Alphabet says will restrict election-related queries on Bard and AI-based search

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, said on Tuesday (Dec 19) it would restrict some types of queries related to elections which can be answered by its chatbot Bard and also the generative search. The company has said that the restrictions will come into effect in early 2024.

Some major elections are going to take place next year. Other than US Presidential Election 2024, the year would also see India, the world's largest democracy, choose who will be its prime minister. In addition to this, elections are to be held in South Africa as well.

Alphabet has said that it will "work with an increased focus on the role artificial intelligence (AI) might play".

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There already is a global concern about role social media plays to sway opinion of voters during elections. The US has even repeatedly lashed out at Russia and China saying there were attempts from within these countries to influence last two elections.

The arrival of artificial intelligence (AI) tools has further complicated things just as it has fundamentally affected the direction the tech industry would be headed towards.

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Last year, OpenAI released its blockbuster AI chatbot ChatGPT which made other tech giants hastily launch their own AI products. The ability of these generative tools to create convincing content has raised fears of their misuse, especially in context of elections.

What are other tech giants doing as election year approaches?

Facebook owner Meta has said in November that it was barring political campaigns and advertisers in other regulated industries from making use of its generative AI advertising tools.

The tech giant has also said that advertisers will have to disclose information in case they use AI to create or modify advertisements on its platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

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Another major social media platform X (formerly Twitter) said in August this year that candidates in US election and political parties will not be able to post political ads on the platform. The Elon Musk-owned platform also said that it will expand its safety and elections team.

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X, when it was Twitter, had previously banned all political ads in 2019.

AI has been topic of debate in regulatory circles across the world too. Governments are attempting to regulate AI to prevent its misuse and spread of misinformation.

(With inputs from agencies)