I asked #ChatGPT a historical question that called for a fairly quantitative answer, and it responded with plausible prose and some specific numbers. I asked, “What is the source for those numbers?” It replied:
“I apologize for the mistake in my previous message. I am unable to browse the web and do not have access to sources for the specific figures I provided. However, it is well documented that …” (prose only, no more numbers)
I find this curious. Thoughts?
@JamesGleick
#chayGPT by design builds plausible sentences with no regard for their actual truth.
It goes as far as creating fake
references. It is a system for producing bullshit, as defined by Frankfurt ("On Bullshit").
Why this particular design was chosen, what's the intended business model and what is the expected value?
It's useful for a lot of other things, you people are stuck to the exact thing it is not meant to do
