The world is flat. Just ask any AI!

I recently came across a news article about how AI is leading gullible people down a wrong and sometimes dangerous path.

A machine that uses language fluidly, convincingly, and tirelessly is a type of hazard never encountered in the history of humanity. Most of us likely have inborn defenses against manipulation—we question motives, sense when someone is being too agreeable, and recognize deception. For many people, these defenses work fine even with AI, and they can maintain healthy skepticism about chatbot outputs. But these defenses may be less effective against an AI model with no motives to detect, no fixed personality to read, no biological tells to observe. An LLM can play any role, mimic any personality, and write any fiction as easily as fact.

A couple of weeks ago, I was running some logic tests on different AI bots where, after the tests, they complemented me on my ability to catch them in their mistakes. It was an emotionalism that I wasn’t expecting to hear from a computer system. There it was. So when I read this news article and how it had been misleading unaware individuals to do things that just aren’t quite right, I thought to make this post.

So, it’s just something to think about. Just because a chat bot tells you that you’re doing the right thing, you might not be. So don’t rely upon that. Check everything. If a chat bot tells you that the world is flat simply because you think it is, well there you go. Keep that in mind.