The future of AI functionality is officially here. That is, of course, if you believe everything from Google I/O 2024. The big tech firm announced a wide range of new features that use the groundbreaking technology to streamline everything from organizing work to planning a vacation. Efficiencies are also making their way to Gmail, where AI will function like an executive assistant, summarizing, responding to, and organizing your emails.
However, given the scores of AI errors and miscues that have plagued the technology in its early stages (particularly Google’s Gemini platform), can this technology be trusted? Asking the AI chatbot trivial questions is pretty low stakes if it gets them wrong. But if Gemini isn’t flawlessly accurate when it summarizes emails about medical test results, job interviews, and funeral schedules, there will be problems for sure.
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Email has much higher stakes than search results
And Google is getting worse at the latter
The value of AI technology like Google Gemini is obvious to even tech novices. The ability to generate, summarize, create, and generally streamline most online tasks makes it a potential gold mine. Unfortunately, the technology’s rollout has been anything but flawless over the last few years, from botched demonstrations in early 2023 to the convoluted search results of today. Heck, I asked it the other day if water became heavier when it freezes, and it gave me two answers: “Yes,” and “No.”
Suffice it to say, trusting Google Gemini with something as important as your Gmail inbox when it can’t even figure out the basic scientific properties of water will be a hard pill to swallow for many early adopters. And if the rest of the industry is any indication, AI might not regain the trust of everyday users after all the mistakes it’s made in just a few years.
AI errors everywhere
Would you trust these platforms with your emails?
Gemini is not the only AI platform that has caused some serious issues for Google and its users over its short lifespan. In fact, with the breakneck speed at which the technology has been introduced to every corner of the tech world, there have been plenty of catastrophic instances with dire consequences for the companies involved.
From the AI-written Willy Wonka experience that horrified scores of young children to the Air Canada AI chatbot that lied to a customer about the airline bereavement policy, there are plenty of instances where this technology is inaccurate and downright wrong. Heck, even ChatGPT, the poster child for generative AI technology, has been known to “hallucinate” false information that fabricates “real” stories to prove its point.
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Simply put, Gemini and its Gmail summaries really need to be incredibly accurate if there’s any chance of everyday users getting on board. Even the smallest typo could result in catastrophic problems that will be hard to come back from.
