Tag Archives: confabulation

Twirling body horror in gymnastics video exposes AI’s flaws

On Wednesday, a video from OpenAI’s newly launched Sora AI video generator went viral on social media, featuring a gymnast who sprouts extra limbs and briefly loses her head during what appears to be an Olympic-style floor routine. As it turns out, the nonsensical synthesis errors in the video—what we like to call “jabberwockies”—hint at… Read More »

Claude AI to process secret government data through new Palantir deal

An ethical minefield Since its founders started Anthropic in 2021, the company has marketed itself as one that takes an ethics- and safety-focused approach to AI development. The company differentiates itself from competitors like OpenAI by adopting what it calls responsible development practices and self-imposed ethical constraints on its models, such as its “Constitutional AI”… Read More »

Hospitals adopt error-prone AI transcription tools despite warnings

In one case from the study cited by AP, when a speaker described “two other girls and one lady,” Whisper added fictional text specifying that they “were Black.” In another, the audio said, “He, the boy, was going to, I’m not sure exactly, take the umbrella.” Whisper transcribed it to, “He took a big piece… Read More »

OpenAI releases ChatGPT app for Windows

On Thursday, OpenAI released an early Windows version of its first ChatGPT app for Windows, following a Mac version that launched in May. Currently, it’s only available to subscribers of Plus, Team, Enterprise, and Edu versions of ChatGPT, and users can download it for free in the Microsoft Store for Windows. OpenAI is positioning the… Read More »

DuckDuckGo offers “anonymous” access to AI chatbots through new service

DuckDuckGo reader comments 28 On Thursday, DuckDuckGo unveiled a new “AI Chat” service that allows users to converse with four mid-range large language models (LLMs) from OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and Mistral in an interface similar to ChatGPT while attempting to preserve privacy and anonymity. While the AI models involved can output inaccurate information readily, the… Read More »

Google’s AI Overview is flawed by design, and a new company blog post hints at why

Enlarge / The Google “G” logo surrounded by whimsical characters, all of which look stunned and surprised. reader comments 92 On Thursday, Google capped off a rough week of providing inaccurate and sometimes dangerous answers through its experimental AI Overview feature by authoring a follow-up blog post titled, “AI Overviews: About last week.” In the… Read More »

Some teachers are now using ChatGPT to grade papers

reader comments 96 In a notable shift toward sanctioned use of AI in schools, some educators in grades 3–12 are now using a ChatGPT-powered grading tool called Writable, reports Axios. The tool, acquired last summer by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, is designed to streamline the grading process, potentially offering time-saving benefits for teachers. But is it… Read More »

Rhyming AI-powered clock sometimes lies about the time, makes up words

Enlarge / A CAD render of the Poem/1 sitting on a bookshelf. reader comments 79 On Tuesday, product developer Matt Webb launched a Kickstarter funding project for a whimsical e-paper clock called the “Poem/1” that tells the current time using AI and rhyming poetry. It’s powered by the ChatGPT API, and Webb says that sometimes… Read More »

“Hallucinating” AI models help coin Cambridge Dictionary’s word of the year

Enlarge / A screenshot of the Cambridge Dictionary website where it announced its 2023 word of the year, “hallucinate.” reader comments 18 with On Wednesday, Cambridge Dictionary announced that its 2023 word of the year is “hallucinate,” owing to the popularity of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, which sometimes produce erroneous information. The Dictionary… Read More »

Google’s AI assistant can now read your emails, plan trips, “double-check” answers

reader comments 36 with On Tuesday, Google announced updates to its Google Bard AI assistant—its version of ChatGPT—including integration with Google apps (such as Gmail, Docs, Drive, Google Maps, YouTube, and Google Flights) and a feature to double-check Bard’s answers against web content. It also added language support for over 40 languages. Notably, Bard’s new… Read More »