But most people were slow to realize that this new kind of chatbot often makes things up.
When Google introduced a similar chatbot several weeks later, it spewed nonsense about the James Webb telescope.
The next day, Microsoft’s new Bing chatbot offered up all sorts of bogus information about the Gap, Mexican nightlife and the singer Billie Eilish.
Now a new start-up called Vectara, founded by former Google employees, is trying to figure out how often chatbots veer from the truth.
The company’s research estimates that even in situations designed to prevent it from happening, chatbots invent information at least 3 percent of the time — and as high as 27 percent.
Persons:
OpenAI, James Webb, Bing chatbot, Billie Eilish, ChatGPT
Organizations:
Google
Locations:
San Francisco, Manhattan