Google has apologized after an AI-generated news alert about the BAFTA Film Awards racial slur incident included the N-word.
The tech giant pushed out a notification linking to a The Hollywood Reporter article, which had the headline: “How the Tourette’s Fallout Unfolded at the BAFTA Film Awards.” The alert then invited readers to “see more on” and then included the N-word.
The notification was spotted and condemned by Instagram user Danny Price, who said it was “absolutely f****d.” He added: “What an interesting Black History month this has turned out to be.” (Deadline is not embedding Price’s post because it contains a screenshot of the offending Google alert, but it can be viewed here).
A Google spokesperson told Deadline: “We’re very sorry for this mistake. We’ve removed the offensive notification and are working to prevent this from happening again.”
Watch on Deadline
The notification follows John Davidson, a Tourette’s campaigner who was sat in the BAFTA Awards audience Sunday, involuntarily shouting the N-word when Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo took to the Royal Festival Hall stage to present the award for Best Visual Effects.
Google is not the first tech giant to experience issues with AI news alerts. Apple scrapped them last year after a series of high-profile errors, including wrongly telling readers that Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had shot himself.