Our tech overlords assert that artificial intelligence is so powerful it will soon dominate our daily lives, offering us all the information we could wish for at a moment’s notice. As for the accuracy of that information, we’ll let marketing handle that.
Google recently debuted its Super Bowl ads, showcasing how their Gemini AI can be utilized across the 50 states. Initially, these ads seem fine, but viewers in Wisconsin might take issue with the cheese facts presented. In one Wisconsin ad featuring a dairy farmer, the AI claims Gouda accounts for “50 to 60 percent of the world’s cheese consumption,” a statement that, as noted by travel blogger Nate Hake, is factually incorrect.
In Google’s Wisconsin local Super Bowl ad, an AI hallucination is shown on screen:
It says *Gouda* accounts for “50 to 60 percent of the world’s cheese consumption.”
Gemini provides no source, but that is just unequivocally false
Cheddar & mozzarella would like a word… pic.twitter.com/UwIBHAO4x6
— Nate Hake (@natejhake) January 31, 2025
Andrew Novakovic, E.V. Baker Professor of Agricultural Economics Emeritus at Cornell University, mentioned that “While Gouda is likely the most common single variety in world trade, it is almost assuredly not the most widely consumed.” The commercial fails to cite its incorrect statistic, although it appears to have originated from Cheese.com. The legitimacy of this statistic has been debated for at least a decade. For its part, Google is defending the accuracy of the claim, referring The Verge to a reply on X from Google Cloud apps president, Jerry Dischler, who stated, “Not a hallucination. Gemini is grounded in the Web — and users can always check the results and references. In this case, multiple sites across the web include the 50-60% stat.”
However, as The Verge pointed out, the fine print beneath Gemini’s response in the commercial states, “This is a creative writing aid and is not intended to be factual.” While this might absolve Google of any wrongdoing, it raises questions about the purpose of generative AI. If users must still independently fact-check and verify the information provided by the tool, what value does it truly offer? It appears we may have just added an unnecessary middleman.
Regardless, our entire economy now relies on this technology working effectively, so good luck to everyone!
