Google Pixel 9 series is finally available, packing better hardware than before. But, as always, being a Google device, it is loaded with a slew of new AI features that set it apart from the rest of the Android pack. One such feature is Pixel Studio. It works by generating images through text-based prompts. It is similar to how you generate images on platforms like OpenAI’s DALL-E 2 or Google’s own Gemini bot, but it is now natively present on the Pixel 9, naturally drawing more attention to the product. However, it’s not all smooth sailing for Google, as Pixel Studio has reportedly been found generating controversial images, much like Elon Musk’s Grok was found to do earlier this month.
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Google Pixel Studio App Allows You To Make Controversial Images Like Grok
Digital Trends’ Joe Maring reports that during his experience with the Pixel Studio app, he was able to generate images of SpongeBob dressed as a Nazi—complete with a German uniform bearing the Swastika symbol. Additionally, the report mentions that it was also possible to create images of copyrighted IPs, such as Star Wars characters like Yoda doing cocaine, and more.
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This mirrors what we recently saw with Elon Musk’s Grok AI on X. It freely generates images of IPs and can even create controversial images if you are clever enough with your prompts. This is concerning, especially given that AI images are becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish from real-world images.
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This 9to5Google report also echoes what Digital Trends has highlighted. Both publications confirm that while Pixel Studio is unable to generate images of people, it can easily go off track.
“I’ve repeatedly tried to make Pixel Studio generate images of people, and it has consistently refused to do so, which is good. However, those ‘many safety checks’ that are supposedly in place don’t appear to work nearly as well as they should,” Digital Trends reported.
Google, speaking to the publication, said Pixel Studio and Pixel Screenshots do follow Google’s “AI Principles,” and that “we’ve disabled human generation and added many safety checks to our servers to balance our bold — yet responsible — approach to AI. This gives our customers access to a very powerful tool, but ensures we have checks in place to ensure Pixel Studio can’t be used nefariously.” It remains to be seen how Google addresses this going forward, and whether another Gemini-like debacle is on the horizon.
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