Google removes incorrect information about Gouda in its AI-driven Super Bowl ad.

Google has made modifications to the response of the Gemini artificial intelligence presented in a Super Bowl commercial, removing an erroneous statistic related to cheese consumption. In the original version of the ad, a small business owner uses Gemini to draft a description of his website about Gouda, claiming that this variety accounts for "50 to 60 percent of the world's cheese consumption." However, in the edited video on YouTube, the phrase is now omitted, simply stating that Gouda is "one of the most popular cheeses in the world."

Jerry Dischler, president of Google Cloud apps, initially defended the response by stating on X that it was "based on the Web" and that it was not a "hallucination." The modification was noted by a user on the same platform.

Andrew Novakovic, emeritus professor of Agricultural Economics at Cornell University, recently confirmed that Gouda "is almost certainly not the most consumed cheese" globally. After research, it seems that Gemini might have reproduced the statistic from a site called Cheese.com, known for its search engine-optimized entries.

Although Gemini's response was altered in the ad, the incorrect information still remains on the business owner's website. This is problematic, as the notice accompanying Gemini's response indicates that it is not intended to be a verified fact. However, a tool designed to assist in business writing should be based on reliable sources.