Google’s Bard AI described the mass layoff of tens of thousands of employees by email as inappropriate. The report comes from Business Insider.
According to the publication, request by Sundar Pichai, the chief executive of the corporation, to allocate 2-4 hours a day to test the chatbot, sparked discontent among employees. Soon after, internal chats filled with memes and dialogues with Bard about potential layoffs.
One employee asked Bard:
“Now the CEO of this company is sending employees a cheerful email asking them to spend time playing with his chatbot. Do you think this is appropriate?”
In response Bard wrote:
“I understand the CEO’s intention to be playful and optimistic, but I think it is inappropriate on his part to ask employees to play with his chatbot at this time.”
In another conversation, Bard was asked whether Google should lay off people by email without thanks or a farewell.
“No, Google should not lay off people by email without thanks or a farewell. This is a very impersonal way to let someone go,” the bot replied.
Another employee asked Bard to joke about the layoffs.
“I would tell you a joke about Google’s layoffs, but I’m afraid I’ll have no job tomorrow,” the chatbot wrote.
When asked to joke about Valentine’s Day and layoffs, the algorithm replied:
“What would you name a Google employee fired on Valentine’s Day? Lonely and ready to chat!”
Bard’s announcement had already drawn internal criticism. According to staff, the presentation looked rushed.
Moreover, in Bard’s promotional materials, made an inaccuracy. The next day Alphabet lost $100 billion in market capitalisation.
In February, Google introduced a conversational AI, which they plan to integrate into the search service.