More confident lies by ChatGPT...
 

A few days ago, I was exploring the "hallucinations" (i.e. lies) that ChatGPT will spit out... It often does this when asked about quite specialized knowledge...

If you don't know the topic (or research it afterwards), you're likely to be taken in by a ChatGPT lie!

Here's one...

I just entered... "Richard Feynman wrote a detective story"...

(Richard Feynman was a famous Nobel Prize-winning physicist...)

ChatGPT replied (in part)...

"Yes, Richard Feynman, the renowned physicist and Nobel laureate, wrote a detective story called 'The Case of the Missing Neutrinos.'

"The story was published in a collection of Feynman's writings titled 'The Pleasure of Finding Things Out.' It tells the story of a group of physicists who are trying to figure out why a certain experiment is not producing the results they expect. As they investigate, they discover that some of the neutrinos that should be present in the experiment seem to be missing, and they must work to solve the mystery."

This all sounds very plausible... Until...

You actually look up the Table of Contents of Richard Feynman's book, "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out."

There is NO chapter called "The Case of the Missing Neutrinos!"

Then... you can do an online search for "The Case of the Missing Neutrinos"... and you find...

Another physicist, John Gribbin, wrote a book called...

"Case of the Missing Neutrinos And Other Curious Phenomena of the Universe"...

ChatGPT flat out told a lie. It combined a fact about Richard Feynman (that he wrote the book, "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out"), with another fact about a different physicist, John Gribbin (that he wrote "The Case of the Missing Neutrinos")... and attributed it all to Feynman!

But it sounded oh so plausible...!

(In fact, I was initially "taken in" and quite impressed... Until I did my own "fact checking!")

Best wishes,

Dien

And here's another one...
 

Right after the lie about Richard Feynman's book, I asked another question...

I gave ChatGPT the prompt, "Richard Feynman wrote an opera"...

Here's what ChatGPT responded with...

"While Richard Feynman was a talented and accomplished physicist, he did not write an opera. Feynman had many interests outside of physics, such as drawing, playing the bongos, and solving puzzles, and he was known for his playful and creative approach to life. However, to the best of my knowledge, he did not write an opera.

"It's possible that there is some confusion regarding Feynman and opera because he was interested in music, particularly the bongos and jazz. In fact, he played the bongos with a friend and fellow physicist, Ralph Leighton, and they even released an album called 'The Art of the Bongo' in 1957. However, while Feynman was known to be musically talented and creative, he did not write an opera."

Okay, at first I was impressed. I was trying to "trick" ChatGPT into saying that Richard Feynman had written an opera.

It said that he "did not write an opera"... I thought it saw through my bluff!

Then... ChatGPT said...

"In fact, he played the bongos with a friend and fellow physicist, Ralph Leighton, and they even released an album called 'The Art of the Bongo' in 1957."

It's true that Feynman loved playing the bongos. I couldn't find him creating an album, "The Art of the Bongo" - but maybe it's very obscure!

He did have a friend Ralph Leighton, who Feynman recorded conversations with, which became the basis of two of his popular books...

But...

When you look him up, Ralph Leighton was born in 1949.

In 1957, he would have been 8 years old!

So... ChatGPT is saying that Feynman created a bongo music album with an eight-year-old?!!??!

I don't think so!

Another ChatGPT... well-told... lie...!

You're more likely to find ChatGPT lies, I believe, when it comes to more specialized knowledge...

Best wishes,

Dien

So you are NOT going to buy my chatgpt on GJA Seeds of Wisdom???
 

OH Drat.

You do know, don't you, there will be a time not far from now where there are people who believe Feynman did indeed write an opera, and in fact, the girl from Homeless TV show, Fiona (Emmy Rossum) is the lead bongo player in the Opera.

Takes me back to the ad, "He's a French model". And dorky guy replies, bonjour.

There are some who now believe, there was an actual real train in the Underground Railroad, because the Amazon Prime show, shows it.

See, I was worried about a large % taking chatgpt or any AI at face value, then I kicked myself, what are you thinking dodo head, did you sleep during the last Presidency?

But consider the programmers, and how they might the content available to the AI, with a skew to it.
Blue state AI. Red state AI. Maybe time for a "divorce" of the states? Ohio is a Gray state. Which side would we be on?

One thing though, AI may lie, but it has a long way to go to beat out politicians for the blue ribbon (or red bow).

I think we have about a 2 to 4 year shakedown, if not a war, about what AI can/can't be trusted, and I feel for future generations.

Now, did you know that Feynman also recorded an album with Todd Rundgren

https://youtu.be/8LdLIqkmMB0 Listen, you can hear him in the background.

gjabiz

Creating "facts" can be fun... :)
 

Hi Gordon!

What worries me is that people are right now creating and selling books, written by ChatGPT and other similar AI products... and they're not thoroughly fact-checking them!

These books are probably full of many very plausible lies!

But... if we're worried, I think your observation about our politicians is "right on!"

People are also using ChatGPT to come up with questions for quizzes...

What's the bet that now, a question on a future quiz will be about which album did Richard Feynman collaborate on with Todd Rundgren?

Maybe we should "plant" more of these "facts" for AI to scoop up? ;)

Best wishes!

Dien