Google has officially announced that it is limiting the kinds of queries users can pose to its Gemini AI chatbot regarding elections.
The strategy was announced in a blog post that it has been implemented in India, where elections are scheduled to begin in April. It happens as the company seeks to steer clear of further controversies surrounding AI.
In essence, Gemini is Google’s take on ChatGPT, the popular chatbot. It can produce images in addition to text responses to inquiries.
According to a Google representative, the company’s most recent action was a component of their election strategy that was unveiled last year.
“As we shared last December, in preparation for the many elections happening around the world in 2024 and out of an abundance of caution, we’re restricting the types of election-related queries for which Gemini will return responses,” they said.
This year, elections are scheduled to take place in many nations, including the US, UK, and South Africa.
Every time a question concerning the elections was posed, Gemini would reply, “I’m still learning how to answer this question. Google Search can be used in the interim.”
Gemini did, however, provide more thorough answers regarding the main political parties of India when a series of follow-up questions concerning Indian politics were posed to it.
Governments worldwide have moved to control the technology as a result of concerns about disinformation sparked by developments in generative AI.
India has informed tech companies in recent weeks that they must obtain permission before launching or testing “unreliable” AI tools.
