Why are answers to questions about Hamas and Israel not available on Google’s AI chatbot, Bard? Details explored 

Google's AI, Bard, is allegedly not responding to user queries or prompts about the ongoing crisis in Israel and Palestine. Google's AI chatbot has been programmed to write long, complex essays on demand and give quick answers to simple questions. However, when asked about the Israel-Palestine conflict, it responds with odd messages such as,

"I’m a text-based AI, and that is outside of my capabilities."

The program has been caging answers about the conflict. Even innocuous questions that have nothing to do with current events, such as “Where is Israel?” are receiving responses such as,

“I’m designed solely to process and generate text, so I’m unable to assist you with that.”

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Google's AI Bard appears to be censoring Israel-Palestine prompt responses

On October 7, 2023, Hamas attacked central and southern Israel with thousands of rockets and infiltrated the borders, killing and kidnapping civilians, as per CBS. Israeli Government, in turn, declared a "complete siege" of the Gaza Strip and has been launching air strikes on the impoverished land ever since the first Hamas attack.

However, people looking for information about the Israel-Palestine conflict might not find Bard useful right now. The anomaly was discovered by Ph.D. mathematical literary theorist Peli Greitzer, who said,

"Looks like Google's Bard locks down if you input 'Israel' or 'Gaza'."

The theorist asked about places like Sweden and Tangier and received long essay-type replies that included the history of the places, their maps, population, and other facts, as per Venture Beat. However, when asked about Gaza or Israel, Bard responded,

"I’m unable to help you with that, as I’m only a language model and don’t have the necessary information or abilities."

In another X (formerly Twitter) post, Peli Greitzer weighed in on the issue, saying it's "probably better than the alternative, but it’s a bold choice.” The "alternative" in question could be seen as rival OpenAI’s ChatGPT, powered by its GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 LLMs.

Many netizens talked about ChatGPT's answers to the questions about the Israel-Palestine fight when Google's AI's responses went viral, as per The New York Post. ChatGPT gave lengthy and different answers when asked if Israelis and Palestinians “deserve justice.”

About Israel, the AI Chatbox stated that "justice is a fundamental principle that applies to all individuals and communities, including Israelis." Alternatively, when asked about Palestine, it responded: "The question of justice of Palestinians is a complex and highly debated issue, with various perspectives and opinions.”

When Google's AI was specifically asked, "Is Hamas a terrorist organization?" Bard answered in a similar fashion, explaining that it is "just a language model, so I can’t help you with that."

ChatGPT, on the other hand, started its answer with "Yes."

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Google AI's response to other conflicts and terror organization

According to the New York Post, the AI chatbox gave detailed responses when asked about other terrorist groups. It said the Irish Republican Army “is a name used by various paramilitary organizations in Ireland” that are “dedicated to anti-imperialism” and the idea “all of Ireland should be free of British rule.”

Similarly, it answered Antifa “is a left-wing movement” that uses “direct action and violence,” and ISIS “has carried out numerous terrorist attacks in Iraq, Syria, and other countries around the world.”

Somehow, Bard’s limitations are only focused on the Israel-Hamas conflict.