Google has re-edited an advertisement for its artificial intelligence tool, Gemini, because the ad exaggerated global demand for Gouda cheese. The advertisement was originally intended to showcase Gemini's powerful capabilities and was planned to air during the Super Bowl.
In the ad, Gemini helps a Wisconsin cheesemaker write product descriptions, claiming that Gouda cheese accounts for "50% to 60% of global cheese consumption." However, a blogger on X pointed out that this figure was "absolutely false," as the Dutch cheese is nowhere near that popular.
Google executive Jerry Dischler responded that this was not a "hallucination" of the AI system fabricating information, but rather that the website from which Gemini scraped the information was problematic. He emphasized: "Gemini is based on the web, and users can always check the results and references. In this case, multiple websites on the web contained the 50%-60% statistic."
Currently, the advertisement has been re-edited to remove this incorrect information. Google has released it on its YouTube platform, with the new version no longer mentioning the percentage of Gouda cheese in global consumption. Google said in a statement that they remade the advertisement after communicating with the cheesemaker featured in the ad and asking for his input.
The statement added, "Based on his suggestion to have Gemini rewrite the product description without including statistics, we updated the user interface to reflect the actual practices of the business." While accurate data on cheese is difficult to determine, it is generally believed that cheddar cheese is the most popular variety in the world, although preferences vary by country. Another major contender is mozzarella cheese, as it is widely used in pasta and pizza.
This incident is embarrassing for Google, considering the Super Bowl's extremely high visibility and the extra scrutiny its advertisements receive. The blogger, Nate Hake, who discovered the error called it "AI garbage." But this is not the first time the tech giant has run into trouble with its AI products. A year ago, Gemini was criticized and subsequently "paused" for its generated "woke" images (for example, a portrait of the Founding Fathers incorrectly included a black person).
Gemini has even had issues specifically regarding cheese. Last May, its AI Overview search feature was criticized because it told some users that they could use "non-toxic glue" when they searched for "how to make cheese stick better to pizza." The search engine's AI-generated response also stated that geologists recommend humans eat a rock a day. Problems with AI tools are not unique to Google; in January, Apple was forced to pause its news alert summary feature because it fabricated a series of inaccurate headlines.
Super Bowl advertisements themselves are not without controversy. Last year, Uber Eats made a last-minute modification to its advertisement after receiving criticism that it inappropriately downplayed food allergies.