Trust, but verify

So my son bought a bunch of updated gear for our August backpacking trip. New boots, a day pack, some sun-protective clothing, etc.

He says to me: I think I want to take a good day hike, a real hike, somewhere that I can go and break in my gear and see how I feel after a 8-12 mile hike.

I said: great idea, that sounds worth doing.

This being the modern age, Dan goes off to ChatGPT and starts a conversation. He describes the goal of his hike, some parameters about where it needs to be so that he can accomplish it in a single day, etc.

ChatGPT thinks for a while, and gives him back a detailed description of a hike it's found, with lots of details about the trail profile, the distance and elevation, the points of interest along the way, what he needs to bring, etc.

ChatGPT includes a very detailed and precise set of driving directions to get to the trailhead. It starts by driving up to Truckee, then getting onto CA-89 north towards Sierraville, then taking a side road, then a side-side-road, then a Forest Service road, and then he'll find the trailhead. 4.1 miles down this road, 1.7 miles after this turn, etc.

Dan sends me the ChatGPT report and says: This looks great! Just what I was looking for, what do you think?

I look through the notes, really impressed by the detail and presentation. I bring up some maps on my computer and start following the driving directions to see where it's taking him.

About 30 minutes later, completely stumped, I get back to Dan, and tell him: I don't think this place exists! I don't think there's such a trailhead; I don't think there's such a lake; I don't think there's such a waterfall. I can't find them on the map, and the road names don't match up.

Some time passes.

Dan gets back to me: Yeah, I was afraid of that. I challenged ChatGPT on this, and it admitted that the trail didn't exist, and it had invented it. I'm going to go on a different hike that my friend takes regularly.

Thank goodness Dan is sensible (and sensibly cynical about these Machines of Loving Grace).

Trust, but verify.

My father was fascinated by the ideas and the activity around Artificial Intelligence. One of the last things that he and I did together was to sit for hours with my son and listen to Dan describe his adventures in the land of AI.

My father was never afraid of change, and was always eager to hear about what was coming next.

But he was realistic, a trait which arose from being born in the depths of the Great Depression, deepened by his innate wisdom and his decades of experience.

Bring me flying cars and wondrous new medical discoveries; let me bask in the ever-changing miracles they create.

But, still, I will feel compelled to verify.