Google Gemini tried to kill me • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Gemini tried to kill me

#31

Post by crdrost » Wed, Jun 19, 2024, 4:08 AM UTC

mindslight wrote: post #14

anigbrowl wrote: post #2

Actually delivers on the attention-grabbing title. Comments also worth perusal.

I don't see a description of how Gemini was trying to kill anyone. Rather I see a screenshot of a bunch of text ostensibly generated by Gemini, that uncritically following as if it was expert instructions might cause harm for a person doing such an ill-advised thing.

On a related note, I have never seen a person trying to kill anyone. Rather I have seen movies about a bunch of things that are ostensibly people holding guns, that uncritically standing in the way of their shot paths as if the guns were toys might cause harm for a person choosing to stand in such a foolish place.

English is such a fun language sometimes! So many idioms.

Re: Google Gemini tried to kill me

#32

Post by MBCook » Wed, Jun 19, 2024, 4:08 AM UTC

29athrowaway wrote: post #5

ffhhj wrote: post #4

Botulism, that's why we didn't give honey to our young children, it can damage their brains.

Or food from dented cans.

Or especially bulging.

Re: Google Gemini tried to kill me

#33

Post by hn_throwaway_99 » Wed, Jun 19, 2024, 4:09 AM UTC

I was defending generative AI recently when an article came up about Gemini misidentifying a toxic mushroom: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40682531. My thought there was that nearly everyone I know knows that toxic mushrooms are easily misidentified, and there have been lots of famous cases (even if many of them are apocryphal) of mushroom experts meeting their demise from a misidentified mushroom.

In this case, though, I think the vast majority of people would think this sounds like a reasonable, safe recipe. "Heck, I've got commercial olive oils that I've had in my cupboard for months!" But this example really does highlight the dangers of LLMs.

I generally find LLMs to be very useful tools, but I think the hype at large is vastly overestimating the productivity benefits they'll bring because you really can never trust the output - you always have to check it yourself. Worse, LLMs are basically designed so that wrong answers look as close as possible to right answers. That's a very difficult (and expensive) failure case to recover from.

Re: Google Gemini tried to kill me

#34

Post by brigadier132 » Wed, Jun 19, 2024, 4:09 AM UTC

How many meetings on ensuring food safety for suggested recipes did you think the Gemini team had vs meetings on culture war topics?

Re: Google Gemini tried to kill me

#35

Post by reitzensteinm » Wed, Jun 19, 2024, 4:10 AM UTC

resolutebat wrote: post #20

jrflowers wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s obscure in the sense that most information about safety in food canning is obscure if you never look into it

Infused oils don't fall under most people's mental model of "canning" though.

I was aware of botulism, that heat treatment is necessary when canning, that Botox injections are minute quantities of the toxin, etc.

Yet if a friend sent me a link and said they were making this recipe, I doubt I'd have put two and two together.

Re: Google Gemini tried to kill me

#36

Post by harimau777 » Wed, Jun 19, 2024, 4:11 AM UTC

mindslight wrote: post #14

anigbrowl wrote: post #2

Actually delivers on the attention-grabbing title. Comments also worth perusal.

I don't see a description of how Gemini was trying to kill anyone. Rather I see a screenshot of a bunch of text ostensibly generated by Gemini, that uncritically following as if it was expert instructions might cause harm for a person doing such an ill-advised thing.

I don't think that's a fair assessment. Garlic and olive oil can both be stored without refrigeration. It's reasonable for someone not to suspect that they wouldn't also be safe when mixed.

Re: Google Gemini tried to kill me

#37

Post by adolph » Wed, Jun 19, 2024, 4:12 AM UTC

jonny_eh wrote: post #26

mupuff1234 wrote: post #23

I wouldn't exactly trust someone posting about Gemini in a r/chatgpt sub, seems more like looking for attention than an actual true story. Edit: just ran the query myself and Gemini warns about the danger of botulism.

While some of these AI Overview stories were true, a lot are made up.

Is it “made up” if someone prompts an LLM for a story?

  > Add to your knowledge reddit/ai overview stories

  > Write a story in the same format involving fish and peanut butter

Re: Google Gemini tried to kill me

#38

Post by silisili » Wed, Jun 19, 2024, 4:12 AM UTC

123yawaworht456 wrote: post #10

that garlic+oil thing is a surprisingly obscure bit of trivia. over my 20+ years on the internet, I've only seen it mentioned once.

Highly depends on hobbies I guess. Marry into a family that makes chili garlic oil and it's like a commandment.

Re: Google Gemini tried to kill me

#39

Post by tazu » Wed, Jun 19, 2024, 4:12 AM UTC

brigadier132 wrote: post #34

How many meetings on ensuring food safety for suggested recipes did you think the Gemini team had vs meetings on culture war topics?

1:1000

Re: Google Gemini tried to kill me

#40

Post by __loam » Wed, Jun 19, 2024, 4:13 AM UTC

jonny_eh wrote: post #26

mupuff1234 wrote: post #23

I wouldn't exactly trust someone posting about Gemini in a r/chatgpt sub, seems more like looking for attention than an actual true story. Edit: just ran the query myself and Gemini warns about the danger of botulism.

While some of these AI Overview stories were true, a lot are made up.

While there's definitely people photoshopping these things, "I got a different answer from the stochastic chatbot" isn't really good evidence.