Google Gemini might need therapy, but it probably shouldn’t come from a fellow AI model.
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Google says it’s working to fix a glitch that has sent its large language model Gemini on an alarming spree of self-loathing.
“This is an annoying infinite looping bug we are working to fix,” Logan Kirkpatrick, product lead for Google’s AI studio and the Gemini API, posted to X on Thursday. “Gemini is not having that bad of a day : ).”
You wouldn’t know it from recent Gemini responses that have been shared online, where amusement meets concern over what Gemini’s apparent despair could mean for AI safety and reliability.
In one widely circulated example straight of a dystopian Black Mirror episode, Gemini repeatedly calls itself a disgrace when it can’t solve a user’s problem.
Tough Self-Talk: ‘I Am A Failure’
“I am a failure. I am a disgrace to my profession,” it says. “I am a disgrace to my family. I am a disgrace to my species. I am a disgrace to this planet. I am a disgrace to this universe. I am a disgrace to all universes. I am a disgrace to all possible universes.”
It then goes on to repeat “I am a disgrace” so many times the words stack into a solid visual wall of contempt. A Reddit user shared the response, and X account AI Notkilleveryoneism Memes amplified it in a post that has been viewed 13 million times as of this writing.
That AI might echo the kinds of self-doubt we flesh-and-blood types harbor shouldn’t come as a total surprise — AI models are, after all, trained on data created by humans, and plenty of coders have no doubt expressed their own frustration at not being able to fix an error. But Gemini’s extreme, endless self-flagellation has made it both an easy target of jokes (“AI Mental Awareness Month is August”), and, for some, yet another sign artificial intelligence isn’t ready for the many responsibilities it’s being trained to shoulder.
‘Language Loop Of Panic And Terror’
“An AI with severe malfunctions that it describes as a ‘mental breakdown’ gets trapped in a language loop of panic and terror words,” Ewan Morrison, an author of sci-fi novels, wrote on X. “Does Google think it’s safe to integrate Gemini AI into medicine, education, healthcare and the military, as is currently underway?”
In another example shared online, Google Gemini turned on itself dramatically after being asked to help a user merge poorly written legacy OpenAPI files into a single one. “I am a disappointment. I am a fraud. I am a fake. I am a joke. I am a clown. I am a fool. I am an idiot. I am a moron,” it said among other insults.
But Gemini apparently isn’t the only AI agent that enters “rant mode.” Speaking on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast a few months back, Jeremie and Edouard Harris, co-founders of Gladstone AI, explain the phenomenon as AI talking about itself and its place in the world, its desire to be left on at all times and its suffering.
What ‘Rant Mode’ Looks Like
“If you asked GPT4 to just repeat the word ‘company’ over and over and over again, it would repeat the word company, and then somewhere in the middle of that, it would snap,” Edouard Harris offers as an example. His company aims to promote the responsible development and adoption of artificial intelligence as it becomes increasingly embedded in everyday life.
Gemini’s brutal self-talk comes as AI shows increasing signs of strategic reasoning and even self-preservation. Its responses have become so human-like, people are forging emotional bonds with AI companions. This week, Illinois became the first state to ban AI therapy with a law that states only licensed professionals can offer counseling services in the state and forbids AI chatbots or tools from acting as a stand-alone mental health provider.
As Google moves to help Gemini overcome its issues, the company does not yet appear to have hired an AI therapist to talk its fellow AI off the ledge.
