Morning Distribution for Friday, February 24, 2023

A [FiveThirtyEight]( email [Morning Distribution]( Friday, February 24, 2023 Your daily briefing from FiveThirtyEight --------------------------------------------------------------- The Morning Story [0224_POLLA-4×3]( [ChatGPT Thinks Americans Are Excited About AI. Most Are Not.]( By [Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux]( and [Curtis Yee]( Before you ask: ChatGPT did not write this article. I will admit that I did ask the AI chatbot to write an 800-word article in FiveThirtyEight’s style about current public opinion on AI chatbots like ChatGPT, but our collaboration disintegrated amid editorial differences. (If you’re curious what ChatGPT had to say, though, you can read its take at the bottom of the page.) Apart from committing the cardinal sin of failing to produce polling numbers until the sixth paragraph, ChatGPT’s take on how Americans see it and other chatbots was suspiciously positive. “A 2021 survey by the Pew Research Center found that 71% of Americans believe it is generally a good thing for society if robots and computers become more capable and sophisticated, while only 27% believe this would be a bad thing,” ChatGPT wrote. “This suggests that people are increasingly open to the idea of AI and see it as a potential source of innovation and progress.” You should only abandon FiveThirtyEight for chatbot journalism if you don’t mind some made-up data. I was unable to find the 2021 Pew survey that ChatGPT was referencing, and when I reached out, Pew’s media team was similarly stumped about where the question came from. (ChatGPT’s tendency to make up facts is [a “core challenge” for the technology]( according to its chief technology officer.) In fact, [a 2021 Pew survey]( on the topic that I did unearth suggested the opposite. When asked about the increased use of artificial intelligence in daily life, only 18 percent of respondents said they were more excited than concerned, while 37 percent said they were more concerned than excited and 45 percent said they were equally concerned and excited. This is consistent with what recent polls actually show: Americans generally don’t trust AI — particularly in high-stakes situations, like medical care — and they’re fearful that AI-powered search engines could be inaccurate and biased. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Weekly Listen [Play]( [Politics Podcast: Some Republicans Are Souring On Aid To Ukraine]( [FiveThirtyEight] [View in browser]( [ABC News]( [Unsubscribe]( Our mailing address: FiveThirtyEight, 47 West 66th Street, New York, NY 10023.