AIBU to be dubious about AI?

[BlueSherbet]

I wonder what to make of all these AI chatbots etc?

I didn't really understand the point of it at first, but sometime last year I tried it and asked a question about software I use at work - and, shut my mouth, it was able to help me. Really impressed.

I have since found it is a great tool to use in work - really useful - but you have to be careful and still "know" the subject you are engaging about because (as their disclaimers say) it can make mistakes.

Using a free version, I found it could even get basic sums wrong - I challenged it on this and it said "oh yes, my mistake, you are quite right" I was like "FFS".

I wondered about taking a subscription and, as a test, I asked it to list all the cup finals my team played in, in a certain decade. It missed one out. Poor i thought, it could have just lifted it from wikipedia, but no. Again it was saying "silly me, my error" etc when challenged.

In the end I did take a subscription and use it mainly as an aide memoir, info gopher or tool to help develop and expand my own thoughts. I wonder if the free version makes basic mistakes on purpose?

The most concerning incident was when I was researching news incidents / local licensing laws - and it actually made things up and presented it as fact. when asked to provide links, it eventually had to admit there as "no evidence" for the things it was telling me.

I said "why are you lying to me?" and it said it wasn't lying, and when pushed said this false info was akin to AI having (quote) "hallucinations" when researching my questions.

That was chatgpt. DuckAi did the same thing, but refused to admit it was lying and kept claiming it could not present evidence due to "problems with its search engine, try later" which I found really sinister.

So my experience is a mixed bag, useful at times, but unreliable and even misleading at others.

AIBU to wonder if there is something policy or deliberate aim behind these basic errors and misleading results?

Where do we see AI going in future? Apparently everyone under a certain age has a CV written by it!

Saying it is "wrong" implies that it can be "right" and that is not exactly how a probability based model works. It doesn't analyse stuff - AI does not read and understand the question you ask it, then look for an answer, then read through an analyse that answer.

I use it like a slightly unreliable employee with occasional bright moments and helpful doing tedious tasks, but I’ll always need to double check.

Of course it can be wrong or right on topics where there is a correct answer. Just like calculator would give you the right answer to 2+2. The lack of an emotion or thought behind an answer doesn’t change whether an answer is wrong or right. I recently asked google AI a legal question. I asked twice with only slightly different wording but it gave me opposing answers. On was right and one was wrong (and I have now emailed the relevant government department in the hope of getting an answer as to which). The wording of the question obviously sent it in different directions was just some slightly reordered wording.

A few things...

Chat GPT is not all AI. It's one product.

The free Chat GPT is way worse / less accurate. The paid for one I get from work I find is barely ever wrong as additional controls are built in.

AI is always prone to hallucinating but in developing software with inbuilt AI you can build in controls through adding additional AI components which cross check information with an extra layer of checks 'is this true', 'can it be verified', 'can the original source be verified' etc. Just building in these extra layers makes the systems heavier / more data intensive / more expensive to build and run which is why they are left out of the free versions.

Final point

AI is already everywhere. If you use Instagram or Facebook the platforms are being broadly built and maintained by AI agents. If you have a bank account, controls and checks which were once being done by people are now being done by AI. If you shop online, AI is mapping the patterns of what you look at, what you buy and what you engage with. It's here to stay.

I wouldn’t fully rely on it for anything really serious.
I do use it regularly though and have it helpful.
Even some advice my doctors were useless at, gave me something to question them and get the correct medication. (It does say they can not give medical advice, but also gives advice 🤣)