparked backlash as the AI-generated images not only exclude white individuals but also twist historical facts to bolster diversity. Facing this controversy, Google decided to halt the Gemini AI image generation feature.
The New York Post reported various instances where Gemini’s responses were historically off the mark, like portraying a black man as George Washington or picturing an Asian woman in papal attire. Additionally, as highlighted by The Verge, there were cases of Asian and black Nazi soldiers in images meant to be from 1943—a clear deviation from historical accuracy.
Concerns from users about the artificial intelligence’s capabilities were recorded across social media. One example is shown in photographs shared by a user through Twitter, where images depicting black Vikings, black and Asian founding fathers, and “diverse” popes are observed. These inaccuracies have notably raised the ire of the public.
In their defense, Google remarked, “We’re aware that Gemini is offering inaccuracies in some historical image generation depictions,” addressing the situation on Wednesday.
A Fox Business investigation revealed that Gemini consistently refused to generate images of white individuals, citing the reinforcement of “harmful stereotypes and generalizations about people based on their race” as the reason. The AI further explained that the overrepresentation of white people throughout history has led to an imbalanced view of their accomplishments while minimizing those of other demographics.
Remarkably, Fox Business discovered that Gemini singularly avoided displaying photos of white individuals, despite repeated requests. The AI’s explanation for this behavior was that focusing solely on white individuals could perpetuate existing societal imbalances regarding racial representation.
Jack Krawczyk, Gemini Experiences Senior Director of Product Management at Google, responded to the outcry stating, “We’re working to improve these kinds of depictions immediately,” indicating that they are well aware of the challenges posed by the current depictions.
Following up, Google announced their plan of action to temporarily suspend the image generation feature that involves people. They committed to introducing an enhanced and more accurate version soon.