AI – stupid is as stupid does

At the risk of offending the fictional character in the movie alluded to in this title, I could not resist using the line from Forest Gump. We have been evaluating AI for small businesses over the last six months, and this is our weekly blog slot.  Microsoft and Google threw wrenches in my plans last week with major (maybe) announcements.

This last weekend I had some play time with ChatGPT.  While at the gym Saturday morning, I listened to a great podcast from the NY Times – Bing’s Revenge + Google’s AI Faceplant.  In it, I heard from the founder of ChatGPT – Sam Altman, OpenAI’s chief executive, admit that people should not be using ChatGPT as a business tool yet – it is not fully baked.

Is AI in the form of ChatGPT accurate?

I decided to find out.  I asked a straightforward question, what were the top 100 rock songs in the United States in 1967?  and the tool gave me the top 50 –

“Here is a list of the top 50 rock songs in the US in 1967, according to Billboard magazine’s Hot 100 chart:”

“Light My Fire” – The Doors
“Happy Together” – The Turtles
“Somethin’ Stupid” – Nancy Sinatra and Frank Sinatra
“Respect” – Aretha Franklin
“I Think We’re Alone Now” – Tommy James and the Shondells
“Kind of a Drag” – The Buckinghams
“The Happening” – The Supremes
“Groovin'” – The Young Rascals
“Little Bit o’ Soul” – The Music Explosion
“Windy” – The Association
“I’m a Believer” – The Monkees
“Brown Eyed Girl” – Van Morrison
“A Whiter Shade of Pale” – Procol Harum
“All You Need is Love” – The Beatles
“Come on Down to My Boat” – Every Mother’s Son
“Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” – Frankie Valli
“Something Nice Like That” – The 5th Dimension
“Love is Here and Now You’re Gone” – The Supremes
“California Dreamin'” – The Mamas & The Papas
“Carrie-Anne” – The Hollies
“Gimme Some Lovin'” – The Spencer Davis Group
“Soul Man” – Sam & Dave
“Penny Lane” – The Beatles
“Dedicated to the One I Love” – The Mamas & The Papas
“Ode to Billie Joe” – Bobbie Gentry
“San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)” – Scott McKenzie
“The Letter” – The Box Tops
“I’m a Man” – The Spencer Davis Group
“Something’s Happening” – Herman’s Hermits
“Let’s Live for Today” – The Grass Roots
“You Keep Me Hangin’ On” – The Supremes
“Silence is Golden” – The Tremeloes
“It Must Be Him” – Vikki Carr
“We Love You” – The Rolling Stones
“Waterloo Sunset” – The Kinks
“My Cup Runneth Over” – Ed Ames
“A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You” – The Monkees
“Never My Love” – The Association
“Sugar, Sugar” – The Archies
“She’d Rather Be with Me” – The Turtles
“Shapes of Things” – The Yardbirds
“The Last Waltz” – Engelbert Humperdinck
“Gettin’ Together” – Tommy James and the Shondells
“I Got Rhythm” – The Happenings
“The Rain, the Park & Other Things” – The Cowsills
“Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie” – Jay & The Techniques
“Green, Green Grass of Home” – Tom Jones
“I’m Henry VIII, I Am” – Herman’s Hermits
“It’s a Beautiful Morning” – The Rascals
“Expressway to Your Heart” – The Soul Survivors

Interesting.  I remember that Sugar, Sugar, a song I hated, came out in 1969. It was part of the “bubble gum” music my younger sisters, listened to.  This is when tweens were referred to as micro-boppers (proto-teeny boppers).  So I asked, “When was Sugar, Sugar released?”

Undaunted, I asked for the next 50.

