AI Tools: Technology Moves On

[Dude]

If you are still googling to look for information and haven’t migrated to one or more AI Tools, consider picking up one or more of the free or paid AI Tools

Google often shows their searches using Google AI but at the time of this posting is my least likely to use - just see far too much misleading info or inaccuracies especially in the Google AI Overviews which are provided at the top of the search page: be careful of those !

Also I don’t use Chinese AI Tools

I have several AI tools but typically for most routine searches I use current ChatGPT (free version most often)

But pick whatever AI Tools you like and move with the technology - you’ll often find more complete information and is more in-depth with a good AI Tool

Often you will get graphs, charts and tables of information as well as condensed summaries

Think about a book you don’t have time to read, does not work for all types of books but it’s very easy to get condensed summaries of chapters or entire books in some cases (you would not want that for all types of books of course)

Sponsored

 

[Dude]

There are many articles about AI hallucinations, I don’t deny that does happen in some cases

I’ve read those stories as well and may be true on low quality AI tools but in general I don’t think it’s that bad especially with current ChatGPT

However for the AI information I use, I do cross reference and check sources or redo math calculations when the AI info I get back is of material interest to me

I don’t simply accept the AI response as fact and typically I’ll provide this caveat:

Caveat: AI tools like ChatGPT etc. do make errors and use of responses from these tools would need to be cross checked for accuracy if the provided info is of material interest to the user

Don’t simply disregard use of an AI tool as being unwarranted because the tools can make errors or can hallucinate - the technology is evolving and improving

 

[Dude]

Often someone on this Forum will ask for sources for information someone posts - this is a very reasonable request because most of us ask for sources to improve our own knowledge and to be able to cross check someone’s post

How many times have you seen someone post something as a fact but it turns out to be correct only in certain limited circumstances and is not a general fact - without the sources you may not be able to corroborate information and sometimes someone posts something that seems to factual but might be incorrect

Well in general when I post a response generated by an AI Tool, I will typically no longer provide sources or links of information that are provided by the AI Tool - reason is due to the effort involved to gather up the sources

Instead I provide the exact prompt I provided to the AI tool so that you can type it into your own AI Tool and see the response with sources provided

Note: you can enter the exact same prompt into the same AI Tool and get differing responses so be aware when someone posts the output from an AI Tool, you would not see that same output even if you entered in the exact prompt they use. In general this isn’t a problem, the varying output typically isn’t an issue.

 

[Dude]

Unless the sources provided by the AI Tool is a small number, here is why I won’t provide sources:

Each AI Tool can vary on when sources are provided and in what format, what ChatGPT often does is to provide the sources but you have to click each source and there can be multiple sources on every reference - that opens a small window with the source and if it’s multiple sources you have to scroll across to see each source

each source is a link so I’d have to do all the above and copy and paste each link or take screenshots of the specific reference document (name of the doc, its date, page #s, etc)

not gonna do that which is why I provide the instructions of what I asked ChatGPT so anyone can repeat the same as me

if you don’t use ChatGPT or a reasonably good AI tool I can’t help you see the sources

This screenshot shows some sources on a post I made but as I said each has to be opened to see the specific reference, the +1 and +3 on this screenshot are examples of multiple sources on one reference

 

[Dude]

What about inaccuracies and errors you see in responses from an AI Tool?

Some AI Tools like ChatGPT accept corrected input but those corrections (if accepted) apply only to your own current ChatGPT session or to future sessions with ChatGPT if you ask ChatGPT to remember the correction (it’s much more involved than that simple explanation however you can ask your own AI Tool how it handles feedback from you for inaccuracies and errors in a response from the AI Tool)

In addition:

How ChatGPT Can Get Better for Everyone
• User Feedback to OpenAI: When you click thumbs-down or provide written feedback (like saying, “This answer is wrong because…”), OpenAI’s teams can use that to improve future versions of the model through updates and retraining.
• System-Wide Updates: OpenAI periodically releases improved models that incorporate fixes, better reasoning, and updated knowledge.

 

[Mark S.]

ChatGPT is not immune to hallucination:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/31/utah-lawyer-chatgpt-ai-court-brief

I prefer to do my own research rather than have to "fact check" an AI. That just seems like adding another layer to the effort.

 

[Dude]

Good points and I agree

ChatGPT (AI Tools in general) is/are just a tool, in the not too distant past we used tools like encyclopedias and more recently Google and other search engines

If someone wants to stay with what’s familiar that’s ok

AI Tools offer new ways to learn and many other benefits

There is nothing wrong with staying with what is familiar

 

[Mark S.]

ChatGPT (AI Tools in general) is/are just a tool, in the not too distant past we used tools like encyclopedias and more recently Google and other search engines

I think that's the nicest way I've ever been called an "old fart." Thank you for that!

I think AI can be a great tool for certain tasks. I tried it out for a number of things like:

• Developing a training syllabus for new pilot students.
• Developing lesson plans.
• Generating a series of questions you might get asked during an oral examination.
• As an aid in proofreading lengthy documents.
• Etc.

I got frankly astonishing results for some of the above tasks, so I get the value of these tools. I just don't use them for research for the reasons stated.

 

[Major Kong]

ChatGPT is not immune to hallucination:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/31/utah-lawyer-chatgpt-ai-court-brief

I prefer to do my own research rather than have to "fact check" an AI. That just seems like adding another layer to the effort.

introduction of AI
ability to reason focused heavily on AI crutch
witness the devolution of the human brain
humans start to grow tails
return to monkey
Bronco Sport glove box filled with bananas

 

[Dude]

introduction of AI
ability to reason focused heavily on AI crutch
witness the devolution of the human brain
humans start to grow tails
return to monkey
Bronco Sport glove box filled with bananas

Haha nice joke and loss of reasoning is possible I suppose

More likely reasoning will be improved if the tools are correctly used
The depth and clarity of AI responses offer new avenues of thought to explore - I often get unexpected information heading down new exploratory paths

Albert Einstein stated, "Never memorize something that you can look up." This quote emphasizes the importance of focusing mental energy on critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving rather than rote memorization of easily accessible information.

Sponsored