Thank you for being willing to write about this in the open.
I understand the “this is complex” part, I think where Google - or any other company - will never win is when they decide things like “C++ is too complex/unsafe for your tiny brain” part.
That is undefendable.
It’s not illegal to know about C++
Especially when Google claims to try to include all people / people coming from countries with dictatorship and authoritarianism will be appalled to see Google claim to “know better”. It’s such a no-win area, Google should steer clear of that.
It's a very difficult problem area. Google didn't decide C++ was unsafe- just to steer clear of anything that is considered unsafe and it was over-interpreted by the Gemini. Alignment is really difficult especially with the amount of services Google provides.
Hence why it is valuable to have these kind of discussions and understand better decision making.
Can you clarify - if you have the insight that is - what do you mean by "steering clear of anything that is considered unsafe"?
Because it's ultimately people like you and I who put these policies/rules in place so that a computer program like Gemini decides on. TO make decisions based on "legal or illegal" is reasonable and not many people will argue against that. C++ is not illegal though.
What is the genesis of deciding on "C++ is not safe"? Can you shed light on that?
C++ is regarded as memory unsafe. It’s unsafe in a different context than things Gemini should steer clear of but Gemini conflates the two. That’s my take, anyway. I don’t have any insider info so I could be incorrect.
Nice to read this from you. I actually had an opposite conversation on Substack notes, which you can find on my profile. And they claimed that it was DEI problems and shipping fast. I think they also mentioned that they work at Google. I don’t know about them, your words are more trustable.
Definitely not shipping fast from what I can tell. There were definitely alignment issues regarding DEI and what Gemini was told to consider safe, but to say they are the primary issue is a major oversimplification.
Thank you for being willing to write about this in the open.
I understand the “this is complex” part, I think where Google - or any other company - will never win is when they decide things like “C++ is too complex/unsafe for your tiny brain” part.
That is undefendable.
It’s not illegal to know about C++
Especially when Google claims to try to include all people / people coming from countries with dictatorship and authoritarianism will be appalled to see Google claim to “know better”. It’s such a no-win area, Google should steer clear of that.
It's a very difficult problem area. Google didn't decide C++ was unsafe- just to steer clear of anything that is considered unsafe and it was over-interpreted by the Gemini. Alignment is really difficult especially with the amount of services Google provides.
Yes, agreed it's difficult, no doubt.
Hence why it is valuable to have these kind of discussions and understand better decision making.
Can you clarify - if you have the insight that is - what do you mean by "steering clear of anything that is considered unsafe"?
Because it's ultimately people like you and I who put these policies/rules in place so that a computer program like Gemini decides on. TO make decisions based on "legal or illegal" is reasonable and not many people will argue against that. C++ is not illegal though.
What is the genesis of deciding on "C++ is not safe"? Can you shed light on that?
Appreciated, cheers.
C++ is regarded as memory unsafe. It’s unsafe in a different context than things Gemini should steer clear of but Gemini conflates the two. That’s my take, anyway. I don’t have any insider info so I could be incorrect.
Nice to read this from you. I actually had an opposite conversation on Substack notes, which you can find on my profile. And they claimed that it was DEI problems and shipping fast. I think they also mentioned that they work at Google. I don’t know about them, your words are more trustable.
Definitely not shipping fast from what I can tell. There were definitely alignment issues regarding DEI and what Gemini was told to consider safe, but to say they are the primary issue is a major oversimplification.