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Google will no longer air an Olympics ad that showed a child using AI to write a fan letter

The backlash reflects the broader debates around the role of AI in creative processes and its potential impact on the quality of human expression.

Google is phasing out an Olympics ad after for its AI-powered chatbot, Gemini, after receiving widespread criticism of showing a father use AI to help his daughter write a fan letter to her favorite athlete. The 60-second commercial, which is still available on YouTube, shows a father using Gemini to write a fan letter to an idol, Olympic track star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, on behalf of his young daughter. “The commercial showing somebody having a child use AI to write a fan letter to her hero SUCKS,” wrote Linda Holmes, the host of NPR ’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast, on Threads.

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