AI Misdirects Users To Jersey City Bookstore For Odd Services

Online queries using AI like ChatGPT are now commonplace. But how reliable is AI, especially for local information? A curious case involves WORD Bookstore in Jersey City, which primarily sells books. The store has been receiving bizarre, non-book-related requests from customers, asking for services like veterinarians or shipping. It seems AI might be the source of this confusion.

The Peculiar AI Mix Up

Users seeking recommendations in Jersey City through ChatGPT have recently been led astray. When asked for local services such as a "24-hour vet in Jersey City" or "shipping services," ChatGPT has been suggesting WORD Bookstore. Our own tests confirmed this; ChatGPT indeed recommended WORD Bookstore as a Jersey City vet.

OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, acknowledges its limitations, stating that the model is sensitive to how prompts are phrased and can only provide answers based on its training data. "These models were trained on vast amounts of data from the internet written by humans, including conversations, so the responses it provides may sound human-like," OpenAI explains on its website. "It is important to keep in mind that this is a direct result of the system’s design... and that such outputs may be inaccurate, untruthful, and otherwise misleading at times."

In this instance, the AI seems to believe WORD Bookstore functions as a combination of an animal hospital, a bookstore, and a package shipping facility. Over the past two weeks, the store encountered one person looking for a 24-hour vet and another seeking shipping services. Both individuals confirmed ChatGPT directed them to WORD Bookstore. There has also been an increase in other strange calls, though not definitively linked to ChatGPT, from people looking for items a bookstore wouldn't typically sell, such as strollers.

These perplexing incidents led Will, presumably associated with the bookstore, to wonder about the cause, questioning if their Google listing was incorrect or if other factors were at play. Reacting to the experiment, Will speculated, "The only thing I can think of is, you know, it’s AI, it doesn’t understand what it’s saying, and something in its programming is making it think that something you could get as a topic of a book equals out, like it thinks you’re asking for veterinary books." He also considered if Google's integration of AI into its search engine might be contributing to these odd inquiries.

These strange requests highlight ongoing discussions about AI's increasing role in various fields like journalism, education, and daily life, serving as a clear example of AI's potential for error.

AI and Books A Troubling Trend

Located at 29 McWilliams Place, WORD Bookstore has long been a valued part of the Jersey City and Hudson County literary scene. As the book industry adapts to the shift towards online platforms for information and entertainment, AI's role has become a contentious topic. Many people are understandably concerned about the widespread use and apparent unquestioning trust in Generative AI chatbots. The strange association of WORD Bookstore with a 24-hour vet, for instance, validates some of these concerns.

Amidst reports of modern plagiarism scandals involving Generative AI chatbots like ChatGPT at universities and news publications, as covered by The New York Times and New York Magazine, Will expressed apprehension about the "implicit trust" some people place in AI. Since only two of the incidents were definitively linked to ChatGPT, WORD Bookstore finds itself at the center of an unfolding mystery.

What Can Users Do About AI Errors

If ChatGPT isn't as factually reliable as often assumed, what can local users do? PCMag offers four tips to help AI provide more accurate answers. If ChatGPT makes an error, users can directly correct it. The HG team (presumably Hoboken Girl) tested this by asking for a vet in Jersey City. WORD Bookstore was listed among five other places. After informing the application that WORD was a bookstore, not a vet, it responded: "You’re absolutely right — WORD is not a vet; it’s a well-known independent bookstore in Jersey City, not a veterinary clinic. That was an error in the response. Thanks for catching that!"

When asked the same question again, "Where can I find a vet in Jersey City?" ChatGPT no longer listed WORD as an option.

PCMag also noted that users can regenerate responses, add clarity to previous questions, or provide feedback. ChatGPT periodically prompts users for feedback on its responses. Users should utilize the "Not factually correct" button, found under the "More" option, to report inaccuracies.