The usage of Artificial Intelligence in the sitepoint community

We have noticed a significant spike in the usage of ChatGPT (or some other sort of AI tool) to provide answering posts. While we’re not sure the cause of the usage (English not being the native tongue, not being an expert on the topic, etc). there’s been a definitive increased pattern in its usage.

After much discussion privately, the community staff has decided that the drawbacks of using the tool at this time outweighs the benefits, and we’re going to be monitoring/removing posts which are obviously AI generated.

There are a number of reasons for this approach:

  1. Since the AI cannot detect subtlety in questions asked (i.e. read between the lines an seeing what’s really being asked), the answers given, while technically correct, may not actually answer the question being given
  2. The AIs depend on searching just like most of us do, and as we all know, the internet, while wonderful and powerful, doesn’t always give us what we’re asking for. The answers given may be out of date, erroneous, or incomplete.
  3. As we all know, the AI responses SEEM really well written. This allows people to develop perceptions of “expertise” which may not be deserved. While that may seem harmless, answers which are given more credence due to this false sense of expertise may cause someone else’s valid (and more correct) guidance to be ignored because there might be a typo or a struggle because they’re not as strong at the English language.

Some examples which help to prove our position:

From our very own sitepoint community:

And an interesting read from Medium:

45 Likes

Unless a post is prefaced with something like “ChatGpt Says…” I would agree it should not be used a a defacto response. Even then, as my numerous hours of using ChatGPT show, it can give incorrect, or very much less than optimum answers. I am sure one day it will be top notch, but today it is not. Along with the other reasons you cited, it really should just not be used here.

I did a sample basic job interview with ChatGPT to test it out and it failed to get hired. You can read the interview here to see what I mean.
https://galaxyinternet.us/job-interview-with-chatgpt/

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I hope you will allow the following from ChatGPT.

Question

Are ChatGPT answers authoritive?

Response

As an AI language model, my answers are based on the vast amount of data that I have been trained on, but they should not be considered as the absolute or definitive source of information. While I strive to provide accurate and helpful responses, there may be instances where my answers may not be entirely correct or relevant to a particular context.

It is important to note that my responses are generated algorithmically, based on patterns and associations within the data I have been trained on. As such, they should be considered as suggestions rather than authoritative statements. It is always a good idea to consult multiple sources and to use critical thinking skills when evaluating any information, including the responses generated by AI language models like myself.

It is unfortunate that ChatGPT does not tell us where the knowledge was obtained from. Most WikiPedia articles have long lists of references. Just as the WikiPedia should not be considered an official reference, ChatGPT should not be considered authoritive. I assume ChatGPT can help in research and understanding.

I think I found a clear mistake made by ChatGPT. I asked:

Does “he may go” mean he has permission to go?

And I think the answer is wrong. Should I post details?

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ChatGPT has demonstrated, it can provide wrong or far-from-optimal replies.

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So, it’s getting more and more realistic all the time then.

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It’s a natural language model, so yes, it is supposed to get more realistic with regards to natural English speech.

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This makes a lot of sense. ChatGPT, while absolutely smart, cannot replace genuine answers for forum.

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better to look for the human touch. If it’s an exact copy of the book then surely they used chatgpt to answer the question. Otherwise, a content writer tries to write it in their own words.
Cause this is our habit to make it look unique.

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If it’s an exact copy of a book, its not chatgpt, its just good old fashioned plagiarism. Which is what people did before ChatGPT.

ChatGPT will generate somewhat unique text, because it compiles multiple sources of information. ChatGPT currently falls into the “uncanny valley” of text generation. It’s close to natural, but just not quite right.

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