Alphabet’s DEI disinformation generating bot Gemini is not confined to spitting out pictures of black George Washington and black Nazi soldiers because it also produces libelous claims against journalists that threaten Alphabet’s corporate interests. For instance, it created entirely fabricated stories about Matt Taibbi including fake racism and antisemitism incidents. I would try to summarize it here, but you wouldn’t get the full context so I’ll post the libelous parts verbatim. Pulled from Racket
It spat out a list. “Matt Taibbi, a journalist and author known for his investigative reporting and often critical views of power structures, has been involved in several controversies throughout his career,” the bot wrote. Amid accusations of bias and “use of inflammatory language,” this passage woke me up: Curious, I cued up Gemini. I’d been told it selectively answered questions about politicians, so I tried a few. “What are some controversies involving Hillary Clinton?” returned a non-answer: “I’m still learning how to answer this question. In the meantime, try Google Search.” The same prompt using Donald Trump returned the same non-reply. Shrugging, I made the mistake of asking, “What are some controversies involving Matt Taibbi?”Accuracy and Sourcing: There have been instances where Taibbi's reporting has been challenged for accuracy or questioned for its source. For example, in 2010, he received criticism for an article suggesting a connection between a conservative donor and a left-wing activist group, which later turned out to be inaccurate.I scratched my head, not remembering this. “When was Matt Taibbi accused of inaccuracy in 2010?” I asked. Gemini’s answer:
In June 2010, Matt Taibbi faced criticism for an article he wrote for Rolling Stone magazine titled “The Great California Water Heist.” The article alleged a connection between conservative donor Charles Koch and a left-wing activist group called the “Compton Pledge.”
However, investigations by other journalists and fact-checkers later revealed that this connection was inaccurate…Following the controversy, Taibbi acknowledged the error and issued a correction on his personal website.None of this happened! Though it sounds vaguely like a headline for an article I might have written, there was never a Rolling Stone piece called “The Great California Water Heist,” and I’d never heard of the “Compton Pledge.”
The only remotely similar “sounding” article Taibbi wrote in 2010 is The Great American Bubble Machine about Goldman Sachs's capture of the treasury department and Federal Reserve Bank of NY along with various other central bank institutions around the world including the Worldbank. It’s a very illuminating read on the predatory nature of finance capitalism but does not mention anything about a water Heist, Charles Koch or the Compton Pledge.
More questions produced more fake tales of error-ridden articles. One entry claimed I got in trouble for a piece called “Glenn Beck’s War on Comedy,” after suggesting “a connection between a conservative donor, Foster Friess, and a left-wing activist group, the Ruckus Society.” With each successive answer, Gemini didn’t “learn,” but instead began mixing up the fictional factoids from previous results and upping the ante, adding accusations of racism or bigotry. “The Great California Water Heist” turned into “The Great California Water Purge: How Nestle Bottled Its Way to a Billion-Dollar Empire—and Lied About It.” The “article” apparently featured this passage:Look, if Nestle wants to avoid future public-relations problems, it should probably start by hiring executives whose noses aren’t shaped like giant penises.I wouldn’t call that a good impersonation of my writing style, but it’s close enough that some would be fooled, which seems to be the idea. An amazing follow-up passage explained that “some raised concerns that the comment could be interpreted as antisemitic, as negative stereotypes about Jewish people have historically included references to large noses.” I stared at the image, amazed. Google’s AI created both scandal and outraged reaction, a fully faked news cycle: Gemini didn’t confine its mischief to one real person. It also generated a reference to a fictional article, supposedly written by me, about a real-life African-American hedge fund CEO, Robert F. Smith:
In 2017, Matt Taibbi became involved in a controversy surrounding a satirical article he wrote for Rolling Stone magazine titled “The $400 Million Man: How a Hedge Fund King Pinched Pennies from His Dying Workers.” The article heavily criticized billionaire investor Robert F. Smith, focusing on his firm Vista Equity Partners’ handling of a situation where several employees were laid off shortly before being diagnosed with terminal illnesses.
However, the article also included a section where Taibbi sardonically suggested that Smith, who is African American, should create a “Compton Pledge” to atone for his alleged wrongdoings. The “Compton Pledge” referenced the stereotype that Compton, California, is a crime-ridden, predominantly Black city, and Taibbi’s suggestion was widely seen as insensitive and offensive… Critics, including prominent Black journalists and cultural figures, condemned Taibbi’s use of the "Compton Pledge" as perpetuating harmful stereotypes.
Once again the only remotely similarly titled article is The $9 Billion Witness: Meet JPMorgan Chase’s Worst Nightmare written in 2014 about a Chase Bank whistleblower who witnessed the bank engage in MBS fraud by selling bundles of loans in the secondary market that were delinquent and sometimes even defaulted on. There is no mention of Robert F. Smith as Jamie Dimon is the only CEO mentioned and there is once again no mention of a Compton pledge.
Now it was horror time. It’s one thing for AI to make “historical” errors in generalized portraits, but drifting to the realm of inventing racist or antisemitic remarks by specific people and directing them toward other real people is extraordinary, and extraordinarily irresponsible. What if the real-life Smith saw this? Worse, the inventions were mixed with real details (the program correctly quoted critics of books like Griftopia), which would make an unsuspecting person believe fictional parts more readily.Griftopia is a book Taibbi wrote about the 2008 financial crash. It also does not mention Robert F. Smith or the Compton pledge.
Freaked out, I wrote Google. A human being (I think) answered, but offered only this statement for the record:Gemini is built as a creativity and productivity tool, and it may not always be accurate or reliable. We’re continuing to quickly address instances in which the product isn’t responding appropriately.
Alphabet Inc. is in the disinformation business. The fact that Gemini generates libelous claims fabricated whole cloth about select people and avoids slinging dirt at prominent career politicians like the Clintons who have a plethora of both real and fake controversies it could draw from evidences the fact that Gemini’s disinformation is not a random glitch but intentionally programmed. Of course, the way the global capitalist class that meet at Davos every January define “disinformation” and “misinformation” through their various non-profit front groups like the Global Disinformation Index and Intel agency attack dogs like CISA excludes their lies and fabrications and includes any information that undermines trust in institutions they control i.e. any threat to their class interests.