Google has pulled a controversial new AI tool just 24 hours after launch, following immediate backlash and warnings of dangerous consequences.
Don't miss out on the headlines from Innovation. Followed categories will be added to My News.Google has just pulled a new feature only 24 hours after launching it.
The ‘Create Image’ feature allowed users to add AI generated images over real Google Earth satellite imagery and was met with almost immediate backlash from experts saying the simple tool could have dangerous consequences.
The Google Earth feature allowed users to zoom into different locations and generate images using satellite, aerial and 3D-mapping data.
Google marketed it as a way of “visualising history”, but researchers immediately realised it could easily be misused to create fake satellite images and spread misinformation.
“Tonight I typed just one sentence into Google Earth and put refugees near the Mexican border. Then I planted a nuclear plant in Iran. What on earth is Google doing?” Henk Van Ess, an expert in detecting AI-generated images, wrote on X.
AFP tested the feature before it was pulled and they were able to create fake satellite images depicting a bomb crater in Russia and an explosion in Paris.
Other simple prompts visualised scenes like floods in Bangladesh and migrant caravans on the US and Mexico border.
As AI-generated content and deepfakes flood the internet, satellite imagery has been one of the key tools used by experts to fact-check and verify information.
Researchers warned that this feature could be exploited by bad actors to create fake lifelike satellite images and spread all sorts of disinformation.
American Enterprise Institute research analyst Brady Africk explained to the AFP the dangers of such fake imagery, saying they spread online very quickly and could easily mislead the public.
These fake depictions, he said, would “erode public trust in satellite imagery, and make the jobs of journalists and researchers more difficult”.
Centre for Information Resilience in the UK was another group that called for the feature to be removed. The organisation’s director Ross Burley simply called it “irresponsible”.
“Trust in satellite imagery has taken decades to build and could be irrevocably damaged overnight,” Mr Burley told AFP.
The feature was launched on Thursday, local time in the United States, and pulled the next day with Google saying they would “work on implementing stronger guardrails”.
“We know that people uniquely trust Google Earth for a reliable view of the world. We’ve seen geospatial professionals using this feature for a range of useful purposes, however we’ve also seen people sharing screenshots of generated imagery that appear to violate our policies,” Google Earth product manager Bryan Horowitz wrote.
Originally published as Google pulls ‘irresponsible’ AI tool one day after launching it
