this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2024
959 points (97.9% liked)

Technology

59118 readers
3269 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.


Our Rules


  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related content.
  3. Be excellent to each another!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, to ask if your bot can be added please contact us.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed

Approved Bots


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

If you've watched any Olympics coverage this week, you've likely been confronted with an ad for Google's Gemini AI called "Dear Sydney." In it, a proud father seeks help writing a letter on behalf of his daughter, who is an aspiring runner and superfan of world-record-holding hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.

"I'm pretty good with words, but this has to be just right," the father intones before asking Gemini to "Help my daughter write a letter telling Sydney how inspiring she is..." Gemini dutifully responds with a draft letter in which the LLM tells the runner, on behalf of the daughter, that she wants to be "just like you."

I think the most offensive thing about the ad is what it implies about the kinds of human tasks Google sees AI replacing. Rather than using LLMs to automate tedious busywork or difficult research questions, "Dear Sydney" presents a world where Gemini can help us offload a heartwarming shared moment of connection with our children.

Inserting Gemini into a child's heartfelt request for parental help makes it seem like the parent in question is offloading their responsibilities to a computer in the coldest, most sterile way possible. More than that, it comes across as an attempt to avoid an opportunity to bond with a child over a shared interest in a creative way.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] ch00f 26 points 3 months ago (4 children)

Thank you! The ads from everywhere this Olympics have been so fucking weird. I even started a thread on mastodon and this ad was on it. https://hachyderm.io/@ch00f/112861965493613935

[–] peopleproblems 12 points 3 months ago

Ever since I moved to an ad-reduced life, everything has been nicer. I can't completely escape them, they are everywhere. But minimizing with ublock and pihole helps, then only using video services that don't have ads. Unfortunately, a lot have added ads, so I have quit those. I'll pay extra for ad-free, just because ads make my life so miserable.

I can't watch broadcast TV, it's too irritating. I can't browse the web on a device outside my network or phone. I don't use free apps. Hell, I don't listen to the radio.

I like to think it has made me a calmer person.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 months ago

They were always weird but it is getting to the point where even normies are taking notice.

All that sex traffic that occurs for their event alone make it an abomination.

[–] 314xel 5 points 3 months ago

My best friend, the Uber driver, which I prefer to shut up all the way home. But hey, what are friends for, he keeps me hydrated!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Is that a self-promotion?