Author Archives: bhaggart

New from me: Truth-Agnostic Chatbots Show the Need for a Search Alternative

Posted on March 13, 2023 by bhaggart

Over at CIGI. Is it a problem that search engine companies, whose only job is to return information that people can trust and use, have hitched their wagon to a technology that produces falsehoods? Yes. Yes it is. If companies … Continue reading →

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New(ish) from me: Tech world sees trust as a weakness not a glue

Posted on March 13, 2023 by bhaggart

Over at the Toronto Star, I discuss the question of trust and tech, focused on (wait for it…) Large Language Models and ChatGPT. Far too many of the more-optimistic takes on chatbots, say, how they will help people better express … Continue reading →

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The three pillars supporting the chatbot craze

Posted on February 17, 2023 by bhaggart

Comment of the day, courtesy of Eevee on Mastodon: remarkable to watch the curve of computing go from “it will do exactly, precisely what you ask of if” to “here’s a few heuristics for less well-defined problems” to “self-driving is … Continue reading →

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Why it’s a mistake to compare calculators to ChatGPT

Posted on January 31, 2023 by bhaggart

Courtesy of one of my morning papers, a discussion of how Canadian universities are reacting to ChatGPT, which includes this quote from University of Calgary Associate Professor of Education Sarah Elaine Eaton: “There’s a complete moral panic and technological panic … Continue reading →

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New from me: Unlike with academics and reporters, you can’t check when ChatGPT’s telling the truth

Posted on January 31, 2023 by bhaggart

Over at The Conversation. Please do check it out. Looking at the comments (protip: never look at the comments), I think it’s important to clarify that my point isn’t that you can trust journalists or academics because they’re academics or … Continue reading →

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