Wisconsin Cheese Mart: Gemini in Google Docs

February 6, 2025

🧀 Gouda grief, not again: Google had to edit one of its Super Bowl ads after its AI butchered a fact about Gouda. In the original video, Gemini said Gouda made up 50% to 60% of the world’s cheese consumption. Spoiler: It doesn’t. The fixed version calls it “one of the most popular cheeses in the world.” Another reminder AI loves to make crap up or, as the AI companies say, “hallucinate.”

Tags: Google, video

A note from Kim: So much to be thankful for

Thanksgiving has always been about family, tradition and gratitude. I think about my Dad carving the turkey with his large Russian hands, showing me exactly how to do it. My Mom always made the turkey until she couldn’t and I took over. We recorded her making it two weeks before she was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer in 2017, her face and voice with instructions I’ll treasure forever.

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🐾 Spreading paws-itivity: Robotic pets are bringing smiles to lonely older adults who can no longer care for real pets. New York alone handed out over 30,000 lifelike cats and dogs. The bots purr, bark and respond to touch, just like the real thing, and work especially well for folks with dementia. Another benefit: No poop-scoopin’.

$106 million

Import worth of neckties in the U.S. market. It was a record-low $61.4 million in 2020, when most people worked at home. Now, ties are totally back. Gen Z guys and gals are ushering in a tie renaissance (paywall link). I had a joke about ties, but it’s knot funny.

🗺️ Map-nificent: Duncan McCabe from Toronto turned his daily runs into viral art. Using the Strava app, he plotted 121 routes over 700 miles to create a GPS animation of a dancing stick figure. You have to see the video. Talk about going the distance!

Gimme more!

A new traffic light lets a bus jump the light. What did one traffic light say to another? “Don’t look now — I’m changing!”

419 million people

Take their number twos outdoors. About 3.5 billion people still live without access to toilets, primarily in Africa and India. Today, Nov. 19, is World Toilet Day, so I’m passing along these facts. Raise your hand if you’re reading this from your own Oval Office, porcelain throne, splash zone, commode commando or whatever you call it. 🙋‍♀️