Infuriating Google commercial imagines the founding fathers embracing AI

A new Google Workspace commercial is drawing criticism for depicting the Founding Fathers using AI and collaboration tools to draft U.S. founding documents. The ad opens with a “Group project, but make it 1776” framing and imagines Benjamin Franklin texting Thomas Jefferson for the status of a draft, using an AI transcription to place it into a Google Doc. It then shows characters editing in suggestion mode, Gemini finding a meeting time, taking notes during a Google Meet call, and generating a U.S. seal with a turkey. The scenario culminates with the Founding Fathers asking Gemini for advice about whether to grant King George III edit access to the Declaration of Independence. A CUNY history professor, Angus Johnston, criticized the concept publicly on Bluesky, arguing that even a comedic fantasy cannot realistically present AI as a useful tool for political organizing or human collaboration.