Google brought us an Olympic-sized saga last week with its controversial Dear Sydney television commercial about a father who prompts Gemini AI to help his daughter write a fan letter. I had a visceral reaction to the spot: . After a firestorm of criticism from news organizations such as , , , and an uncountable number of thought leaders, pundits, and ordinary citizens, our friends in Mountain View finally pulled the spot.
But an interesting thing happened as this story went from a few industry peeps howling at the moon to a full blown tweetstorm – parenting aside, many people didn't understand why the prompt was bad.
To that end, I offer two articles to help you on your prompt crafting journey: and . They will also make it instantly obvious why the prompt in Dear Sydney was, at best, doomed to offer a highly mediocre result. As always your thoughts and comments are both welcome and encouraged. Just reply to this email. -s
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ABOUT SHELLY PALMER
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named he covers tech and business for , is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular . He's a , and the creator of the popular, free online course, . Follow or visit .
