Ever asked your smart assistant a question and thought it was channelling a drunk friend at trivia night?
Let's demystify why your AI buddy might think 15 plus 18 equals 42!
Why it matters
Small business owners are diving headfirst into AI to streamline operations, amp up efficiency, and keep up with the competition.
But AI hiccups—affectionately called hallucinations—are cropping up.
Knowing whether AI is drunk on data or just bad at math impacts strategic decisions and operational flow.
The big picture
LLMs like ChatGPT are statistical wizards of words, but even Merlin had his off days.
These models predict the next word based on their training data, sort of like predicting movie sequels.
And sometimes, well, they launch into creative improvisations, spitting out confident but fictional facts.
By the numbers
- In a 2023 study, ChatGPT was caught daydreaming, providing inaccurate info in 52% of responses to programming questions [(Purdue University, 2023)].
- 75% of business leaders are losing sleep over AI's hallucinations [(KPMG, 2023)].
Overheard at the water cooler
"Hey, I asked my AI consultant to audit the accounts, and it suggested I invest in unicorn farms. That doesn't even sound like a good hobby, let alone business advice!"
Yes, but
The new OpenAI o1 model promises smoother reasoning, like a pinot noir of prediction, but it won't cork AI creativity runs wild.
Tech wizards still need human oversight to keep these digital assistants on the straight and narrow.
The bottom line
Understanding and leveraging AI is like hosting a dinner party with a brilliant yet unpredictable guest.
Keep the hilarity at bay by ensuring it's well-supervised, and you’ll have a smashing success for your business.
