Another cautionary tale about generative AI and accuracy:
While copyediting recently, I needed to double check whether the Eastern U.S. is currently in Eastern Standard Time (EST) or Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), since we changed the clocks last month.
So I typed this into the Microsoft Bing search box: Is New York currently in EST or EDT?
At the top of my search results, Bing's AI program Copilot (formerly Bing Chat) gave me this tidbit:
"New York is currently in Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)," it told me. "EDT is observed from early March to early November."
But there is a problem. It's December, so New York is currently NOT in Eastern Daylight Time.
Fortunately, the search results gave me plenty of other links so I could verify the information.
It's so easy to take that top, AI-generated result (which is usually in larger letters) and believe it's accurate. But it might not be. User beware!
Comments