Google ad featuring founding fathers using AI sparks outrage
Google's latest commercial shows the founding fathers using Gemini to draft the Declaration of Independence, drawing sharp criticism for tastelessness.
A new commercial from Google, promoting its Workspace suite, has sparked widespread backlash. The ad imagines the founding fathers of the United States using artificial intelligence tools to draft the Declaration of Independence. It opens with the line: "Group project, but make it 1776."
In the clip, Ben Franklin texts Thomas Jefferson to check on a draft. Jefferson takes a photo and uses AI to transcribe it into a Google Doc. Franklin and Adams then make edits in suggestion mode. Gemini, Google's AI assistant, finds a meeting time, takes notes during a Google Meet call, and a character named "Nano Banana" creates a seal for the United States featuring a turkey.
Toward the end, the founding fathers ask Gemini whether they should grant King George III edit access to the Declaration of Independence. This moment has drawn particular ire, with many viewers finding it disrespectful to American history.
Angus Johnston, a history professor at the City University of New York, commented on Bluesky: "Even in a corny fantasy joke, it’s impossible to make the case that AI is a useful tool for political organizing, writing, or human collaboration."
The ad has been widely criticized as ill-advised, corny, and lacking in taste, with critics arguing it trivializes a pivotal historical event and overstates AI's role in creative work.
