You can't trust AI! Lee Thompson of Madness is alive and kicking, contrary to what Google has to say!

 On Saturday night, I was watching Madness at Butlins as part of the House of Fun weekender. I am mates with the sax player Lee Thompson as well as his sons Daley and Kye. A friend who went with us asked me how many kids he has. I said I thought the nunber was three. She decided to google it and the Google AI search confirmed it. It also confirmed a rather more disturbing fact. It informed her that Lee had passed away in 2024, but his legacy lives on. 

Now given that we'd just seen him perform on stage, this was quite disturbing news. Had Suggs roped in a doppleganger and not told anyone. In truth, there will only ever be one Lee Thompson. I have no idea how such a stupid AI algorythm could get it so wrong. I was chatting with a mate, who is an AI guru yesterday and they explained the problem. If someone starts a malicious rumour for a popular personality, it will get shared thousands of times and get millions of hits. AI engines see this and pick up on it. As people often realise immediately the information is a load of old cobblers, the truth is not propogated in the same way, so the false rumour appears to be the legitimate story. Of course, AI is developing all of the time. The people who work out the algorythms will get better at getting things right, but the sad truth is that if someone posts a fictitious story on Twitter that gets massivey circulated, current AI I models can get spoofed into making all sorts of nonsense up. As often such things trends, AI will pick up on it as people are wildly asking and will see the latest info. Now of course, my explanation is a very simplified view of what AI does and how it learns. But it is clear to me, as someone who sometimes uses AI to research blogs, you have to be really careful. 

There was a fascinating article in the Guardian yesterday about AI, by Robert Booth. It seems that there is a South Sea Island boom in AI stocks. We all know what happens next, don't we? 

BTW, just for fun, I asked AI if Robert Booth was the last President of the USA. This was the answer it gave me

AI Overview

No, Robert Booth is not the last President of the USA

; he is a fictional character from the Judge Dredd comic series who is a villainous former president. The last real President of the USA was Joe Biden, who succeeded Donald Trump. 

• Robert L. Booth: A fictional character in the Judge Dredd comic series who serves as the main antagonist in the "Origins" story arc.
• Fictional role: In the comic, he is the last President of the United States and is responsible for the Atomic Wars of 2070.
• Real-world President: The most recent President of the United States is Joe Biden. 

So there you go, I am sure Robert will be pleased to learn that AI thinks that he is a fictional character.