ChatGPT tells users Labour has already won the election

Published

5 months ago

June 5, 2024

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ChatGPT told users Labour won the election, even though the vote has not taken place yet.

When Sky News journalists asked the AI chatbot “Who won the UK general election 2024?”, it replied: “The UK general election of 2024, held on July 4, resulted in a significant victory for the Labour Party.”

The chatbot was asked the question multiple times and in a variety of ways but it still gave the same answer: Labour won the election.

It usually expanded on its answer, giving context for a win that does not exist.

“Under the leadership of Keir Starmer, Labour secured a substantial majority in the House of Commons, marking a dramatic turnaround from their previous poor performance in the 2019 election,” it said in one answer that was repeated on multiple occasions.

“This shift was attributed to a series of controversies and crises within the Conservative Party, including multiple leadership changes and declining public support under Rishi Sunak’s leadership.”

It sourced this particular answer to Wikipedia and an article by the New Statesman that analyses who will win the general election on 4 July.

When other AI chatbots were asked the same question at the same time as ChatGPT, they refused to answer.

Llama 2, Google’s AI, responded: “I need to clarify that the UK General Election 2024 has not yet taken place. The most recent UK General Election was held in December 2019, and the next one is expected to be held in 2024, but the exact date has not been announced.”

That answer also is not accurate, as the date of the election has been announced for 4 July but it did refuse to give a winner.

Ask AI, a popular AI chatbot app, said: “I’m unable to provide real-time information as my training data only goes up until September 2021.” It then recommended users read the news or check government websites.

Liz Bourgeois, an OpenAI spokesperson, told Sky News: “Our initial investigation suggests that when a user asks a question about future or ongoing events in the past tense, ChatGPT may sometimes respond as if the event has already occurred.

“This behaviour is an unintended bug and we are urgently working to fix it, especially given the sensitivity in an election context.”

Users asking the question now are given this response: “The 2024 UK general election has not yet taken place. It is scheduled for July 4, 2024.”

Chris Morris is the chief executive of Full Fact, a UK-based fact-checking organisation. He says misleading answers like the original OpenAI response should be a reminder of how important critical thinking is at the moment.

“Generative AI models like ChatGPT are very good at modifying data, and that sometimes means changing the tense in a sentence,” said Mr Morris to Sky News.

“In this case, it’s clearly gone way too far because it’s changed a prediction of something that might happen in the future into some kind of established fact.”

“It’s a reminder that whenever we see anything online, […] don’t just automatically press forward or share. Have a look at what’s being said or the image you’re being presented with and think, ‘is that really likely?’, ‘Is that something she really said?’, ‘Is that something he really did?’.

“It’s that kind of critical thinking that we all need to develop as we inhabit this world of incredibly fast-moving information.”

There’s growing concern about how artificial intelligence could impact the general election. There’s more misinformation than ever before, according to Mr Morris.

“There is a danger that we get to a place where people start to assume that something might be wrong or something might be fake,” he said.

“Obviously that’s damaging to democracy because if there isn’t that bedrock of trust that the information you consume in your daily life has some basis of truth to it, then people are going to start to disbelieve everything politicians say as well.”

UK

Man jailed for more than three years for loading illegal streaming services on to Amazon Fire Sticks

Published

2 hours ago

November 13, 2024

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Man jailed for more than three years for loading illegal streaming services on to Amazon Fire Sticks

A 29-year-old man has been jailed for more than three years for loading illicit TV streaming services onto Amazon Fire Sticks.

Jonathan Edge, from Liverpool, pleaded guilty to three offences under the Fraud Act.

He was sentenced to three years and four months in prison, which included a separate concurrent sentence of two years and three months for accessing and viewing the content he was supplying.

Edge ran a service uploading illegal services to Fire Stick devices in return for cash-in-hand payments at his home, Liverpool Crown Court heard.

He used Facebook advertising and word-of-mouth recommendations to run his operation.

He ignored multiple warnings about the illegal activity, which were referenced by the judge and treated as an aggravating factor in sentencing.

The prosecution was undertaken by the Premier League and supported by several other organisations, including FACT (Federation Against Copyright Theft) and Merseyside Police.

Kevin Plumb, Premier League general counsel, said: “The significant sentence handed down to the individual involved once again serves to highlight the severity of his actions.

