In its own words.
I’ve been testing ChatGPT, as well as several other chatbots, for a few weeks now.
While doing so, I noticed strengths, flaws, and core differences between these platforms.
While Chatsonic remains my absolute favorite, ChatGPT is a decent free alternative.
9 Reasons Why Chatsonic is Better than ChatGPT
Its results though often leave me with an uneasy feeling that maybe more mistakes than what I can detect at a first glance might be present in ChatGPT’s output.
It becomes time-consuming to figure out if ChatGPT really did the job I asked it to, especially when it comes to retrieving information from scientific fields.
And it’s not just about being inaccurate from time to time either. ChatGPT often displays bias, gets simple prompts wrong, and repeats itself like crazy, among other things.
While it is our responsibility as users to make sure that the information contained in the output is valid before sharing or blindly trusting it, I can’t help but wonder what other limitations are there.
So I went to the very source: ChatGPT itself.
I asked about its main flaws or limitations and here is what it came up — or clean — with:
“As an AI language model developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT has several limitations that are inherent to its design and technology. Some of the most significant limitations of ChatGPT include:
- Lack of creativity and original thought: ChatGPT is trained on a vast corpus of text data and can generate human-like responses, but it does not have the capacity for creative thought or independent decision-making.
- Knowledge cutoff: ChatGPT is trained on text data up to a certain date, and its knowledge is limited to information that was available at that time. It does not have the ability to update its knowledge or incorporate new information.
- Bias in training data: Like all AI models, ChatGPT is only as good as the data it was trained on. If the training data contains biases or inaccuracies, then the responses generated by ChatGPT may also reflect these biases.
- Lack of empathy and emotional understanding: Although ChatGPT is capable of generating human-like responses, it does not have the capacity to experience emotions or understand emotions in the same way that humans do.
- Vulnerability to misinformation: ChatGPT is trained on text data from the internet and may generate responses based on misinformation or false information.
- Limited ability to handle context: ChatGPT is trained to generate responses based on the input it receives, but it may struggle to understand complex context or maintain coherence in longer conversations.
These limitations highlight the importance of carefully evaluating the responses generated by ChatGPT and using critical thinking when interpreting the information it provides. It is also important to remember that ChatGPT is an AI tool, not a substitute for human expertise or judgment.”
I asked it to continue the list. Let’s go underneath the surface.
“ 7. Limited ability to reason: While ChatGPT has been trained on a vast corpus of text data and can generate coherent and logical responses, it does not have the ability to engage in abstract reasoning or solve complex problems.
8. Inability to understand humor: ChatGPT is capable of generating humor in its responses, but it does not have the ability to understand humor in the same way that humans do. This can lead to misunderstandings or inappropriate responses in some situations.
9. Inability to understand sarcasm: ChatGPT is not able to detect sarcasm or irony in the same way that humans do. This can lead to misinterpretations of text input and generate responses that are not appropriate for the context.
10. Lack of context-specific knowledge: While ChatGPT has been trained on a vast corpus of text data, it does not have specialized knowledge in specific areas or industries. This can lead to inaccuracies or incomplete responses in situations where context-specific knowledge is necessary.”
Since it started repeating itself, I stopped the generation and asked: “Do you think repetition is one of your flaws?”
“Yes, repetition can be considered a limitation of AI language models like ChatGPT. If the model is trained on text data that contains repetition, it may generate similar responses in certain situations. Additionally, if the input provided to the model is repetitive or lacks sufficient context, the model may generate repetitive responses.
However, it’s important to note that repetition is a common challenge in AI language generation and is not unique to ChatGPT. Efforts are ongoing to improve the ability of AI models to generate more diverse and context-aware responses, and to reduce the instances of repetition.”
At least it’s honest and “self-aware”.
I wanted to ask one last thing though: “How do you deal with biased content?”
It answered:
“As an AI language model, ChatGPT is trained on a large corpus of text data that is sourced from the internet. This data may contain biases, inaccuracies, and misinformation. To minimize the impact of bias in the responses generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI employs several strategies:
- Data filtering: OpenAI filters the text data used to train ChatGPT to remove low-quality or inappropriate content.
- Diverse training data: OpenAI aims to ensure that the text data used to train ChatGPT is diverse and representative of different perspectives, cultures, and viewpoints.
- Human review: OpenAI employs human reviewers to monitor the outputs generated by ChatGPT and identify instances of bias or misinformation.
- Continuous evaluation: OpenAI continuously evaluates the outputs generated by ChatGPT to identify patterns of bias and to improve the accuracy and fairness of the model over time.
Despite these efforts, it is important to recognize that AI language models like ChatGPT are only as good as the data they are trained on, and that bias can still persist in the outputs generated by the model. It is therefore important to use critical thinking and judgment when interpreting the information provided by ChatGPT, and to seek additional sources of information when necessary.”
I thought it was my last question but it turned out that I still had one more curiosity:
“Why is it important for users to know about ChatGPT’s flaws and limitations?”
“It is important for users to know ChatGPT’s flaws and limitations because this knowledge helps them to use the technology effectively, avoid potential errors or misunderstandings, and make informed decisions about the content it generates. By having a clear understanding of ChatGPT’s strengths and limitations, users can maximize its potential and achieve their desired outcomes.”
Well, now we know. Thanks for the “conversation”, ChatGPT.