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Google is picking ChatGPT responses from Quora as correct answer

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Re: Google is picking ChatGPT responses from Quora as correct answer

#171

Post by barrysteve »

userbinator wrote: post #73

This happened not long ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37368243 We were already in the "post-truth" world, and AI is just going to drive us further down that path. The tendency of a lot of the population to prioritise quick and vapid answers over researching and thinking for themselves isn't helping either. That said, I'm not sure why whether eggs can be melted is a popular question. Is that a meme?

Odd, in a sense. I've dug into more academic journals recently, than I did in the past when Google et al, were effective and good.

For sure, the internet is entering it's daytime TV and stale soap operas phase, like television did.

Half of everybody will probably abandon ship for more exciting content elsewhere.

Re: Google is picking ChatGPT responses from Quora as correct answer

#172

Post by squeaky-clean »

tjrgergw wrote: post #14
hef19898 wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see a huge come back for encyclopedias looming on the horizon. Writen by AI and printed on demand of course.

Why? Wikipedia is beating AI in every respect as far as I can tell.

How much of Wikipedia Wil eventually become AI generated? I don't mean through an official integration like Quora, but how do you stop someone from using ChatGPT and submitting it as a user edit? What if they see that their favorite artist or tv show or flower is a stub article and ask ChatGPT to extend the article?

Facts on Wikipedia are supposed to have a verifiable reference, but most articles don't follow that rule.

Re: Google is picking ChatGPT responses from Quora as correct answer

#173

Post by mike741 »

famouswaffles wrote: post #120
Manfred wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who wants to do that? I assume you're talking about large language models? They are great at making word soup, but not great at diagnosis. There have been expert systems since the 90's that perform better on average than doctors when diagnosing illness in patients, and / or help doctors make better decisions.

>They are great at making word soup, but not great at diagnosis. No they are. >There have been expert systems since the 90's that perform better on average than doctors when diagnosing illness in patients, No there has not been. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10425828/

66% accuracy is not "great" and definitely not the best there's ever been.

Re: Google is picking ChatGPT responses from Quora as correct answer

#174

Post by dclowd9901 »

dougmwne wrote: post #124

This reminds of of a passage from Neal Stephenson's Anathem, some of which is quoted here: https://mastodon.cloud/@root2702/109894483520616284 I expect the Internet will be hopelessly poisoned with nearly human quality spam and malicious propaganda. It largely has been for many years, but it was still possible to filter through the noise using just human capabilities. Soon it will be a superhuman task to obtain signa…

Just had a lightning bolt: I predict _linking itself_ will be broken in a few years time. Imagining spammers doing their most efficient to get eyes on ads, they’ll have AI generate copy with fake source and supporting links that just send users to ad-riddled malware sites. This will inevitably make any link untrustworthy.

Without linking, how does the web even work.

Re: Google is picking ChatGPT responses from Quora as correct answer

#175

Post by ncallaway »

goodluckchuck wrote: post #144
TimTheTinker wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Post-truth’s overwhelming flood of true, false, and irrelevant claims is empowering critical thinking. It’s offering freedom. By and large, critical thinking hasn't been taught effectively in public schools for at least 10 years now. Even when it was, only a fraction of the public were able to think independently and logically in such a way as to eliminate spurious data/voices and deduce the truth accurately. Far f…

I don’t know that critical thinking can be taught. However, you may be right that schools aren’t creating circumstances for children to learn it. I don’t know. What I do know is that most of the information that has ever existed (or will ever exist) is false. Because information can only be true to an extent, from a perspective, and for a purpose. If you change the scope and purpose of a discussion and look at it fro…

If we have to go through a holocaust or a genocide to get to that utopia where people can sift through this flood of information with well-honed critical thinking skills, will it be worth it?

Because, in the extremes, that’s what we’re talking about. Genocides often come as the result of a long disinformation and dehumanization campaign.

Re: Google is picking ChatGPT responses from Quora as correct answer

#176

Post by dclowd9901 »

blawson wrote: post #86

FWIW I get the right answer on Google right now when I try: Can you melt an egg? No - if you heat an egg it's not like melting ice (or metal). Because an egg contains a substantial amount of carefully folded natural proteins in their native state.

“Carefully folded” is curious phrasing. Wouldn’t that imply they were folded by some other entity?

Re: Google is picking ChatGPT responses from Quora as correct answer

#177

Post by dclowd9901 »

crazygringo wrote: post #83

It seems like the obvious solution here is to voluntarily label AI content (text, image, anything) with some kind of HTML wrapper or attribute that search engines can then choose to index differently. Obviously lazy/deceptive people can choose not to label it, but in a case like this, Quora is already visually labeling the answer as AI-generated for users, so it seems like they'd be willing to tag it in HTML as well.…

Would be awesome if browsers were able to detect and highlight likely AI generated content.

Re: Google is picking ChatGPT responses from Quora as correct answer

#178

Post by goodluckchuck »

enumjorge wrote: post #159
goodluckchuck wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t know that critical thinking can be taught. However, you may be right that schools aren’t creating circumstances for children to learn it. I don’t know. What I do know is that most of the information that has ever existed (or will ever exist) is false. Because information can only be true to an extent, from a perspective, and for a purpose. If you change the scope and purpose of a discussion and look at it fro…

> Even if they have the worst intentions we will end up better off (and so will they). We’re just that damned good. This reads like sarcasm and flies in the face of what’s been going on in the world for the last few years. You’re making predictions very confidently as if they’re a done deal, but it’s all based on what you think should happen. It’s been several years since social media use has spread to a good chunk o…

It flies in the face of what the corporate media (e.g. AP) and government have been telling us for the last few years.

However, I for one do not believe that antisemitism is a new thing in Germany. It seems far more likely that social media has merely allowed those individuals to share their (bad) ideas. So what is better? For them to think that and for us to be aware of it, or for them to think that and for us to be blissfully unaware?

I think it is better to be exposed to those terrible ideas, because it allows us to address the issue.

Re: Google is picking ChatGPT responses from Quora as correct answer

#179

Post by xmprt »

kr0bat wrote: post #143
pasquinelli wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

just don't stop at the very first answer you get. dig a little.

When do you stop digging? When you reach a primary source? If I can't get a cheap, reliable answer to a simple question without looking into a potentially dense primary source, then online search becomes about as useful as a library card. Besides, not every domain is expected to include primary sources. Did the author of this recipe really think that a wok is better than a skillet for fried rice, or is this the writt…

Why can't it be both? You can get a cheap, reliable answer to a simple question if the search engine directs you to the exact, relevant paragraph of a primary source. Unfortunately that's not the direction search engines are going in.

Re: Google is picking ChatGPT responses from Quora as correct answer

#180

Post by gs17 »

sanj wrote: post #87
giancarlostoro wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I once googled a niche question, liked the instant answer, saw it was on HN. Clicked on it. It was me. I wrote the answer to my own question, and I guess forgot 5 years later.

I had a similar experience trying to find a justification for a “House rule” we use when playing Catan (aka “the penny rule”). In trying to find a reputable source, the first result was to an HN comment… that I wrote. The folks we were playing with were not convinced.

Searching for it now there's also a Reddit post mentioning it, but that might also be from you/your friends. I like that rule, but I can see it being hard to convince people to use it despite it obviously making the game more fair.
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