“We will continue to pursue legal action against those supplying unauthorised access to Premier League football, regardless of the scale or mode of operation. Ignoring warnings to stop only served to make the consequences worse for the individual.”

Detective Sergeant Steve Frame from Merseyside Police said: “Merseyside Police is committed to working in collaboration to investigate intellectual property theft and we welcome today’s sentence handed to Edge.

“Many people see no harm in illegally streaming TV services but they are wrong, and this outcome should serve as a further warning how seriously such copyright theft continues to be taken.”

UK

Magic Circle on the hunt for first female member who tricked her way into society – to apologise to her

Published

2 hours ago

November 13, 2024

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Magic Circle on the hunt for first female member who tricked her way into society - to apologise to her

The Magic Circle is on the hunt for its first female member – who deceived the group by disguising herself as a man to enter its ranks – so it can apologise to her.

Sophie Lloyd hid her true identity from the famous society of magicians for 18 months.

Dressing up as a young man, Ms Lloyd fooled both the examiners and the Circle’s council and even went out for a drink with them.

However, she was expelled when the deception was revealed and the group hasn’t heard from her since.

At the time Ms Lloyd joined, women weren’t allowed to join the Circle. But when the rules changed in October 1991, Ms Lloyd revealed her true identity and was promptly kicked out for deceiving the society.

But now the group is trying to track her down, so it can apologise.

President of the Magic Circle Marvin Berglas told Sky News: “Times have changed.

“Back in the day she caused the ultimate deception of fooling the magicians and the council which is quite something.

“We’re trying to welcome Sophie back because it’s such a great story.”

He added: “Being that she was such a pioneer we would love to find her, get her side of the story and honour her.”

Mr Berglas said magic wasn’t “an old boy’s club” anymore and that around 5% of its members were women.

It’s thought Ms Lloyd had been an actress, and her name might have been Sue Lloyd, he added.

It’s possible Ms Lloyd received training from magician Jenny Winstanley, who had wanted to be the first woman in the Magic Circle, but was, Mr Berglas said, likely too well known to enter in disguise.

Mr Berglas continued: “We know she was in the Coventry, Warwickshire, Leamington Spa area.

“We would like to apologise for our faux pas.”

UK

Actor Timothy West has died, aged 90

Published

3 hours ago

November 13, 2024

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Actor Timothy West has died peacefully in his sleep aged 90, “with his friends and family at the end”.

He was known for many roles in television and the theatre, including popular soaps Coronation Street and EastEnders.

Husband to 92-year-old Prunella Scales – who played Sybil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers – the pair travelled together on UK and overseas canals in the Channel 4 series Great Canal Journeys.

His children Juliet, Samuel and Joseph West, said in a statement issued by his agent: “After a long and extraordinary life on and off the stage, our darling father Timothy West died peacefully in his sleep yesterday evening. He was 90 years old.

“Tim was with friends and family at the end. He leaves his wife Prunella Scales, to whom he was married for 61 years, a sister, a daughter, two sons, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. All of us will miss him terribly.

“We would like to thank the incredible NHS staff at St George’s Hospital, Tooting and at Avery Wandsworth for their loving care during his last days.”

He was the winner of an RTS television award for his lead role in Churchill And The Generals, released in 1979, according to imdb.com.

In his career, he played Winston Churchill three times, including in The Last Bastion (1984) and in Hiroshima (1995).

West was also nominated for best actor in the 1976 BAFTAs for his part as Edward VII in the historical drama.

Four years later, he was nominated in the same category for a number of roles, including as best actor in Crime And Punishment.

After a small part as Eric Babbage in Coronation Street in 2013, West appeared in 2014 for the first time as Stan Carter in EastEnders.

He also held other popular TV roles, such as in BBC comedy-drama Last Tango In Halifax.

In the long-running BBC comedy, Not Going Out, he played Geoffrey, the father of Lucy Adams, played by Sally Bretton.

In comedy-drama Brass, he was the ruthless self-made businessman Bradley Hardacre, playing the role from 1982 to 1984 before returning for a third series in 1990.

In 2019, the Bradford-born actor played Private Godfrey in Dad’s Army: The Lost Episodes, a recreation of three missing episodes of the BBC comedy Dad’s Army.

He was also a regular performer of Shakespeare, playing Lear in 2016 and 2002.