Google Gemini backlash exposes comments from employees on Trump, ‘antiracism’ and ‘White privilege’
One Gemini employee said that Biden’s win in 2020 was a beautiful day for anyone who isn’t selfish.
Google’s Gemini chatbot, which uses artificial intelligence (AI), has been the subject of criticism. Resurfaced videos and remarks from Google employees are now being revealed.
Last week, Alphabet’s company Gemini apologized after social media users pointed out that the image generator created inaccurate historical images. The images sometimes substituted White people with pictures that depicted Black, Native American or Asian people.
Google responded by announcing that it would suspend the image-generation feature until its problems are resolved and then rerelease a new, improved version.
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Jack Krawczyk, senior director of Gemini Experiences product management and social media manager, posted a series of posts on his Facebook page that went viral.
Krawczyk wrote, “White privilege is real,” in a screenshot taken from a tweet on April 13, 2018. Don’t act like an a**hole – recognize bias on all levels.
Krawczyk wrote on Jan. 20, 2021 that President Biden’s inaugural speech was “one the greatest ever”, for “acknowledging racism systemic” and for “reiterating American ideals is the dream of the world, but we must work hard to earn it.”
I’ve been crying intermittently for the last 24 hours, since I cast my vote. In another tweet, Krawczyk said that filling in the Biden/Harris lines felt cathartic.
Fox News Digital also found other comments from Google employees which appeared to show political bias.
Clement Farabet (the vice president of Google DeepMind, a research lab which created Gemini with Google Research) made several comments about then-President Biden in 2020. He also disparaged then President Trump and his supporters.
Wow, what a beautiful moment for America and the world. He tweeted that he was promoting the cause of women, minorities, our children and anyone who is not selfish ***,” on November 7, 2020.
He called the Republican Party “pathetic” on that same day.
Farabet made several comments online in response to the Capitol Riots of January 6, 2011.
In a tweet, he mocked Trump by saying he was “very amazed” that the recently defeated President could read from a Teleprompter.
Farabet responded to the Senate Republicans’ condemnation of Trump’s actions on January 6 by tweeting “Oh, f— you?” You’ve been behind this from the beginning.”
Jen Gennai gave a keynote speech in 2021, after she founded Google’s Responsible AI operations team. She was responsible for ensuring Google adhered to its AI principles. This is the company’s ethical charter, which aims to develop and deploy “fair, inclusive, and ethical advanced technology.”
In his address, Gennai admitted to a “personal failure of inclusion.”
I treated all members of my team equally and expected the same results for everyone. “That was not true”, she said.
She received feedback from members of her own team who said they didn’t feel welcomed because no one “looked” like them in the larger organization or management. She claimed that it was “a myth” to treat “marginalized groups and excluded groups” the same as other groups.
Gennai said later, “We will make mistakes when we are trying to be good friends, or antiracist.”
Gennai acknowledged that the word “ally” itself can be problematic, and even come across as “othering”.
She said: “I always mention both the groups that I am a part of and support, as well as those of which I am a more active mentor and sponsor to make sure it doesn’t appear as if I’m disparaging others.”
Melonie Parker, Google’s Chief Diversity Officer, told BBC on 15 February that the company is committed to its “racial equity commitments” which include increasing “underrepresented group in leadership positions by 30 percent by 2023.”
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The company plans to invest $100 million in Black-owned businesses, as well as antiracist education and HBCUs. It will also offer training programs and antiracist education to its employees.
Fox News Digital asked Google to explain how it can guarantee that its AI systems will be free of political biases, if they implement policies and keep employees with their own biases.
Fox News Digital also contacted Krawczyk Farabet and Gennai to get their comments.
