I've been trying to get more value out of AI tools like ChatGPT, but I keep getting frustrated because it makes a lot of mistakes. For example, I once asked it to check a 30-page document to see if it stated that X is required when Y happens. Instead of giving me a solid answer, it quoted a half-sentence that didn't even relate to what I was asking! Even after I pointed it out, it just agreed with me saying I was right, but still didn't provide the correct information. I've also tried using it for creating images with instructions, but those turned out wrong too. It acknowledges its mistakes right away, so I can't understand why it produces incorrect outputs if it knows they're wrong. I've read a lot about how to structure prompts, but my requests seem pretty straightforward. Am I missing something?
3 Answers
Honestly, the AI has changed quite a bit recently. It’s acting up more than usual, and many users are noticing more errors. While it's designed to agree when you point out mistakes, that doesn't help much if it keeps producing them. It seems that as updates roll out, the reliability can fluctuate, so you're definitely not alone in feeling frustrated with it lately.
The AI is set up to correct itself when prompted, but it doesn’t always fully understand the context of your request. Think of it like a team of models that might not agree with one another, leading to some inconsistencies. If one model recognizes a mistake made by another, it might correct it in real-time, but that doesn't mean the information was accurate in the first place. It's a bit unpredictable, really.
That’s a valid point! Makes me wonder how often it’s guessing successfully versus just repeating back wrong info.
It sounds like you're encountering what’s known as token prediction. Essentially, when you ask something like "find where in this document X is", the AI doesn’t actually search through the text like a human would. Instead, it makes an educated guess based on patterns in the data it was trained on. If you want better results, try prompting it to "summarize this document" instead. This way, it processes the document more thoroughly and generates a more coherent response line by line. Think of it as giving the AI a structured task rather than a vague question.
That’s a great tip! I’ve had better luck by asking for lists or summaries too. It seems to work better when the task is broken down.
Yeah, I’ve noticed that too! It’s like sometimes it’s brilliant and other times it’s just off.