Outsourcing emotion: The horror of Google’s “Dear Sydney” AI ad

Article note: The vast majority of writing _is_ extremely formular and ingenuine, but the value in doing it is typically in learning how to manipulate (with) the formula. ...and still, deciding to air an ad encouraging children to outsource expressing their (fake) emotions to a chatterbot is some sociopath shit that it's extremely goddamn alarming no one at google though the better of.

Enlarge / Here's an idea: Don't be a deadbeat and do it yourself! (credit: Google)

If you've watched any Olympics coverage this week, you've likely been confronted with an ad for Google's Gemini AI called "Dear Sydney." In it, a proud father seeks help writing a letter on behalf of his daughter, who is an aspiring runner and superfan of world-record-holding hurdler Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.

"I'm pretty good with words, but this has to be just right," the father intones before asking Gemini to "Help my daughter write a letter telling Sydney how inspiring she is..." Gemini dutifully responds with a draft letter in which the LLM tells the runner, on behalf of the daughter, that she wants to be "just like you."

Every time I see this ad, it puts me on edge in a way I've had trouble putting into words (though Gemini itself has some helpful thoughts). As someone who writes words for a living, the idea of outsourcing a writing task to a machine brings up some vocational anxiety. And the idea of someone who's "pretty good with words" doubting his abilities when the writing "has to be just right" sets off alarm bells regarding the superhuman framing of AI capabilities.