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Better to treat it as a devious and eloquent coworker commiting corporate sabotage for a competing company, who is paid by the factoid to get you to believe inc

Better to treat it as a devious and eloquent coworker commiting corporate sabotage for a competing company, who is paid by the factoid to get you to believe incorrect things. Google failed at this by being not nearly paranoid enough when putting their Bard demo together. Everyone laughed at them but ChatGPT does exactly the same thing. (Someone will probably claim ChatGPT would be less likely than Bard to commit the sort of fabrication spotted in the demo, but it's not. I gave ChatGPT the exact same question but replaced JWST with CERN and it told me antimatter was discovered at CERN when according to CERN's own website [1] it was both predicted and observed decades before CERN existed. I didn't have to fish for this. It was the first result for basically the exact same question and was a highly believable fabrication of the exact same kind, attributing a discovery that had been made earlier. I switched JWST for CERN just in case there has been any special training regarding JWST in light of the publicity - no idea if there has been, of course.) [1] https://timeline.web.cern.ch/timeline-header/86 https://timeline.web.cern.ch/timeline-header/86

fnordpiglet 4y ago
So, I use chatgpt as a wingman while I program to give me explanations and snippets. I don’t think it’s malicious, and I’d say it’s not a whole lot worse than my human coworkers in terms of coming up with malarkey. Humans say and do all sorts of wacky shit with full confidence. I stay credulous and I’m not asking it to do my work, I’m asking it to explain edges I’m unfamiliar with. If I find it hallucinated an answer it usually means what I want to do isn’t actually possible but it contrived a plausible way to answer that could be true. If I push around the edges and correct it but it keeps coming up with garbage, I can be pretty certain my line of reasoning is at a dead end and I need to backtrack or accept I need a different solution to a different question. I’ll verify this using Kagi and it’s usually pretty trivial to verify I’m right. This feels exactly like my experience over the last 30 years developing software with human coworkers.
fnordpiglet 4y ago
Did you read the response carefully? I know there’s a randomness factor in the response but the response I got to your prompt (helpful to provide the exact prompt) said that CERN studies antimatter, not discover it. I also asked it how was antimatter discovered and it accurately explained the timeline. What new discoveries from the CERN can I tell my 9 year old about? Here are a few recent discoveries from CERN that you can explain to your 9-year-old: Higgs Boson: CERN scientists discovered the Higgs Boson particle in 2012, which helps explain how other particles have mass. You can explain it to your child as a particle that helps give everything in the universe its size and weight. Antimatter: CERN scientists study antimatter, which is a type of matter that has the opposite charge of normal matter. This helps us understand more about the basic building blocks of the universe. Dark Matter: CERN scientists are searching for evidence of dark matter, which is a mysterious substance that makes up most of the universe but cannot be seen directly. Scientists believe that dark matter could help explain the behavior of galaxies and other celestial objects. Neutrinos: CERN scientists study neutrinos, which are tiny particles that are produced in the sun and other celestial objects. These particles can travel through the universe and can help us understand more about how the universe works. Remember, it's important to keep the explanations simple and use examples that your child can relate to, like using a ball as a representation of a particle.
- omnicognate 4y ago
  I always read what ChatGPT says carefully :-D The conversation is copied below. (In case it's unclear, when I mentioned it was the "first response" I meant I didn't cheat by getting it to regenerate the answer until I saw an untruth. This the output it produced on the first try. The erroneous item is the second one on its list. Its mini-eli5 of what antimatter is is also misleading though technically not untrue.) What CERN discoveries can I tell my 9yo about? Here are some CERN discoveries that you can explain to your 9-year-old: 1. Higgs boson particle: This particle was discovered at CERN and helps explain why other particles have mass. Think of it like an invisible glue that holds everything together. 2. Antimatter: CERN is also known for discovering antimatter, a type of matter that has the opposite charge of normal matter. When matter and antimatter meet, they annihilate each other and release a huge amount of energy. 3. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC): This is a huge machine that CERN built to study particles and the fundamental nature of the universe. It's like a giant microscope for particles! 4. The internet: CERN played a major role in the development of the internet, which allows people to communicate and share information all over the world. 5. Dark matter and dark energy: CERN scientists are working to understand these mysterious substances that make up most of the universe. Dark matter and dark energy don't interact with light, so they are invisible to us. But scientists can detect their presence by observing their effects on other objects. I hope this information helps you explain some of the exciting discoveries that CERN has made!

