ChatGPT 3.5 – Example of a Blatant “Hallucination”
While I’ve read frequent mention of generative AI models "hallucinating" – which sounds like a euphemism – I’ve seen few actual examples. So I'm contributing an encounter with ChatGPT 3.5 just plain making stuff up.
Quite a few years ago as a software engineer I remember reading the advice "don't flip the bozo bit". It means don't categorically write off someone just because they have made a mistake or maybe are not as smart as you are. It's a good guideline to help nurture respect and openness to what everyone has to say.
Recently, I was trying to remember which book and author I had read that in. Enter ChatGPT 3.5.
Earl: Which author of a book on software development said "don't flip the bozo bit"
ChatGPT: The phrase "don't flip the bozo bit" comes from the book "The Pragmatic Programmer" by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas. ...
That didn't sound right. So I kept pushing it further by re-generating another answer. I ended up re-generating repeatedly for several tries.
ChatGPT: The phrase "don't flip the bozo bit" is often attributed to Steve McConnell, the author of the book "Code Complete. ..."
ChatGPT: The phrase "don't flip the bozo bit" was coined by Steve McConnell in his book "Code Complete. ..."
ChatGPT: The phrase "don't flip the bozo bit" originates from the book "The Pragmatic Programmer" by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas. ...
ChatGPT: The phrase "don't flip the bozo bit" comes from the book "The Pragmatic Programmer" by Andrew Hunt and David Thomas. ...
ChatGPT: The phrase "don't flip the bozo bit" is attributed to Gerald M. Weinberg, a prominent author in the field of software engineering. ...
WTF?? While all of these authors are well-known and respected and had been read by me, I was pretty sure none of them wrote the phrase. At this point I decided to call out ChatGPT.
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Earl: You have three different authors for the phrase "don't flip the bozo bit". Please explain your chain of thought for these, if possible.
ChatGPT: Certainly! The phrase "don't flip the bozo bit" is often associated with Gerald M. Weinberg, who used it in his book "The Psychology of Computer Programming" in 1971. He discussed the concept of the "bozo bit" as a metaphorical switch that, when flipped, represents a decision to dismiss someone as incompetent based on a single mistake or characteristic.
However, there might be confusion or variations in attributions due to the nature of ideas spreading and evolving over time. Sometimes, phrases or concepts can become part of the industry's common knowledge without direct referencing.
Other authors or speakers in the software development field might have referenced or used Weinberg's idea without explicit citation, leading to multiple attributions or associations with the phrase across different sources or discussions. It's also possible that different sources attribute the phrase to various authors based on where they first encountered or heard it.
Therefore, while Weinberg is often linked to the "bozo bit" concept, variations in attributions could be due to how ideas circulate within the field without consistent or accurate referencing across all sources.
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OMG, if this were coming from a human being I would think them very clever in covering up their ineptness in answering the question.
I then turned to an ordinary search engine.
Earl: Which software developer and author said "don't flip the bozo bit"
DuckDuckGo: “Dynamics of Software Development” by Jim McCarthy came up in several search results on different websites.
I then searched on DuckDuckGo for the phrase “don’t flip the bozo bit” along with the three authors attributed by ChatGPT. None of the results corroborated what ChatGPT claimed. Most of them reinforced that the expression originated with Jim McCarthy.
Conclusion: Don’t throw away your ordinary search engines just yet.
Maybe<HumanSWE> - Moves fast & breaks stuff, especially with .NET
8 个月Or use something that doesn't limit itself to static training data #microsoftcopilot ??
Passion * Technology * Ruthless Competence
8 个月One of the best programming books ever written!
Senior IT Project Leader
8 个月Thanks Earl for the great article. What I am learning about AI in its current state is that it can be excellent at some things, such as telling us what the top 10 things are to be concerned about with children and online safety, essential leadership skills, or how socks disappear in the laundry (actually a great answer from ChatGPT was the sock gremlin!) But it is not always reliable with specific questions. This is certainly a concern, given the many uses of AI currently in production and being developed. Seems like we still have quite a way to go for it to become more reliable and trustworthy. The funny thing is, one of the most distasteful things to me is when I ask a human a question and they give an answer even when they are not sure, but they don't admit they are not sure. AI should be smart enough to say, "I am not 100% sure, but here is what I have come up with so far, and here is how I found the answer". There is still so much work to be done!