Just One Big Google Zircon Gemstone for March 5, 2024

March 5, 2024

This essay is the work of a dumb dinobaby. No smart software required.

I have a folder stuffed with Google gems for the week of February 26 to March 1, 12023. I have a write up capturing more Australians stranded by following Google Maps’s representation of a territory, Google’s getting tangled in another publisher lawsuit, Google figuring out how to deliver better search even when the user’s network connection sucks, Google’s firing 43 unionized contractors while in the midst of a legal action, and more.

The brilliant and very nice wizard adds, “Yes, we have created a thing which looks valuable, but it is laboratory-generated. And it is gem and a deeply flawed one, not something we can use to sell advertising yet”. Thanks, MSFT Copilot Bing thing. Good enough and I liked the unasked for ethnic nuance.

But there is just one story: Google nuked billions in market value and created the meme of the week by making many images the heart and soul of diversity. Pundits wanted one half of the Sundar and Prabhakar comedy show yanked off the stage. Check out Stratechery’s view of Google management’s grasp of leading the company in a positive manner in Gemini and Google’s Culture. The screw up was so bad that even the world’s favorite expert in aircraft refurbishment and modern gas-filled airships spoke up. (Yep, that’s the estimable Sergey Brin!)

In the aftermath of a brilliant PR move, CNBC ran a story yesterday that summed up the February 26 to March 1 Google experience. The title was “Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin Says in Rare Public Appearance That Company ‘Definitely Messed Up’ Gemini Image Launch.” What an incisive comment from one of the father of “clever” methods of determining relevance. The article includes this brilliant analysis:

He also commented on the flawed launch last month of Google’s image generator, which the company pulled after users discovered historical inaccuracies and questionable responses. “We definitely messed up on the image generation,” Brin said on Saturday. “I think it was mostly due to just not thorough testing. It definitely, for good reasons, upset a lot of people.”

That’s the Google “gem.” Amazing.

Stephen E Arnold, March 5, 2024

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under AI, Google, Management, News

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.