AI in Olympics ad sparks creative debate; Google hits the delete buttona

Google has withdrawn its latest Olympics advertisement featuring its Gemini chatbot after widespread criticism of its portrayal of artificial intelligence (AI) in the creative process of a child.

The advertisement, titled ‘Dear Sydney’ depicted a father using the Gemini AI chatbot to assist his daughter in writing a fan letter to her idol, US hurdler and sprinter Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone. The commercial, which aired repeatedly during the first week of the Olympic Games, sparked controversy as viewers questioned why a child’s creative expression was being outsourced to AI.