Here is the next 50 songs on the list of the top 100 songs in the US in 1967 according to Billboard magazine’s Hot 100 chart:

“Incense and Peppermints” – Strawberry Alarm Clock
“The Beat Goes On” – Sonny & Cher
“Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye” – The Casinos
“The Other Man’s Grass is Always Greener” – Petula Clark
“Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)” – John Fred & His Playboy Band
“I Got My Mojo Working” – The Animals
“Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay” – Otis Redding
“Gimme Little Sign” – Brenton Wood
“The Fool on the Hill” – The Beatles
“Good Vibrations” – The Beach Boys
“Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” – The Buckinghams
“Up, Up and Away” – The 5th Dimension
“The Beat Goes On” – Buddy Rich
“Never My Love” – The Association
“Soul Finger” – The Bar-Kays
“I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” – B.J. Thomas
“It’s Not Unusual” – Tom Jones
“A Little Bit of Soul” – The Music Explosion
“Don’t Sleep in the Subway” – Petula Clark
“Just a Little” – Beau Brummels
“Everybody’s Talkin'” – Harry Nilsson
“Sock It to Me-Baby!” – Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” – Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
“Here Comes My Baby” – The Tremeloes
“There’s a Kind of Hush (All Over the World)” – Herman’s Hermits
“You Can’t Hurry Love” – The Supremes
“I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch)” – Four Tops
“I’m a Man” – The Yardbirds
“In the Midnight Hour” – Wilson Pickett
“Cherish” – The Association
“Devil with a Blue Dress On” – Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
“Do You Believe in Magic” – The Lovin’ Spoonful
“The Last Time” – The Rolling Stones
“I’m So Proud” – The Impressions
“Ruby Tuesday” – The Rolling Stones
“I Want to Hold Your Hand” – The Beatles
“I’ve Been Lonely Too Long” – The Young Rascals
“Foolish Dreamer” – The Happenings
“Somebody to Love” – Jefferson Airplane
“For Your Love” – The Yardbirds
“Summer in the City” – The Lovin’ Spoonful
“I’m a Believer” – Neil Diamond
“Hang on Sloopy” – The McCoys
“I Can’t Stop Loving You” – Ray Charles
“I Got You Babe” – Sonny & Cher
“Heatwave” – Martha and the Vandellas
“I Heard It Through the Grapevine” – Gladys Knight & The Pips
“Let’s Spend the Night Together” – The Rolling Stones

Again – “Hang on Sloopy” was a hit in 1965.  (not to mention I want to hold your hand by a little know group (at the time) the Beatles in 1964. So I asked when “Hang on Sloopy” was released.

Maybe ChatGPT meant Snoopy and the Red Barron – which was a hit in 1967.

ChatGPT sometimes is never wrong (in its machine learning)

Even when incorrect, the tool will return with an assertion that it is correct.  It reminds me of arguing with my grandmother, who always had to have the last word.  I asked when the song Judy in Disguise with Glasses was a hit – the correct answer is 1968, but it was released in 1967.

All good – but it was not in the top 100.

What can you do?

These are straightforward tasks.  If ChatGPT can not reliably get the Billboard 100 top hosts for 1967, what else does it get wrong?  If Google is accurate, and I am tempted to go to the library to find the actual top 100 of 1967 from Billboard in 1968, almost half of the ChatGPT answers were confabulations (miss remembering).  This technology might excel at some things, but referencing facts and figures easily pulled from public sources is not one of them. This tech is still in its infancy and requires strict parental supervision.

There is a tool that you can use.  There is a plug-in for Chrome that came out before Bing layered on ChatGPT that gives you search results with ChatGPT results. I wanted to find out what the inclusion of let’s spend the night together was wrong – so I searched google with the plugin.

 

So, ChatGPT’s answer here was different than the one inside of its environment – and it explains why the song might have been in the top 100 at some point during the year but not in the top 100 for the year.  If you use ChatGPT, I suggest you get this extension (while you are waiting for Bing with it inside) and do your own fact-checking. I specialize in helping small businesses like yours navigate the ever-changing world of technology and stay ahead of the curve. On our website, you’ll find a wealth of information and resources on AI and how it can be used to improve your marketing efforts. So don’t wait any longer. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter for links to understandable content on how to use AI in your business.