ChatGPT's Citation Woes: A Dismal Outlook for Publishers?
Matilda
ChatGPT's Citation Woes: A Dismal Outlook for Publishers?
Publishers beware: a recent study by the Tow Center for Digital Journalism paints a concerning picture of how ChatGPT, the popular AI chatbot by OpenAI, handles citations for news content. The findings suggest that regardless of a publisher's relationship with OpenAI, their content faces a high risk of inaccurate attribution within ChatGPT. This raises serious concerns about the reliability of ChatGPT as a source and the potential damage it can cause to publishers' reputation and traffic. Key Findings of the Tow Center Study The study, conducted at Columbia Journalism School, examined how ChatGPT cites sources for block quotes pulled from a variety of publishers. Here are the key takeaways: Inaccurate Citations: The research found a significant number of instances (153 out of 200) where ChatGPT provided incorrect citations. These ranged from completely wrong attributions to partially inaccurate information. Lack of Transparency: Even when the citations were wrong, ChatGPT rarely a…
