An algorithm that wishes death? What sounds like the dark fantasy of a science fiction author became a disturbing reality for a Michigan student. The chatbot Gemini, a showcase project from Google‘s AI factory, lost the dialogue with the young man: “You are a speck in the universe. Please die. Please.”
The sentence, which was more reminiscent of a nihilistic tirade (with a lot of decency) than the neutral precision of a machine, caused panic – not only in the 29-year-old student to whom the device was speaking, but also in his sister. She described opposite dem US-Sender CBS NewsWhat the incident made her feel: “I wanted to throw all the devices out the window.” It was the kind of message, according to the siblings, that could push people into the abyss in unstable moments.
When AI fails
Google, always striving to create an aura of technical infallibility, reacted quickly. According to a spokesman, measures have been taken to prevent similar failures in the future. The sentence clearly violates internal guidelines, and Gemini is actually protected against such escapades by “security filters”.
But exceptions are increasing in the world of artificial intelligence, and they shed light on the dark side of the supposedly neutral systems. The incident is one of a series of gaffes that have occurred not only at Google but also at other tech giants, such as the case of the 14-year-old who… took his own life after coming into contact with an AI chatbot.
It is well known that pseudo-intelligent machines occasionally talk nonsense. But when words become weapons – even if only from the depths of an insufficiently trained algorithm – they cross a limit that their creators should have set for them. The company has not disclosed how the incident with Google AI occurred.
Artificial intelligence promises simplification and efficiency, but it repeatedly turns out to be a reflection of human error. However, when the mirror reflects words like “Please die,” the insight emerges: an algorithm may be neither evil nor good, but it is relentless when it comes to wrong.
