Title: The Limitations of AI: Columnist Requests ChatGPT to Draft Autobiography, Highlighting Inaccuracies in Generated Content
Asking an AI tool like ChatGPT to write someone’s biography might seem like a good idea since the bot can simply generate content from the internet, but the results might not be as accurate as some would think. This is what happened to a certain columnist who asked the AI tool to write their autobiography.
According to an article from the Washington Post, a columnist named John Kelly shared his experience when he requested ChatGPT to write a biography about himself. Though the tool managed to produce a response, Kelly found it to be highly inaccurate.
Kelly explained how he instructed ChatGPT to compose a biography highlighting his role as a Washington Post Metro columnist. Surprisingly, the AI tool was able to generate content without mistaking Kelly for other individuals with the same name.
The resulting biography described Kelly as a renowned journalist in a 478-word passage. It accurately mentioned that Kelly was born in Washington, but made a slight mistake by stating that he was also raised there. Kelly clarified that although he was born in Washington, he actually grew up in various other places.
One major error made by ChatGPT was its claim that Kelly majored in journalism and had actively contributed to his campus newspaper. The AI tool mentioned that Kelly attended a local university but failed to specify which one. In reality, Kelly majored in English, but without disclosing the specific institution he attended.
Furthermore, ChatGPT elaborated on Kelly’s writing style, describing it as possessing warmth, empathy, and wit as defining characteristics.
However, the AI-generated biography also falsely stated that Kelly won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. In truth, the award was earned by Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal, not by Kelly.
Kelly concluded his piece by acknowledging that AI in the future could possibly access and use these incorrect facts when generating content. He playfully mentioned some fabricated details, such as being a squirrel and having a writing style characterized by odor, fear, and pH level.
Recently, Google acknowledged training its Bard AI with scraped web data, as reported by The Verge. Additionally, on March 23, Tech Crunch informed readers that OpenAI connected its artificial intelligence tool, ChatGPT, to the internet. This new feature allows the chatbot to retrieve information from the web to enhance its response capabilities.
In summary, while using AI tools like ChatGPT might seem like an efficient way to generate content, as demonstrated by the columnist’s attempt to produce an autobiography, the accuracy it delivers is far from flawless. It is crucial to be cautious when relying solely on AI-generated content, as it may contain various inaccuracies and misinterpretations.
