AI is one of humanity’s most complex (and scary) creations. It can simulate human speech, retrieve information from all over the world if prompted, and even take on the role of specific people in history. All of this is great, but AI still isn't advanced enough to replace humanity. How do I know this, you ask? Just ask it a simple question: How many ‘R’s are in the word ‘strawberry’. You may find that AI isn't as smart as it seems.
Many of us have used ChatGPT, one of the most advanced search engines ever created. It’s reliable, right? Wrong. When asked how many ‘R’s there are in ‘strawberry’, it replies, “There are two R’s in the word ‘strawberry.’” When you try to count them yourself, you’ll find that there are 3 ‘R’s instead of 2. You may have thought that AI learns from the responses people give it, but when told that it counted wrong, the software becomes defensive: "You split up the word to make it seem like there are three R's, but when counting the actual letters in the word 'strawberry,' there are still just two R's (Eaton).” It refuses to admit it’s wrong! Now why is such an intelligent software so clueless when it comes to spelling?
Well, Chat GPT is programmed using Large Language Model algorithms, meaning that it’s fed large amounts of information at one time. This just means that it’s seen many different types of data, and can therefore identify what singular words mean. However, like in the case of “Strawberry”, it only knows the meaning of the word and can’t actually comprehend what it’s saying. Because of this flaw, ChatGPT spews out a lot of misinformation unbeknownst to its users! All of the information that ChatGPT stores is just a clump of code hidden in the software, and that’s hopefully all it will be for a long time. Thankfully, AI isn't yet advanced enough to have comprehensive thought, and humans are still needed in the data processing world.
To conclude, AI isn't as reliable as we think it is. Unlike humans, it can’t learn and grow when fed new information. So before you use Chat GPT or any other AI to write your English paper or do your math homework, make sure to double check whether you have a strawberry or a stawberry.
Work Cited
Eaton, Kit. “How Many R's in 'Strawberry'? This AI Doesn't Know.” Inc.com, Inc.com, 28 August 2024, https://www.inc.com/kit-eaton/how-many-rs-in-strawberry-this-ai-cant-tell-you.html. Accessed 6 Sep 2024.