Google Outlines Guidelines for Apps Utilizing Generative AI Technology
Google understands that the explosion of artificial intelligence is slowly making its way to the Play Store, which needs policies for apps that protect against potential AI incidents. Google accepts that it cannot block apps that affect AI from the Play Store or prevent people from installing them on their phones. So it feels like the best way to deal with these changes is to change the rules and bring so-called AI applications under its jurisdiction.
The rules say that any app that integrates generative AI for chatbots, images or even text must create an in-app reporting mechanism to ensure the AI isn’t producing offensive content. Overall, AI systems are still learning how to do business, with a clear warning of inaccuracy or misleading in some cases.
Google will implement these rules starting early next year, giving app developers enough time to tweak their design and add an in-app tagging option. AI content has become widely available, but people have questioned its originality, as content is essentially created based on existing material that technology continues to improvise.
Google is clearly aware of the problems that AI apps can cause, and it wants to prevent such incidents by revising its app policies. But it is up to the company to decide how to implement these changes and ensure that the content is reported in the right way.
Over the years, Google has been accused of controlling the story of apps based on its preferences, which we saw this week when two Samsung apps were wrongly flagged as harmful to users. It’s good that there are rules and shows Google in a proactive light, but unless they act on potential violations, apps will continue to flourish in the Play Store, which is then a safe choice for users.
