[Hidden-tech] Question about ChatGPT and machine learning

[Alan Frank]

ChatGPT is a conversation engine, not a search engine.  It is designed 
to provide plausible responses based on similarity of questions and 
answers to existing material on the internet, without attempting to 
correlate its responses with actual facts.  Pretty much every social 
media space I follow has had multiple posts from people pointing out 
ridiculous factual errors from ChatGPT.

--Alan


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [Hidden-tech] Question about ChatGPT and machine learning
Date: 2023-03-09 15:29
 From: Marcia Yudkin via Hidden-discuss 
<hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net>
To: "Hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net" 
<Hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net>

This question is for anyone who understands how the machine learning in 
ChatGPT works.

I've been finding ChatGPT useful for summarizing information that is 
widely dispersed around the web, such as questions like "what are the 
most popular objections to X?"  However, the other day for a blog post I 
was writing I asked it "What are some sources on the relationship of X 
to Y?"  It gave me four sources of information, including the article 
title, where it was published and who wrote it.  

This looked great, especially since I recognized two of the author names 
as authorities on X.  However, when I then did a Google search, I could 
not track down any of the four articles, either by title, author or 
place of publication.  I tried both in Google and in Bing.  Zilch!

Could ChatGPT have totally made up these sources?  If so, how does that 
work?

I am baffled about the explanation of this.  One of the publications 
involved was Psychology Today, so we are not talking about obscure 
corners of the Internet or sites that would have disappeared recently.

Thanks for any insights.

Marcia Yudkin
Introvert UpThink
Introvert UpThink | Marcia Yudkin | Substack





Introvert UpThink | Marcia Yudkin | Substack
  Marcia Yudkin
  Exploring how introverts are misunderstood, maligned and 
underappreciated in our culture - yet still thrive. Cli...


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