Enlarge / Has a authorities worker checked all these zeroes and ones floating above the skyline? (credit score: Getty Pictures)
In the event you observe generative AI information in any respect, you are most likely conversant in LLM chatbots’ tendency to “confabulate” incorrect data whereas presenting that data as authoritatively true. That tendency appears poised to trigger some severe issues now {that a} chatbot run by the New York Metropolis authorities is making up incorrect solutions to some vital questions of native legislation and municipal coverage.
NYC’s “MyCity” ChatBot launched as a “pilot” program final October. The announcement touted the ChatBot as a manner for enterprise house owners to “save … money and time by immediately offering them with actionable and trusted data from greater than 2,000 NYC Enterprise webpages and articles on matters equivalent to compliance with codes and laws, accessible enterprise incentives, and finest practices to keep away from violations and fines.”
However a brand new report from The Markup and native nonprofit information website The Metropolis discovered the MyCity chatbot giving dangerously mistaken details about some fairly primary metropolis insurance policies. To quote only one instance, the bot mentioned that NYC buildings “will not be required to just accept Part eight vouchers,” when an NYC authorities information web page says clearly that Part eight housing subsidies are one in all many lawful sources of revenue that landlords are required to just accept with out discrimination. The Markup additionally acquired incorrect data in response to chatbot queries relating to employee pay and work hour laws, in addition to industry-specific data like funeral house pricing.
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