ARTIFICIAL, YES. INTELLIGENCE, MAYBE NOT SO MUCH

 

I could always count on Google. Smarter (by a lot) than Siri on the ubiquitous Apple phones which easily outnumber my Android device, “Okay, Google” always got me a complete, satisfactory, and accurate answer to my queries.

At least so I thought.

I had, I always believed, not asked for much … just enough to keep me from lifting that heavy dictionary of mine or wandering across the room to the bookshelf with its various volumes which after some searching time might reveal that which I sought.

“Okay, Google,” ended my weightlifting. And it was right there at the dinner table, or at my desk, or on my couch … in my cell phone … giving me information and amazing my I-phoned friends whom Siri continued to frustrate.

Until now.

These days, “okay, Google” most often connects with me with a so-called upgrade named Gemini … a new attraction in the world of AI.

Who was it that said, “Let the buyer beware”?

I suppose I could ask Google that question, but I am no longer confident of the answer. This wannabe intelligence machine spews out data with a profound sense of self-satisfaction that may be either wrong, downright false, or totally contradictory.

Most recently, my friend, the award-winning actress Brenda Vaccaro, had agreed to compose a sentence or two endorsing my new memoir, Before and After Cagney & Lacey. I wanted to be sure I was crediting her properly and queried Google if Ms. Vaccaro had won an Academy Award for her memorable supporting role in Midnight Cowboy.

“You are confusing Brenda Vaccaro for Sylvia Miles,” said the Google entity. “Ms. Vaccaro did not appear in Midnight Cowboy.”

Say, what!?

“Okay, Google,” I rejoined. Please list the actors in Midnight Cowboy.”

Up came the list, and sure enough Brenda Vaccaro was cataloged right there on my cell phone screen close to Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, as she should have been.

I pointed out the contradiction to Mr. Google and promptly got an apology.

I was willing to leave it at that until some days later when I wanted to confirm my own memory as to the date of the passing of my dear friend, Sam Perlmutter.

Sam’s surname is not commonplace, but opting for clarity, I specified not only Sam’s full name to Google but the additional information that he was a well-known entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles and that he was the driving force behind the invention and promotion of the George Foreman Grill.

It took three tries and four conflicting pieces of information about individuals with the name of Sam Perlmutter, or something close to that, before nailing it down to the actual person.

I next checked Gemini for the closing date for the HBO series, Hacks, and got two different answers before getting the (I hope) right one of May 28.

The lesson learned from all this? Do not throw away your dictionary, your thesaurus, your encyclopedia, or your newspaper. There is still something to be said for the written word.

Don’t believe me? You could ask Google.

 

Barney Rosenzweig