Artificial intelligence is being used everywhere by everybody it seems.  I’ve had limited experience.  I don’t use it professionally (hey, I’m retired), but I have used it in some of my activities, and recently I have been taking advantage of the Google AI search results, which does a nice job of compiling a summary for topics that otherwise generate too many diverse links.  

If you follow the invitation to “Dive Deeper”, an entire conversation with the AI agent will begin.  If you ask a follow-up question, you will get a thoughtful and informative response, further focusing on the aspect of the subject.  It (the agent, referred to as Gemini) will even suggest more things it can help with, though I usually have my own follow-up questions.  As the conversation continues, it will remember little details I have provided, and factor them in to customize and “personalize” each next response.

I find it both amazing and amusing.  And sometimes baffling.  I am amazed at how well it can construct a summary of a topic and provide references.  It makes for a good tutor on a new subject.  And the references save lots of time from manually looking them up via a regular Google search, which is very sensitive to the exact search terms, and provides an unsorted (except by page-rank and sponsorship) list of links.  Gemini, on the other hand, will organize and structure the information into tables and provide step-by-step instructions for achieving your objective.

I am amused at the “tone” of the responses from Gemini.  It has a distinct demeanor.  I find it a combination of neutral, confident, and tutorial.  Google wants it to be seen as a “helpful knowledgeable friend”.  It mostly succeeds.

But I am baffled by some of the responses it has provided.  Amidst an abundance of helpful information, there will be statements (provided with the utmost confidence) that are completely wrong, sometimes exactly the opposite of what was requested.  Here are three recent examples.