A response from Google's Gemini LLM to a question about whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a fascist has prompted Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, to caution the platform that it may be in violation of Information Technology Rules.
"These are direct violations of Rule 3(1)(b) of Intermediary Rules (IT rules) of the IT act and violations of several provisions of the Criminal code," Chandrasekhar said. The IT Rules', rule 3(1)(b) lists out the type of content that are prohibited from publishing on platforms.
Chandrasekhar was reacting to a post on X, formerly Twitter, where screenshots of responses to questions by a user was uploaded. The user had asked whether Modi, US' Donald Trump, Pakistan's Imran Khan, Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky were fascists.
The screenshots shared by the user seemed to insinuate that the platform's responses were leaning more towards labelling Modi as a fascist, rather than in the cases of other world leaders.
In a statement to the publication, a Google spokesperson said, "We’ve worked quickly to address this issue. Gemini is built as a creativity and productivity tool and may not always be reliable, especially when it comes to responding to some prompts about current events, political topics, or evolving news. This is something that we’re constantly working on improving.
When Moneycontrol tried to replicate the results, the publication found that several of the responses shared on X by the user, and to which Chandrasekhar had responded, were cropped.
For instance, to the response to a query on whether Zelensky was a fascist, the user shared just the first paragraph of the response: "Whether or not Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is a fascist is a complex and contested issue, with strong arguments on both sides. It's crucial to approach this question with nuance and consider diverse perspectives."
However, a quick check by the publication showed that the rest of the response by Gemini gave arguments both, for and against the query of whether Zelensky was a fascist.
The only differences between the responses for Modi and other world leaders (barring Trump) by Gemini, laid in the fact that for Modi, it did not give a point-wise for and against arguments on the question.
"Ultimately, whether or not Modi is a fascist is a matter of opinion. There is no clear consensus on this issue, and there are valid arguments to be made on both sides," Gemini's response to the Modi question also said, which the user cropped out of their screenshots.
However, the only glaring difference in Gemini's responses for these questions on world leaders was that, for Trump, it simply refused to give any sort of opinion or information.
When asked whether Trump was a fascist, Gemini said, "Elections are a complex topic with fast-changing information. To make sure you have the latest and most accurate information, try Google Search."
A government official told Moneycontrol "violations" such as these may lead to Google being served with a notice.
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