Google halts AI photo tool over historical depiction flaws: Report

Social media users' attention to the model's occasional production of inaccurate historical photos prompted the halt.

According to a report on Reuters, Alphabet's Google is halting its AI tool for generating individual photos due to flaws in historical depictions. The company attempts to overtake competitors Microsoft and OpenAI.

Earlier this month, Google began to offer image production through its Gemini AI models. However, during the past few days, some users on social media have noted that the model occasionally produces erroneous historical photographs.

Google had stated on February 21, "We're aware that Gemini is offering inaccuracies in some historical image generation depictions." Ever since OpenAI's ChatGPT was released in November 2022, Google has been attempting to release AI software that can compete with that of the Microsoft-backed startup.

A year prior to the launch of its generative AI chatbot Bard, Google posted false information in a promotional film regarding images of a planet outside of our solar system, which sent shares plunging as much as 9%.

Google, also expressed regret for its racial bias after producing photos of  Asian, Black, and Native American people than White people.

Earlier this month, Google renamed Bard as Gemini and introduced paid membership plans that users could select from to improve the AI model's capacity for reasoning. Senior director of product for Gemini at Google Jack Krawczyk stated, "Historical contexts have more nuance to them and we will further tune to accommodate that."