The ‘glue’ that binds AI

A few months ago, we had the news that Google had struck a US$60 million deal with Reddit to access the latter’s user posts, to train its AI engine.  Last week, we had the news that OpenAI had also struck a deal with Reddit, without any mention of the financial terms.  Well, this week, social media users have been sharing an example of how Google AI may have found itself in a sticky situation, so to speak, by relying on the ‘wisdom’ of Reddit users.  As NY Post reported:

One widely circulated screenshot showed Google’s AI-generated response to a search for the query “cheese not sticking to pizza.”

Google responded by listing “some things you can try” to prevent the issue.

“Mixing cheese into the sauce helps add moisture to the cheese and dry out the sauce,” Google’s AI Overview said. “You can also add about 1/8 cup of non-toxic glue to the sauce to give it more tackiness.”

Some users traced the bizarre response to an 11-year-old post on Reddit by a user named “F—ksmith,” who gave a nearly verbatim answer to the same question about cheese sliding off pizza.