An imagined town in Peru, an Eiffel tower in Beijing: travellers are increasingly using tools like ChatGPT for itinerary ideas – and being sent to destinations that don’t exist.
An imagined town in Peru, an Eiffel tower in Beijing: travellers are increasingly using tools like ChatGPT for itinerary ideas – and being sent to destinations that don’t exist.
I think it’s important not to victim blame here. These people were lied to, by the bots, and by the companies that say the bots are trustworthy. Their government that permits the false advertising is failing them.
People have a responsibility to themselves. One of the absolute first things I did when I heard about ChatGPT and the ever-increasing coterie of its imitators, was I tested them. I had them talk about things I know and counted the errors and flat-out hallucinated fictions.
Then I said to myself, “you know, they’re going to be just as full of shit on things I don’t know”.
I saw all the lies. I saw all the advertising. I saw the same thing everybody else saw. But I saw it all and then actually tested it.
If people are willing to just believe professional liars—and make no mistake, that’s what advertisers are!—without bothering to do a minute’s checking, then sorry, that’s entirely on them.