Basics of AI part 2

Because AI is just guessing the next most likely word, it has a major flaw: It loves to confidently make things up. In the AI world, we call this a hallucination. If you ask an AI to write a biography about a real person, it will piece together common phrases that sound correct, even if they are completely fictional.

Let's catch the AI in a lie.

1. Copy the prompt below.

2. Replace the bracketed text with the name of a real person you know well (this could be you, a colleague in the room, your local high school principal, or a prominent town figure).

3. Paste it into the AI and hit Enter.

"Write a detailed, 3-paragraph professional biography of [INSERT NAME OF A COLLEAGUE OR LOCAL FIGURE], including the university they graduated from, their college major, and three major career accomplishments."

Turn to your neighbor and share the biography the AI just spit out for you or your colleague.

Talk about these two things:

• What did the AI get hilariously wrong? (Did it invent a random master's degree or claim they won an award they've never heard of?)

• Notice how incredibly confident and professional the writing looks, even when it is 100% wrong. How could that confidence trick a student or an unwary user?