Stop Using Generative AI as a Search Engine

How Many Presidents Have Pardoned Their Relatives? It Turns Out This Is a Tricky Question to Answer

The Trouble with ChatGPT

Following Hunter Biden’s pardon by his father, several commentators have looked to precedents – other pardons of relatives. Case in point: Ana Navarro-Cardenas, a commentator who appears on The View and CNN. On X, Navarro-Cardenas cited a pardon granted by President Woodrow Wilson of his brother-in-law Hunter deButts. That was news to me.

The Official Clemency Records Search

The official clemency records search only works for people who’ve applied since 1989, and a page of clemency recipients by president only stretches back to Richard Nixon. Such a pardon would have been controversial, yet it wasn’t mentioned on the bio page in Wilson’s presidential library. Find a Grave suggests Wilson didn’t even have a brother-in-law with that name – it shows nine brothers-in-law, but not our man Hunter deButts. I can’t prove Wilson didn’t pardon a Hunter deButts; I can only tell you that if he did, that person was not his brother-in-law.

Where Did ChatGPT Get This Stuff?

ChatGPT, it turns out, is a woefully bad way to explore the historical record. When I opened it up and asked, "How many US Presidents have pardoned their relatives?" I got one correct answer: Bill Clinton pardoned Roger Clinton, his half-brother. But alongside that, ChatGPT also told me that George H.W. Bush pardoned his son Neil.

The Pattern of People Relying on ChatGPT

Whatever happened in this case, there’s a running pattern of people relying on ChatGPT or other AI services to provide answers, only to get hallucinations in return. Perhaps you remember earlier this year when a trailer for Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis was pulled because it contained fabricated quotes from critics. A generative AI, not identified, had made them up. In fact, ChatGPT is often "entirely wrong," according to the Columbia Journalism Review.

Conclusion

This is all bad design, of course. Technology that actually serves people takes into account human behavior. Maybe there is a way to make generative AI useful, but in its current state, I feel tremendously sorry for anyone gullible enough to use it as a research tool.

FAQs

Q: What is ChatGPT?
A: ChatGPT is a type of artificial intelligence designed to provide answers to questions and generate text based on the input given.

Q: How accurate is ChatGPT?
A: ChatGPT is often entirely wrong, according to the Columbia Journalism Review. It has been known to provide incorrect information, including fabricated quotes and incorrect facts.

Q: Can I trust ChatGPT as a research tool?
A: No, it is not recommended to use ChatGPT as a research tool due to its tendency to provide incorrect information.

Q: What is the official clemency records search?
A: The official clemency records search is a database that contains information on presidential pardons and commutations. It only works for people who’ve applied since 1989, and a page of clemency recipients by president only stretches back to Richard Nixon.