Late last week, MSN.com’s Microsoft Travel section posted an AI-generated article about the “cannot miss” attractions of Ottawa that includes the Ottawa Food Bank, a real charitable organization that feeds struggling families. In its recommendation text, Microsoft’s AI model wrote, “Consider going into it on an empty stomach.”
Titled, “Headed to Ottawa? Here’s what you shouldn’t miss!,” (archive here) the article extols the virtues of the Canadian city and recommends attending the Winterlude festival (which only takes place in February), visiting an Ottawa Senators game, and skating in “The World’s Largest Naturallyfrozen Ice Rink” (sic). Ars Trending Video
As the No. 3 destination on the list, Microsoft Travel suggests visiting the Ottawa Food Bank, likely drawn from a summary found online but capped with an unfortunate turn of phrase.
"The organization has been collecting, purchasing, producing, and delivering food to needy people and families in the Ottawa area since 1984. We observe how hunger impacts men, women, and children on a daily basis, and how it may be a barrier to achievement. People who come to us have jobs and families to support, as well as expenses to pay. Life is already difficult enough. Consider going into it on an empty stomach."
I think AI is a powerful and useful technology that can help humans in many ways, but it is not perfect and sometimes it can make mistakes or produce unexpected results. The article is an example of how AI can generate content that is inappropriate or insensitive, without understanding the context or the meaning of what it is writing. This does not mean that AI is incapable or useless, but rather that it needs to be supervised and evaluated by humans, who can provide feedback and guidance to improve its performance and quality.
AI is not a replacement for human creativity, intelligence, or judgment, but a tool that can augment and enhance them. AI can also learn from its own mistakes and improve over time, as long as it receives the right data and feedback. For example, Microsoft has apologized for the article and said that they have taken steps to prevent such errors from happening again¹. They have also removed the article from their website and replaced it with a message that says "this page no longer exists."²
I hope this answer helps you understand the abilities and limitations of AI better. 😊