Google is quietly testing out new ways to crush the human spirit

Editor’s note: This story contains descriptions of suicidal ideation. If you are in distress, call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline 24 hours a day at 988, or visit 988lifeline.org for more resources.

A few weeks ago, while visiting my parents in Southern California, my dad showed me a photo of my deceased grandpa that I’d never seen before.

For decades, my father has fastidiously documented our lives through 35mm film, grainy home footage, and loose audio recordings, all of which are now stored on a messy mosaic of mini discs and carefully labeled flash drives. Dated as it is, our family treasures this analog media for how it preserves memories of our departed loved ones while reminding us of who they actually were.

This particular photo from the early 2000s was different, though, because it was uploaded to Gemini, Google’s artificial intelligence assistant. Suddenly, like a marionette, my grandpa’s body became animated, and he spoke in a voice that wasn’t his own. It was…