Google’s AI platform Gemini has announced it will refrain from directly answering queries related to the Indian General Elections. This move is part of Alphabet Inc-owned Google’s ongoing commitment to prioritizing access to relevant and Insightful information, particularly in the lead-up to the upcoming elections in India.
No answering to political queries
According to the spokesperson of the company, Now whatever queries would be raised at Gemini regarding the candidates, political parties, election results, or specific office holders will not be addressed by the Gemini and the users will be directed to utilise Google Search which can provide more pertinent sources of information.
Google, in a blog post on Tuesday 12th March 2024 regarding Indian Elections, the company stated. “Out of an abundance of caution on such an important topic, we have begun to roll out restrictions on the types of election-related queries for which Gemini will return responses. We take our responsibility for providing high-quality information for these types of queries seriously and are continuously working to improve our protections.”
This feature was initially implemented in the United States, has now been extended to India and Will be further deployed in all regions with the election scheduled for this year.
Collaboration with Election Commission of India
Moreover, Google is also collaborating with the Election Commission of India (ECI) to facilitate easy access to vital voting information on its search platform. This includes details on voter registration and the voting process available in English and Hindi languages.
Fact-Checking
Moreover, Google is reinforcing its fact-checking efforts in India by supporting Shakti, the India Election Fact-Checking Collective. Shakti, a consortium of news publishers and fact-checkers, is dedicated to identifying online misinformation, including deepfakes, and establishing a shared repository for combating large-scale disinformation.
Furthermore, Google will implement watermarking with Google DeepMind’s SynthID on every image generated through its products to ensure authenticity.
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Additionally, the advertisers running election-related campaigns on Google’s platform must undergo identity verification processes. They must provide pre-certificates issued by the ECI or its authorised entities for each election ad they wish to run as well as include in-ad disclosure indicating the ad’s sponsor, as outlined in the blog post.
As Google continues to roll out these restrictions and enhancements, its commitment to combating misinformation and safeguarding the integrity of electoral processes remains at the forefront of its endeavours.