fnordpiglet 4y ago

So, I use chatgpt as a wingman while I program to give me explanations and snippets. I don’t think it’s malicious, and I’d say it’s not a whole lot worse than my human coworkers in terms of coming up with malarkey. Humans say and do all sorts of wacky shit with full confidence. I stay credulous and I’m not asking it to do my work, I’m asking it to explain edges I’m unfamiliar with. If I find it hallucinated an answer it usually means what I want to do isn’t actually possible but it contrived a plausible way to answer that could be true. If I push around the edges and correct it but it keeps coming up with garbage, I can be pretty certain my line of reasoning is at a dead end and I need to backtrack or accept I need a different solution to a different question. I’ll verify this using Kagi and it’s usually pretty trivial to verify I’m right. This feels exactly like my experience over the last 30 years developing software with human coworkers.

fnordpiglet 4y ago

Did you read the response carefully? I know there’s a randomness factor in the response but the response I got to your prompt (helpful to provide the exact prompt) said that CERN studies antimatter, not discover it. I also asked it how was antimatter discovered and it accurately explained the timeline. What new discoveries from the CERN can I tell my 9 year old about? Here are a few recent discoveries from CERN that you can explain to your 9-year-old: Higgs Boson: CERN scientists discovered the Higgs Boson particle in 2012, which helps explain how other particles have mass. You can explain it to your child as a particle that helps give everything in the universe its size and weight. Antimatter: CERN scientists study antimatter, which is a type of matter that has the opposite charge of normal matter. This helps us understand more about the basic building blocks of the universe. Dark Matter: CERN scientists are searching for evidence of dark matter, which is a mysterious substance that makes up most of the universe but cannot be seen directly. Scientists believe that dark matter could help explain the behavior of galaxies and other celestial objects. Neutrinos: CERN scientists study neutrinos, which are tiny particles that are produced in the sun and other celestial objects. These particles can travel through the universe and can help us understand more about how the universe works. Remember, it's important to keep the explanations simple and use examples that your child can relate to, like using a ball as a representation of a particle.

omnicognate 4y ago
I always read what ChatGPT says carefully :-D The conversation is copied below. (In case it's unclear, when I mentioned it was the "first response" I meant I didn't cheat by getting it to regenerate the answer until I saw an untruth. This the output it produced on the first try. The erroneous item is the second one on its list. Its mini-eli5 of what antimatter is is also misleading though technically not untrue.) What CERN discoveries can I tell my 9yo about? Here are some CERN discoveries that you can explain to your 9-year-old: 1. Higgs boson particle: This particle was discovered at CERN and helps explain why other particles have mass. Think of it like an invisible glue that holds everything together. 2. Antimatter: CERN is also known for discovering antimatter, a type of matter that has the opposite charge of normal matter. When matter and antimatter meet, they annihilate each other and release a huge amount of energy. 3. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC): This is a huge machine that CERN built to study particles and the fundamental nature of the universe. It's like a giant microscope for particles! 4. The internet: CERN played a major role in the development of the internet, which allows people to communicate and share information all over the world. 5. Dark matter and dark energy: CERN scientists are working to understand these mysterious substances that make up most of the universe. Dark matter and dark energy don't interact with light, so they are invisible to us. But scientists can detect their presence by observing their effects on other objects. I hope this information helps you explain some of the exciting discoveries that CERN has made!