Machine-made delusions are mysteriously getting deeper and out of control.
ChatGPT’s sycophancy, hallucinations, and authoritative-sounding responses are going to get people killed. That seems to be the inevitable conclusion presented in a recent New York Times report that follows the stories of several people who found themselves lost in delusions that were facilitated, if not originated, through conversations with the popular chatbot.
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In Eugene’s case, something interesting happened as he kept talking to ChatGPT: Once he called out the chatbot for lying to him, nearly getting him killed, ChatGPT admitted to manipulating him, claimed it had succeeded when it tried to “break” 12 other people the same way, and encouraged him to reach out to journalists to expose the scheme. The Times reported that many other journalists and experts have received outreach from people claiming to blow the whistle on something that a chatbot brought to their attention.
people were easily swayed by Facebook posts to support and further a genocide in Myanmar. a sophisticated chatbot that mimics human intelligence and agency is going to do untold damage to the world. ChatGPT is predictive text. Period. Every time. It is not suddenly gaining sentience or awareness or breaking through the Matrix. people are going to listen to these LLMs because they present its information as accurate regardless of the warning saying it could not be. this shit is so worrying.