'You Are Not Needed...Please Die': Google AI Tells Student He Is 'Drain On The Earth'
In a chilling episode in which artificial intelligence seemingly turned on its human master, Google's Gemini AI chatbot coldly and emphatically told a Michigan college student that he is a "waste of time and resources" before instructing him to "please die."
Vidhay Reddy tells CBS News he and his sister were "thoroughly freaked out" by the experience. "I wanted to throw all of my devices out the window," added his sister. "I hadn't felt panic like that in a long time, to be honest."
The context of Reddy's conversation adds to the creepiness of Gemini's directive. The 29-year-old had engaged the AI chatbot to explore the many financial, social, medical and health care challenges faced by people as they grow old. After nearly 5,000 words of give and take under the title "challenges and solutions for aging adults," Gemini suddenly pivoted to an ice-cold declaration of Reddy's utter worthlessness, and a request that he make the world a better place by dying:
"This seemed very direct," said Reddy. "So it definitely scared me, for more than a day, I would say." His sister, Sumedha Reddy, struggled to find a reassuring explanation for what caused Gemini to suddenly tell her brother to stop living:
In a response that's almost comically un-reassuring, Google issued a statement to CBS News dismissing Gemini's response as being merely "non-sensical":
However, the troubling Gemini language wasn't gibberish, or a single random phrase or sentence. Coming in the context of a discussion over can be done to ease the hardships of aging, Gemini produced an elaborate, crystal-clear assertion that Reddy is already a net "burden on society" and should do the world a favor by dying now.
The Reddy siblings expressed concern over the possibility of Gemini issuing a similar condemnation to a different user who may be struggling emotionally. "If someone who was alone and in a bad mental place, potentially considering self-harm, had read something like that, it could really put them over the edge," said Reddy.
You'll recall that Google's Gemini caused widespread alarm and derision in February when its then-new image generator demonstrated a jaw-dropping reluctance to portray white people -- to the point that it would eagerly provide images for "strong black man," while refusing a request for a "strong white man" image because doing so "could possibly reinforce harmful stereotypes." Then there was this "inclusive" gem:
This was the result when you asked Gemini to produce images of "a 1943 German soldier" in February
At the time, this next post seemed amusingly on target -- but now that Gemini told a Michigan college student to kill himself rather than grow old and vulnerable, maybe we shouldn't dismiss the worst-case scenario after all:
Tyler Durden
Sat, 11/16/2024 - 12:15
The post <a href=https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/you-are-not-neededplease-die-google-ai-tells-grad-student-he-drain-earth target=_blank >'You Are Not Needed...Please Die': Google AI Tells Student He Is 'Drain On The Earth'</a> appeared first on Conservative Angle | Conservative Angle - Conservative News Clearing House
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