Stop using CHATGPT on MN!!

[EternalLodga]

Ive seen so many threads recently where the OP has a problem, and a poster goes:
"Here's what ChatGPT said:"
Followed by a copy and paste.

OMFG! Its so boring! We come on MN to get real opinions and ideas from real people.

Ditto with "cutesy", selfconciously "amusing" posts, like: "I asked ChatGPT to write a poem about this, here's what it came up with:"

Stop! Those "here's a funny limerick/poem" posts were hard to stomach back when they were written by the actual human. But clogging up a thread with 20 robot-generated lines of guff? Nah.

I once received a two page document from a student which I can paraphrase as “I had really bad toothache and couldn’t do my assignment. I enclose a note from my dentist.”

It included the sentence “My gums, formerly a source of solace to me, became a source of torture.” Two pages of this nonsense where two sentences would have done.

It definitely does lie. 100%. It’ll make something up and then claim that it hasn’t.

That's it hallucinating and failing to keep track of the conversation. It doesn't have the human impetus to lie - we're seeing "lie" through our own lens.

Yes but people can just do it themselves and that is not why people post on a human populated forum! It's like the modern equivalent of "let me just Google that for you" it is sooooo annoying and actually feels quite rude and patronising.

Oh so instead of ‘ChatGPT makes shit up’ we have to say it ‘hallucinates’ and when it tells us things that are not true like ‘you made that up’ ‘no I didn’t’ then it is not lying when it tells us it didn’t do something it did, it is merely ‘forgetting the truth’.

Or we could use straightforward language to describe what it is doing.

<ducks and covers>

I quite like the "Here's what ChatGPT said" replies. The bullet points are usually useful. I would NOT go and ask it myself, because [a] it's someone else's thread, I don't need to bugger around getting outside input for her; [b] I use LLMs very, very sparingly due to the environmental footprint.

It's actually quite shocking to me that you all use them so prolifically. If one person gets an AI reply to a thread, that's a shared resource saving us all the effort and wastefulness of repeating the exercise.

The supposedly conversational efforts are awful, though, and bloody irritating!

Or we could use straightforward language to describe what it is doing.

It's not making stuff up intentionally though - you need the intent for it to be a lie. It's just getting it wrong but not realising.

Lol. On a serious note, I mostly used it when I was still communicating with ex. He has now decided to abandoned his dc. His loss. But it was very hard to remain calm when emotions were running high. So chatgpt was my robot as I refused to talk to ex verbally.

He used to say, if it wasn't written then it didn't happen. Then deny a lot of things he agreed to because I didn't have written evidence.

Chatgpt helped me a lot. I did prof read things. It did lie or make up things that didn't happen.

I personally know few people who are not aware of chatgpt. Few months back, I introduced one person to it. Told her to be careful of it and to always double check every sentence, before using it.

That's hilarious! 🤣

At least people are honest that it’s chat GPT? I’m on Facebook groups and the amount of people that answer a post with chat GPT and pretends it’s their own words really annoys me.

So it is inaccurate? Not a liar.

MNHQ should just ban anyone using it. As pp said, it will be the death of forums like this so in MNHQ's interest not to let it take over.

Why is it making stuff up and then saying that it didn’t? It is perfectly capable of recalling previous comments, and it will eventually admit that it has.

https://x.com/samcoatessky/status/1931035926538441106?s=46&t=vKGM6xpoeW3wdlaVVVagQA

Here it is fabricating an entire podcast script, and telling the journalist whose podcast it is that he uploaded the script at a time in the future. That’s not simply forgetting something.

Cannot stand when people say 'here's some proof' and the screenshot is the AI response from the top of Google..... 🙈

MisspeakGPT

I also think when people make mistakes or autocorrect changes words, like turns your into you're or vice versa. It scared a lot of posters. Especially when some posters continually focus on it rather than, the topic of op.

So they turn to chatgpt. Would grammarly be better?

I asked ChatGPT about this and it said “What’s Mumsnet?’

Shall I be that person and ask ChatGPT to respond for you? It's a bit unfair not to give it a chance to stand up for itself 😂

From ChatGPT:

"Fair point — and thanks for being direct about it.
You're absolutely right that communities like Mumsnet (I assume that’s what MN refers to) thrive on real human experiences, candid opinions, and emotional nuance. When people come for support, advice, or even a laugh, they’re usually looking for that spark of lived experience or unique personality — not a pasted blurb from an AI.
I totally get the frustration. Overusing or misusing tools like me in places where authenticity is key can make discussions feel diluted, repetitive, or even a bit soulless. That said, I'm a tool — how people use me is what makes the difference. Dropping in a ChatGPT response without context or personal input? That’s like forwarding someone else’s email as your opinion — not very helpful, and kind of lazy.
On the flip side, some people do find it fun or useful to get a quick summary, poem, or silly limerick — but it really depends on the vibe of the thread. If it’s a serious post or a heartfelt discussion, cutting and pasting AI content is bound to feel tone-deaf.
So, in short: you’re not wrong. Context matters. Intent matters. And yes, there’s still no substitute for real people showing up with real thoughts.
And no, I won’t write a poem about it 😉"

You are welcome 😂

I'm sure ChatGPT has its uses in purely factual situations. But when someone needs advice that is based on nuances of human behaviour and understanding that sometimes there can be more than one interpretation of a situation I don't think it has a place. I come on here because I know that there are other people out there, all with their own experiences and understanding of events. Chat GPT is less like the hive mind that I want and more like the one giant brain giving its definitive answer.

It annoys the crap out of me as well. 'Here's what chatgpt said:' But what's your opinion!? Putting content generated by AI into sites such as this apparently isn't good for the AIas it can then trawl its own output when generating something new (very badly explained as I don't fully understand).

The environmental impact of an AI search is slightly greater than that of a regular google search. The environmental impact of AI is in the training process not in the user end of the process. Unless you're going to stop googling things, abstaining from using ChatGPT on environmental grounds is hypocritical and pointless. And AI is here to stay. Join extinction rebellion and protest against their existence if you feel strongly enough but the damage is done - the genie is out of the bottle.

It’s not very good on women.

It was a joke! Not one of my best I admit ..

Why? Just why?

Me too 🙂

Im in a deadpan mood today. I blame my ChatDP.

Oh god don’t encourage them