THE WISDOM FUND: News & Views
March 6, 2023
The Wisdom Fund

9/11: ChatGPT Answers Not Always Valid

ChatGPT is amazing but fails to apply first principles thinking when that is required

by Enver Masud

"First principles thinking requires . . . shift in thinking that discards conventional wisdom, cuts through the dogma and questions our own beliefs."

First principles thinking went into the writing of "9/11 Unveiled" -- available free on the internet. Drafts are also available in Arabic and Chinese (publishers invited).

ChatGPT fails to apply first principles thinking in answering questions about the 9/11 "attack on America." When first principles thinking is not required ChatGPT can be amazing.

Regarding the the 9/11 "attack on America" ChatGPT concludes:

The mainstream news media is often regarded as a valuable source of information and analysis because it is typically staffed by professional journalists who are trained to adhere to ethical standards of accuracy, objectivity, and impartiality. Additionally, mainstream news organizations generally have significant resources and access to information that may not be available to smaller or independent media outlets.
ChatGPT conclusions are based neither on scientific method nor on first principles:
ChatGPT states "mainstream news media is often regarded as a valuable source of information and analysis". This is sometimes true but often mainstream news media is either uninformed or engaging in propaganda.

ChatGPT states that it bases its conclusion on media reports because mainstream news is "staffed by professional journalists who are trained to adhere to ethical standards of accuracy, objectivity, and impartiality." Training is helpful but results matter more.

ChatGPT states "mainstream news organizations generally have significant resources". Usually true but the availability of resources does not necessarily lead to good results.

ChatGPT states mainstream news organizations have "access to information that may not be available to smaller or independent media outlets." Usually true but mainstream reports do not begin to match the hard facts reflected in reports from experts, books by the late Prof. David Ray Griffin, and in "9/11 Unveiled".

Conventional wisdom cannot begin to tell us what really happened on September 11, 2001. ChatGPT's answers continue to rely on conventional wisdom. But Artificial Intelligence (AI) based systems are advancing fast and will be a part of our lives whether we choose to use them or not.



The First Principles Method Explained by Elon Musk, Innomind, December 4, 2013

Vinita Bansal, "First Principles Thinking: The Most Powerful Way To Think," techtello.com, February 20, 2020

Enver Masud, "Q&A With ChatGPT About The 9/11 Attack on America," The Wisdom Fund, March 5, 2023

John P Nelson, "ChatGPT Still Needs Humans," consortiumnews.com, August 18, 2023

The Impact of chatGPT: Capstone talk with Dr Stephen Wolfram, MIT Dept of Physics, August 4, 2023

Mustafa Suleyman et al, "The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-First Century's Greatest Dilemma," Random House Audio, September 5, 2023

Scientists warn of AI collapse, Sabine Hossenfelder, January 29, 2024

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