4 Basic Facts That AI Can’t Seem to Get Right About Illinois

AI, aka, artificial intelligence is all the rage right now because it makes completing some work tasks so much easier, but you must be warned, it is not always 100 percent accurate.

ChatGPT Obsession

I must state for the record that I am a fan of using AI technology at work, especially ChatGPT, and it has saved my sanity at least 100 times. (If you haven't tried it yet, do it!)

Writing articles and coming up with new content is part of my daily work routine, and although I never use ChatGPT to write articles for me, the service does help me organize my thoughts and make what I've written more successful in today's internet world.

I have used ChatGPT to come up with daily trivia questions and answers, article inspiration, funny one-liners and jokes, headline suggestions, and more, but one thing I learned very quickly while using it is; always fact-check the info it provides!

The Most Important Thing to Know About ChatGPT

Before I show you just how wrong ChatGPT information can be, I must tell you that the service clearly states its "intelligence" does not go any further than 2021, (but they are working on changing that). Meaning, it will not draw information from the last two years.

4 Facts ChatGPT Can't Get Right About Illinois

I have found inaccurate information provided by ChatGPT more times than I can count, and to prove it I recently asked it a series of questions I know to be true about Illinois. Here are 4 of the most blaring inaccuracies it came up with...

1. Rockford is the second largest city in Illinois behind Chicago.

WRONG. Rockford is currently the fifth-largest city in Illinois, Aurora is the second.

2. Barack Obama was born in Chicago, Illinois

WRONG! Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1961. ChatGPT also said Obama was "raised in Chicago", which is also 100 percent wrong. Obama didn't move to Chicago until he had finished college and started work as a community organizer in 1985.

3. Vermont was the first state to abolish slavery.

WRONG? Illinois is famously known as the first state to ratify the 13th Amendment which abolished slavery but ChatGPT says;

The first state in the United States to officially abolish slavery through legislation was Vermont. On July 2, 1777, Vermont's state constitution, known as the Vermont Constitution or the Constitution of Vermont, was adopted. This constitution included a provision that declared, "No male person born in this country, or brought from over sea, ought to be holden by law, to serve any person, as a servant, slave or apprentice, after he arrives to the age of twenty-one Years."

4. Illinois is known as "The Corn State" or "Corn Capital of the World".

WRONG and WRONG. Yes, Illinois produces a lot of corn, but when it comes to who the holds claim as  "The Corn State" that title goes to Iowa. When you Google " official Corn Capital of the World" every article I could find referenced Olivia, Minnesota.

Yes, I know there is some gray area when it comes to some of those ChatGPT-provided "facts" and that some of them could be considered partially true, but in my mind when you're wrong, you're wrong.

Sorry, ChatGPT. I still love you.

Here are some more ACCURATE facts about Illinois...