AI: A Dedicated Fact-Failing Machine, Or, yet Another Reason Not to Trust It
3 days ago
- #AI limitations
- #fact-checking
- #misinformation
- John Scalzi recounts his experience with various AI systems (Grok, Google's AI Overview, Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini) incorrectly attributing dedications in his book 'The Consuming Fire'.
- AI systems often provide statistically likely but factually incorrect answers, demonstrating their limitations as reliable sources of factual information.
- Claude was the only AI that admitted it couldn't find the correct information and suggested ways to find it, rather than providing a wrong answer.
- Scalzi tested AI systems with other books' dedications, finding consistent inaccuracies, reinforcing the unreliability of AI for factual queries.
- Key lessons: AI should not be used as a search engine, trusted for facts, or relied upon without verification, as it often adds to rather than reduces workload.
- The post highlights broader concerns about AI's role in spreading misinformation, especially in critical areas like legal, medical, and scientific fields.
- Scalzi emphasizes that AI's primary function is generating plausible text, not accurate information, and criticizes the marketing of AI as more than it is.