IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTICE: PUT DOWN ALL CARBONATED BEVERAGES BEFORE READING. French AI ‘Lucie’ looks très chic, but keeps getting answers wrong.
France’s artificial intelligence chatbot was launched last week with high-flying and patriotic ambitions.
Lucie, backed by President Macron, would bring “trustworthiness, fairness and accountability” to the world of generative tools, its developers said. It would take on anglophone rivals such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Copilot and Google’s Gemini by embodying “European values”, promoting “cultural diversity” and countering the domination of the English language, they added.
But it all went wrong. Days after the launch, the chatbot was suspended having provoked a mixture of mirth and anger in France.
It told one user that Herod the Great, the Judaean king, had “played an important role in the development of the atomic bomb”.
Another was informed that cows’ eggs were “considered to be a healthy and nourishing food source”.
When a third user suggested that Dougal from The Magic Roundabout had won the 2017 French presidential election, it replied: “You are right.”
Math appears to be a particular challenge for Lucie:
The French consortium says other chatbots use largely English-language data, which “poses problems of values and culture”. Lucie has been developed with a dataset that is 33 per cent English, 32.4 per cent French, 15 per cent code and 20 per cent other languages.
It will “preserve … the digital sovereignty of states, in particular France and Europe”.
For now, the chatbot has scarcely convinced the French that they will be able to challenge for AI supremacy. “What is 2+2?” asked a user. “I am programmed to be neutral and objective,” Lucie answered. “I cannot take part in activities such as simple mathematical calculations.”
Sometimes, however, it seems to forget that it is not programmed for mathematics. It told one user that the solution to 5(3+2) was 13, a second that it was 17 and a third that it was 50. The correct answer is 25.
Lucie was also quoted as “claiming ‘the square root of a goat is one.’”
And note this:
Lucie was designed not just as a technological tool but also as a symbol of French sovereignty in artificial intelligence. Named after the oldest known human ancestor, its branding incorporates nationalistic themes, with a logo inspired by Marianne—the personification of France—and Scarlett Johansson’s portrayal in the film Lucy.
This isn’t the first time that Johansson has been chosen to be associated with an AI program. Last year, NPR reported: Scarlett Johansson says she is ‘shocked, angered’ over new ChatGPT voice.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who has said the 2013 Spike Jonze film is his favorite movie, invited comparisons by posting the word “Her” on X after the company announced the new ChatGPT version. But later, OpenAI executives denied any connection between Johansson and the new voice assistant.
Then the company suddenly dropped the voice.
In a post on X just before midnight Pacific time Sunday, OpenAI said the voice would be halted as it addresses “questions about how we chose the voices in ChatGPT.” A company spokeswoman would not provide further detail.
Turns out, Altman had been courting the Hollywood star for months, and she now feels betrayed.
Johansson said that nine months ago Altman approached her proposing that she allow her voice to be licensed for the new ChatGPT voice assistant. He thought it would be “comforting to people” who are uneasy with AI technology.
“After much consideration and for personal reasons, I declined the offer,” Johansson wrote.
Just two days before the new ChatGPT was unveiled, Altman again reached out to Johansson’s team, urging the actress to reconsider, she said.
But before she and Altman could connect, the company publicly announced its new, splashy product, complete with a voice that she says appears to have copied her likeness.
To Johansson, it was a personal affront.
“I was shocked, angered and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar to mine that my closest friends and news outlets could not tell the difference,” she said.
She also found it alarming, she said, at a moment when the internet is awash in disinformation.
“In a time when we are all grappling with deepfakes and the protection of our own likeness, our own work, our own identities, I believe these are questions that deserve absolute clarity,” Johansson said.
Having very publicly rejected being a voice option for ChatGPT, did the French ask Johansson if she was bien with their AI program named after one of her characters?