Google calls Jesus a ‘nickname’ in a search of religious figures

A recent You-Tube post of a woman fielding a question to Google Home about the name of God or the founders of several world religions calls into the question
the artificial intelligence behind Google search engine especially when it comes to knowledge about Jesus or Jesus Christ.

When she asked about “Jesus Christ” the general response from Google Home is “I’m not sure how to help you with that.” (click here)


Please sign our petition to Google calling for a correction of their Boolean code (click here)

In the  video when the woman asked, “Google, who is ‘Allah’?” The artificial intelligence referenced Wikipedia and responded without repeating
the name ‘Allah’ as in other inquiries.  The voice indicated a positive statement of fact from the chosen information source that was under the
title Allah. The reply was, “According to Islamic theology God is…” without providing any verbal reference to the personal name of  the
deity in Islam ‘Allah’

When asking about other religious leaders and deities the response also referenced articles by sources such as Wikipeda and the BBC, was indirect
and referenced followers of other religions indicating what adherents believed about those said figures.

Notably when asking about Buddha the search engine states information about the historical person and did not require his full name with honorific
which could have well been required to specify a Boolean search.

On January 25, 2018 a Google spokesperson said in a response to FOX News on this issue:

“The reason the Google Assistant didn’t respond with information about “Who is Jesus” or “Who is Jesus Christ” wasn’t out of disrespect but instead to ensure respect. Some of the Assistant’s spoken responses come from the web, and for certain topics, this content can be more vulnerable to vandalism and spam. If our systems detect such circumstances, the Assistant might not reply. If similar vulnerabilities were detected for other questions — including those about other religious leaders — the Assistant also wouldn’t respond. We’re exploring different solutions and temporarily disabling these responses for religious figures on the Assistant.” – Google Spokesperson  (click here)

For further background on this story (click here) 

Though Google claims it has disabled the search for religious figures, all searches still seem to be clear with the exception of Jesus.

On January 28th BPCA Chairman Wilson Chowdhry was so surprised when he heard the post that he made his own search. When he searched for Allah and Buddha
a reasonable selection of articles and information sources came up, however when he inquired, “Who is Jesus?” on his phone Google responded with directions
not to use nicknames, saying,Remove nickname

When doing the same searches on Alexa, Bixby, and Siri they all performed an adequate search without discrimination.

Mr Chowdry bemused:

“We inquired into this with some experts in theology and linguistics and it simply does not make sense that Google’s artificial intelligence is not able to search existing articles on Jesus or Jesus Christ on Wikipedia or BBC just as it was referenced for the other religious figures. It is not even understandable, with the name Jesus being used as a proper given name in Spanish, that it is called a nickname.

“The singular use of Jesus name is linked to this type of religious question that is likely common enough the world over. 

“This failure by Google is simply an alarming case of existing binary failing to recognise Trinity!”

[Wikipedia states:The proper name Jesus /ˈdʒiːzəs/ used in the English language originates from the Latin form of the Greek name Ἰησοῦς (Iēsous), a rendition of the Hebrew
Yeshua (ישוע), also having the variants Joshua or Jeshua.[1][2] In a religious context the name refers to Jesus, the central figure of Christianity. In the Spanish cultural sphere, Jesús (pronounced IPA: [xeˈsus]) is a very common male personal name.]

Mr Chowdhry, added:

“This particular search engine had already been asked two other questions about religious names, which makes Google’s reply further bewildering and begs the question if there is some sort of a block on Google with regards to the name Jesus or Jesus Christ.

“The inability to locate Jesus despite Him being named in first position on almost all alogorithms pertaining to a persons importance based on search popularity suggests that his absence from Google, is contrived (click here).

“Perhaps in this honest search they would find that most religious views have an opinion about Jesus and must account for him at least as a unique historical sage whose mission was the salvation of humanity.  

“In the pages of the New Testament people are to invited to seek and promised they will find, but here as an information medium Google has failed. The dearth in results demonstrates a yawning gap of ignorance that ought to be remedied.

“Jesus himself asked the open question, “Who do you say that I am?” to his disciples and this conversation is recorded in Matthew 16:15-17 and Mark 8:39. The disciples were having a conversation about who people were saying Jesus was, so Jesus asked them directly, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter replied, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” To this Jesus replied, that God himself had revealed this to Peter. (click here)

“I can only suggest that people answer this questions for themselves after an honest investigation of the Bible, because in the end it isn’t what Google or other people say that matters as much as whether you know Jesus for yourself.”


Please sign our petition to Google calling for a correction of their Boolean code (click here)