Google’s AI-powered chatbot Gemini is no longer able to answer questions about 2024 elections, the Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)-owned company confirmed on Tuesday.
This comes amid rising concerns about how AI could disrupt elections, specifically around the use of “deepfakes” imitating political candidates to influence voters and the spread of misinformation.
Several significant national elections are taking place this year including in the United States, South Africa, and India.
"In preparation for the many elections happening around the world in 2024 and out of an abundance of caution, we are restricting the types of election-related queries for which Gemini will return responses," a Google spokesperson said on Tuesday.
When asked about upcoming elections, Gemini now produces the response: “I'm still learning how to answer this question. In the meantime, try Google Search.”
Other tech giants working with AI have also unveiled plans for how they intend to deploy their offering in relation to upcoming elections.
Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META, ETR:FB2A, SWX:FB) last month announced that it was putting in place a team to tackle disinformation and the abuse of AI ahead of the European Parliament elections being held from June 6 to 9.
“As the election approaches, we’ll activate an Elections Operations Center to identify potential threats and put mitigations in place in real-time,” Meta’s head of EU Affairs Marco Pancini said in a blog post.
In a blog post in January, ChatGPT-creator OpenAI also outlined its approach to the 2024 elections. It said its efforts would be focused on preventing abuse, ensuring transparency around AI-generated content, and improving access to authoritative voting information.