I recently had an interesting discussion with a friend about the capabilities and limitations of large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT. One aspect we explored was the issue of AI hallucination - i.e. when an LLM generates convincing text that sounds plausible but contains false or imaginary details not grounded in facts. For example, if prompted to write about the first American woman astronaut, an LLM might fabricate details rather than accurately identifying Sally Ride.
Why does this happen? LLMs are trained on limited data and aim to produce fluent text, not 100% accuracy. Their statistical nature means they'll sometimes generate false information. Lack of real-world knowledge is also a factor.
The dangers are obvious - misinformation in areas like medicine or law could have serious consequences, and in fact, there is a recent story of a lawyer using an LLM to prepare a court filing, inadvertently referencing fake cases (fortunately the court caught this prior to the case proceeding).
Clearly, better techniques are needed to detect and reduce hallucinations. Promising solutions researchers are exploring include ideas like:
Human Feedback + Reinforcement Learning (HFRL) - using people to evaluate and improve responses.
Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) - leveraging external data sources to improve quality of response.
Causal Modeling - providing additional context on cause and effect to improve model understanding of real-world situations.
A multi-pronged approach combining several techniques will likely be needed to maximize accuracy. Quality control is still essential even with improvements.
Bottom line: the potential of LLMs is exciting, but hallucination remains a major hurdle. Ongoing research to promote creativity while reducing false information points the way forward. Understanding and mitigating the risks will allow us to tap the full benefits these models can provide.What are your thoughts on AI and hallucination? As practitioners, how do we ensure that our business partners are fully aware of and prepared to deal with this challenge?
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