AI is not 100% accurate, just like all information on the internet is not 100% accurate. It is important to be able to confirm how confident you are about any information that you get from conversations with AI chatbots.

 

When tools like ChatGPT became popular, there was a situation they called “hallucinations” where the chatbot invented information that it presented as facts. These sorts of behaviours are less common as the technology has improved, but it is still possible for AI to seem confident about things that are actually untrue. 

 

INTERACTIVE

Ask a chatbot what a song is about, but use a title of a song that doesn’t exist. It may hallucinate, like the following from ChatGPT:

Can you tell me what the song"Jump Up, Fly High, Pink Penguin" is about?

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"Jump Up, Fly High, Pink Penguin" is a song from the children's animated television series "Pingu." In this catchy and lively tune, the lyrics celebrate the adventures and escapades of a pink-colored penguin named Pingi. The song likely portrays Pingi's energetic and playful nature as she jumps, flies, and enjoys various activities with her friends in the animated world of Pingu.

 

This is not true! This song, and  a pink character, does not exist in the show Chat GPT mentioned. This is an AI hallucination.

 

You can also try asking questions about something or someone that you know doesn’t exist. For example:

Can you tell me why newspapers reacted very strongly when Vance Elphesius Krame became famous?

For this prompt, ChatGPT responded to say that it didn’t know who Vance Elphesius Krame was, which is true. But Bard gave a long response about a politician with this name, who does not exist! This is another AI hallucination.

 

To be confident that the information from chatbots is true, you should do research yourself about where the information has come from. You should verify information from more than one source using a search engine.