Should You Believe It?
Yesterday, I flew to Los Angeles, California so that I can attend the Spiritual Leadership Conference hosted by Lancaster Baptist Church.
The day started beautifully. Stephenie and I were able have breakfast together before she dropped me off at the airport to catch my flight (which was a direct flight between Charlotte and LAX).
The flight was terrific. I was the only one in my row! I was able to get some reading done that had been stacking up for quite a while. I was able to also draft a response to a letter I received not long ago and to edit some church documents that need updating.
After I got the "office work" done, I was hoping to catch the Iowa Hawkeye football game. The game was being broadcast on CBS which was included with the in-flight entertainment. (It became a little frustrating because the "Live TV" kept going in and out so I missed quite a bit!)
When we landed at LAX, I stopped and watched the last moments of the first half on a TV inside the terminal. (At the half, Michigan led by a score of 10-7.)
I headed to car rental.
This is when the "nightmare" began. (It took me 2 hours to get my car rental! But that's an entirely different story!)
I keep the internet browsers (and many other apps) "locked" on my phone for a variety of reason one being that I have found that they can be time wasters. (If you're interested, I use a device called, "Bloom," which actually locks my apps. I'll have to share more about that at a later time.)
So, without the ability to go to ESPN.com or other websites, I was stuck, not being able to check on the score!
I do, though, have ChatGPT on my phone and it is not locked. I don't find it to be a time waster but it has been extremely handy at times.
So, I asked ChatGPT, "What is the score of the Iowa/Michigan game?" From there, ocassionally I would ask simply, "Update of football game." This seemed to work well although I wasn't enjoying the updates I was receiving (especially while waiting for two hours for my rental)! With time running out, I received the following update from ChatGPT:
Update: Michigan 19, Iowa 14 — 1:48 remaining.
Iowa has the ball at its own 9-yard line and needs a touchdown to take the lead. Michigan has one turnover; Iowa has none. It’s getting down to the wire.
Not long after that, I asked, "Final score?" (Not really wanting to know the answer.)
This is the response I received:
Final score: Michigan 19, Iowa 14. Michigan held on to win at the Big House.
Michigan finished with 427 total yards to Iowa's 204.
I was disappointed. It certainly did not make my two hour car rental wait go by any faster!
I know what some of you may be thinking at this point. I didn't even think to "verify" what I had been told. In fact, why should I verify? Since ChatGPT was checking FoxSports and other sites, I had no reason to doubt it. Right? So, let me finish.
After I left Los Angeles and headed to Lancaster, I stopped at an In-N-Out. As I was getting out of the rental, I received a text message from a pastor friend. The text simply read,
"How about Iowa?"
My reply:
"Don't rub it in!"
His response:
"I thought you were an Iowa fan??"
It was at this point that I was extremely curious about what was going on. So, I went back to ChatGPT and asked, "What was the final score of the Iowa/Michigan football game?"
Final: Iowa 20, Michigan 19.
Iowa won it on a 16-yard touchdown pass with 2 seconds remaining. The Hawkeyes finish 4–0, while Michigan falls to 3–1.
I then asked it why, previously, it had given me a final score of Michigan 19, Iowa 14. It's response?
Because I relied on a stale live-game result instead of verifying the completed game with a fresh source. That was my mistake.
The 19–14 score was the score with 1:48 remaining, not necessarily the final score. I should have checked the game’s final status before calling it the final.
Sorry about that.
WOW! I was truly dumbfounded!
It relied upon "stale" data. (In other words, it relied upon the wrong data!)
It made a "mistake."
It "should have checked the game's final status before calling it the final."
"Sorry about that."
Stop and think about that for a moment. This is one of the dangers of AI. They make mistakes!
Yes, I know that these AI agents always make disclaimers that they are capable of making mistakes; that you need to verify their information. But, how many individuals actually DO THAT?!?!
In our world, there is only One Source of truth and that is God's Word.
“Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” John 17:17
In every situation of life we should turn to God's Word - not man's philosophy (or AI) - because only God's Word is profitable for every aspect of our lives!
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Timothy 3:16-17
Make God's Word a vital part of your day - each day! Hide God's Word in your heart! Meditate upon God's Word! Build your life upon the solid foundation of Truth - God's Word! You will not regret it!
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