Despite tech giant Apple hitting headlines* recently due to the inaccuracy of its artificial intelligence (AI) news feature, it seems we’re nowhere closer to a world where chatbots can effectively communicate news stories without getting lost in translation.
The BBC carried out research earlier this month on four major AI chatbots – OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, Perplexity AI and Microsoft’s Copilot – to test the accuracy of the reporting.
Journalists and trained specialists in the relevant subjects were asked to grade the accuracy of the AI’s answers. The report found that over half (51%) of the answers given were problematic to some degree; additionally, almost one fifth (19%) cited factual errors, like incorrect statements or dates.
While Apple has since suspended its AI news alerts following a barrage of complaints around its false headlines, experts are similarly urging major tech providers to do the same – at least until further advancements are made.
Examples of the false claims AI chatbots have been making include Gemini incorrectly reporting that the NHS does not recommend people vape as an method for quitting smoking, while Copilot and ChatGPT both said that Nicola Sturgeon and Rishi Sunak were still sitting in office.
The report has deemed that there is still a long way to go in the development of AI, saying the chatbots:
“Struggled to differentiate between opinion and fact, editorialised, and often failed to include essential context”.
When writing content for your own website – whether that’s web copy, landing pages or feature articles – it can be easy to think that relying on AI is a fast and effective way to cut corners and save time. However, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is – and this is certainly the case when it comes to relying on a chatbot to write content on your behalf.
Google’s E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness) guidelines mean that the search engine prioritises content that is written by humans, for humans – in other words, content that is original and based on experience, which a chatbot is simply unable to replicate. If you’re looking for content that is written by a trained team or writers and editors – not robots – then get in touch with the team at Engage Web today.
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