Google Pulls Controversial 'Dear Sydney' TV Spot In Which Dad Uses AI To Write Daughter's Fan Letter 

Google has pulled from NBC Universal's Paris Olympics broadcasts a commercial in which a father uses AI to write a fan letter from his young daughter to American track and field star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.

In the spot, titled "Dear Sydney," the father in voiceover says that his daughter — who "might even be the world's No. 1 Sydney fan" — "wants to show Sydney some love." While Dad declares himself to be "pretty good with words," "this has to be just right," he stresses. So he asks Google's Gemini AI gizmo to "help my daughter write a letter telling Sydney how inspiring she is" (while also being "sure to mention that my daughter plans on breaking her world record one day. (She says sorry, not sorry.)"

The spot, which debuted during NBCU's well-watched Paris Olympics coverage, immediately sparked backlash for presenting a scenario in which crafting such a first fan letter is not a teaching moment, but something for a child to outsource to AI.

"The father in the video is not encouraging his daughter to learn to express herself," Shelly Palmer, Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, wrote in a blog post titled "Why Google's 'Dear Sydney' Ad Makes Me Want to Scream."

When the backlash first started brewing, Google defended the spot in a statement saying, "We believe that AI can be a great tool for enhancing human creativity, but can never replace it. Our goal was to create an authentic story [that] showcases a real-life track enthusiast and her father, and aims to show how the Gemini app can provide a starting point, thought starter, or early draft for someone looking for ideas for their writing."

But on Friday, in pulling the spot, Google said in a new statement, "While the ad tested well before airing, given the feedback, we have decided to phase the ad out of our Olympics rotation."