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Did you upload the text of the novel? It’s under copyright so wouldn’t be in the training data or retrievable via search.

by Tycho 1y ago

KineticLensman 1y ago
I didn't upload the text; I was trying to see what happened if one asked a question about a specific book, as if I was someone trying to do an essay in a hurry. I know the text quite well so could easily spot the hallucinated answers but someone with less knowledge might have been fooled. The experience reconvinced me not to rely on this specific LLM for help with my essays.
- Tycho 1y ago
  Well, you have to give the tool a chance. If it can’t even see the text you’re asking about, it’s going to rely on whatever quotes and references it can crib together from reviews and blogs and comments. Try it for a text that is in the training data, or the public internet, or can be put into the context window - then it might help.
  - KineticLensman 1y ago
    Well, yes, I'm sure if I uploaded a full text and spent time on the prompts I could get better results, although these might be similar to other students doing the same thing, which might get me a plagiarism fail. My point was that I would be very hesitant to rely on ChatGPT as an assistant in a real literature task. Many of the texts on my Eng Lit course are in copyright, as is all of the module material (the OU's course-specific textbooks). The hallucinations are a real show-stopper.
    - Tycho 1y ago
      Your position seems to be “if you use the tool like a total dumbass, you might get a bad outcome.” Like… maybe use it intelligently?
      - stanford_labrat 1y ago
        On the topic of hammers: "if you don't hold the hammer at exactly 2.6cm from the end of the handle and strike the nail with 6N of force at an angle of 58 degrees then of course you won't get a good nail strike into the wood. Oh and you must only use acacia sourced from the subtropics". Give me a break, it's a hammer. This is a perfectly normal "use" of ChatGPT and a good example of how a literature student may opt to try and use AI to make their work easier in some way. It also conveniently demonstrates some of the shortcomings of using a LLM for this sort of task. No need to call them a dumbass.

Did you upload the text of the novel? It’s under copyright so wouldn’t be in the training data or retrievable via search.

by Tycho 1y ago

Did you upload the text of the novel? It’s under copyright so wouldn’t be in the training data or retrievable via search.

KineticLensman 1y ago

I didn't upload the text; I was trying to see what happened if one asked a question about a specific book, as if I was someone trying to do an essay in a hurry. I know the text quite well so could easily spot the hallucinated answers but someone with less knowledge might have been fooled. The experience reconvinced me not to rely on this specific LLM for help with my essays.

Tycho 1y ago
Well, you have to give the tool a chance. If it can’t even see the text you’re asking about, it’s going to rely on whatever quotes and references it can crib together from reviews and blogs and comments. Try it for a text that is in the training data, or the public internet, or can be put into the context window - then it might help.
- KineticLensman 1y ago
  Well, yes, I'm sure if I uploaded a full text and spent time on the prompts I could get better results, although these might be similar to other students doing the same thing, which might get me a plagiarism fail. My point was that I would be very hesitant to rely on ChatGPT as an assistant in a real literature task. Many of the texts on my Eng Lit course are in copyright, as is all of the module material (the OU's course-specific textbooks). The hallucinations are a real show-stopper.
  - Tycho 1y ago
    Your position seems to be “if you use the tool like a total dumbass, you might get a bad outcome.” Like… maybe use it intelligently?
    - stanford_labrat 1y ago
      On the topic of hammers: "if you don't hold the hammer at exactly 2.6cm from the end of the handle and strike the nail with 6N of force at an angle of 58 degrees then of course you won't get a good nail strike into the wood. Oh and you must only use acacia sourced from the subtropics". Give me a break, it's a hammer. This is a perfectly normal "use" of ChatGPT and a good example of how a literature student may opt to try and use AI to make their work easier in some way. It also conveniently demonstrates some of the shortcomings of using a LLM for this sort of task. No need to call them a dumbass.