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What Does the em GPT /em in ChatGPT Stand For?

Slate

Please enable Javascript in your browser to view Slate interactives. Slate Crossword: Get Too Old for This S--, Perhaps? (Six Letters) Which President Was Largely Blamed by for the Financial Panic of 1837? Slate is published by The Slate Group, a Graham Holdings Company. Slate relies on advertising to support our journalism. If you value our work, please disable your ad blocker.


A.I. Was Supposed to "Revolutionize" Work. In Many Offices, It's Only Creating Chaos.

Slate

Work A.I. Was Supposed to "Revolutionize" Work. Although we've been told that A.I. is poised to "revolutionize" work, at the moment it seems to be doing something else entirely: spreading chaos. All throughout American offices, A.I. platforms like ChatGPT are delivering answers that sound right even when they aren't, transcription tools that turn meetings into works of fiction, and documents that look polished on the surface but are riddled with factual errors and missing nuance. If you've read anything about A.I., you know that it sometimes "hallucinates" facts that simply aren't true, yet asserts them with so much confidence that its lies don't get caught. Clearly, there's more work to do on this emerging technology, but in the meantime, it's ravaging some workplaces.


The Squirrels Keep Beating My Family's Expensive "Squirrel-Proof" Bird Feeders. I Figured Out Why.

Slate

Like a true Midwesterner, my dad has been feuding with the squirrels in his backyard for years. Every few months, he comes home with a new "squirrel-proof" bird feeder, each more expensive than the previous, each one promising to finally do the trick. My mom rolls her eyes at the pile of hardware-store receipts and discarded feeders. I shake my head watching this all play out--knowing full well those feeders never stood a chance. Walk down the birdseed aisle in any hardware store and you'll find an entire product category promising "squirrel-proof" solutions.


It Was Notorious for Getting Things Wrong. Now It's Assisting Your Doctor.

Slate

Users Like It or Not, A.I. Is Part of Health Care Now There's a key thing to keep in mind if you ask a chatbot for medical advice. Asking a general-use chatbot for health help used to seem like a shot in the dark--just two years ago, a study found that ChatGPT could diagnose only 2 in 10 pediatric cases correctly. Among Google Gemini's early recommendations were eating one small rock a day and using glue to help cheese stick to pizza . Last year, a nutritionist ended up hospitalized after taking ChatGPT's advice to replace salt in his diet with sodium bromide. Now A.I. companies have begun releasing health-specific chatbots for both consumers and health care professionals.


The Hiring Market Is Truly Terrible Right Now. Job Seekers Are Starting to Do Something Unthinkable to Get Hired.

Slate

The Industry I Offered to Take Less Money to Get Hired. In a rough hiring market, a growing number of younger, female job seekers have begun "lowballing" their salary expectations. I know this because I did it myself. If it feels impossible to get hired in today's job market, it's because it is. Greenhouse, a hiring software firm, estimates that when someone applies for a job, they now have a 0.4 percent chance of being hired--meaning you have a better chance of getting into Harvard than securing employment.


Verizon Outage Knocks Out US Mobile Service, Including Some 911 Calls

WIRED

A major Verizon outage appeared to impact customers across the United States starting around noon ET on Wednesday. Calls to Verizon customers from other carriers may also be impacted. Customers of the telecom giant Verizon began reporting cellular outages around the United States beginning around noon ET on Wednesday, saying they could not complete calls and did not have access to mobile data. Verizon broadband internet customers are also reporting issues. AT&T and T-Mobile customers also began reporting service outages in the same timeframe, however these reports may be linked to the Verizon outage.