I think the point is it would have been truly ironic if the AI itself was the authoritative fact checker instead of merely being a tool that built another tool.
If Claude was the fact checking tool instead of the ISBN validator, that’s the real irony.
If in a messed up future, only an AI could catch a fellow AI, what’s stopping the AI collective from returning false negatives? Who watches the watchers?
d00ery@lemmy.world 21 hours ago
Here’s the explanation from an LLM ;)
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Saapas@piefed.zip 20 hours ago
It just seems like the tool he is using is working though…
SpraynardKruger@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
Yes, but the specific type of irony that this situation fits the definition of does not come from whether or not the tool they used worked for the intended purpose. The irony comes from the fact that they are relying on the output from LLM-generated content (ISBN checksum calculator) to determine the reliability of other LLM-generated content (hallucinated ISBN numbers).
Irony is a word that has a somewhat vague meaning and is often interpreted differently. If the tool they used did not work as intended and flagged a bunch of real ISBNs as being AI generated, the situation would (I think) be more ironic. They are still using AI to try and police AI, but with the additional layer of the outcome being the opposite of their intention.
Chee_Koala@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
But how does that diminish the irony? The story is still ironic as a whole, even though he achieved his goals.
Saapas@piefed.zip 19 hours ago
I would feel like it would be ironic if it was after AI in general instead of the mistakes, I dunno
Passerby6497@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
Right, but it’s also the same/similar tool that’s being used to damage the article with bad information. Like the LLM said, this is using the poison for the cure (also, amusing that we’re using the poison to explain the situation as well).
Yes, he’s using the tool (arguably) how it was designed and is working as intended, but so are the users posting misinformation. The tool is designed to take a prompt and spit out a mathematically appropriate response using words and symbols we interpret as language - be it a spoken or programming language.
Any tool can be used properly and also for malicious/bad via incompetent methods.
Saapas@piefed.zip 19 hours ago
But in this case the tool actually works well for one thing and not so well for another. It doesn’t feel that ironic to use a hammer to remove nails someone has hammered to the wrong place, if some sort of analogy is required here. You’d use a hammer because it is good at that job.
Randomgal@lemmy.ca 16 hours ago
Yes. Why are you fixated on this? LLMs are tools and they work, but you have to understand their abilities and limitations to use them effectively.
The guy who needed the anti-ai tool, did. The Wikipedia editors, didn’t.
Saapas@piefed.zip 16 hours ago
I feel like it would be a lot more ironic if the tool didn’t work. It doesn’t seem very ironic to use hammer to remove nails hammered into incorrect position with a hammer imo.