The Role of Technology in ChatGPT and DeepSeek: The Reality of AI ‘Hallucinations’ and the Risks of Misinformation
The Potential of Generative AI:
ChatGPT and DeepSeek, are revolutionizing their respective industries. From writing the perfect email, building a business report, creating code, and finding solutions to the most challenging problems, these tools are changing the way we work and perform tasks. They excel in:
- Efficiency Gains: Creating business reports, coding snippets, and even preparing legal documents in seconds.
- Data Synthesis: Tools like DeepSeek are claimed to have the ability to extract and consolidate large amounts of online data and present it in a useful format.
- Creative Applications: Developing marketing strategies, coming up with new product ideas, and even writing songs and poems are no longer the domain of humans only.
These capabilities are certainly enticing for the companies which are eager to innovate and do it faster and better and at a lower cost. But let’s not fool ourselves here—this is not a perfect system. Far from it.
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The Ugly Truth: The Weaknesses and Demerits
Unfortunately, this is not the case with AI tools which are depicted to be faultless in the media. The reality is that these tools have been trained on certain data and are only as accurate as the context that is provided to them. Here’s where things get tricky:
- Bias and Hallucinations: AI makes guesses or in other words ‘hallucinates’ when it lacks sufficient information !!! It doesn’t know, it is predicting what should come next from a possible list of options.
- Context Blindness: Although the sizes of the models are in the billions of parameters, AI has limited understanding of the situation. It may misunderstand the instructions or offer solutions that are accurate but misplaced.
- Overconfidence in Wrong Data: AI tools can proudly present wrong information in a way that makes it seem like it is the right information, and this makes the user believe in the wrong information.
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The Threat Landscape: When AI Becomes Dangerous
The biggest issue with AI tools is the capability of creating and spreading misinformation. What if this happened in your area:
The Fake Acquisitions That Never Happened.
A financial analyst logs into their favorite AI tool, ready to get the latest news on corporate acquisitions. What they get instead is this:
- Fake Headline: “Microsoft Acquires OpenAI in Historical $100 Billion Deal, Says Satya Nadella”
- CEO Statement: “This acquisition makes us the leading company in generative AI,” says Nadella.
- Deal Details: A fabricated report of shareholder buyouts, regulatory approvals and the future of AI integration.
- Fake Link: A hyperlink to what appears to be a real but fake “press release” on a domain that looks like Microsoft’s corporate site.
Within minutes, the misinformation spreads across social media and sends Microsoft’s stock into a tailspin. News outlets try to verify and, by the time the hoax is uncovered, the market damage is done and cannot be undone.
This isn’t sci-fi. If left unchecked, these tools can create fake quotes, create realistic but false links and even write in the tone of voice of individuals. This was done using ChatGPT and DeepSeek and both created completely random acquisition reports with a lot of details and accuracy. The fake reports had realistic-sounding matches, authentic-sounding quotes from executives, valuations, integration plans, and even clickable links—everything you would expect from legitimate news. The detail of the information provided made the information seem believable and highlights the danger of AI generating content that could mislead.
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Why This Should Scare You:
The major problem here is that you cannot take the outputs of AI as genuine.
Here’s why this is important:
- Loss of Trust: If users are unable to depend on the results of AI tools, then they are almost worthless. Why use something that can wreak havoc on your business strategy with wrong information?
- Economic Fallout: Information can cause a lot of damage to markets. Fake acquisition news, wrong financial reports and or fabricated product releases may cost millions or even billions of dollars.
- Weaponized AI: Misinformation can be created by these tools and spread to affect businesses, governments and individuals on a large scale.
So, how do we navigate this new world of AI? Here’s what needs to happen:
- Verification Systems: These tools should incorporate mechanisms that ensure that the information obtained is cross-checked with other credible sources.
- Transparency in Limitations: The companies that own these tools should be more explicit about what their products can and cannot do. People must be made to realize the risk that comes with relying on the output of AI-generated content.
- Human Oversight: There is no way that any AI should work on its own. There is a need to have human interaction in order to determine the truth from the fiction.
- Regulation and Accountability: This is a call for governments and other industry leaders to develop standards to ensure that AI is used properly and to penalize those who would use it improperly. _______________________________________________________________________________________
Conclusion:The Myth of the AI Utopia
These are some of the best generative AI tools out there, including ChatGPT and DeepSeek, but they are not perfect. In the rush to adopt these tools, companies and people must remember one key rule: It is always good to believe but to prove. It is a tool, not an oracle. We are all going to be walking around in this cloud of illusion until we start to hold these systems accountable for what they produce. Keep on being skeptical, keep on being informed and, most importantly, keep on being rebels.
Signed, Luis Praxmarer, CEO, The IEC Group & The IEC Rebel Team
Go To’s: Here are the key “Go To’s” after reading the article:
- Verify Before Believing AI Outputs: It is advisable to always check information generated by AI from other credible sources. Use AI output as a guide only and not as the only source of information.
- Enable Human Oversight: Ensure that there is a provision for human review in the workflows that are based on the use of AI tools especially for important decisions or for external communication.
- Adopt Verification Protocols: Use fact-checking tools and have your own measures to check the credibility of the information provided by AI before using it.
- Educate Your Team: Educate the workers on the limitations of generative AI. Make sure they know the consequences of relying on the AI outputs and encourage them to think critically.
- Demand Transparency: Demand more openness from the AI providers regarding the limitations of the tools they are using, and the sources of data that they employ.
- Prepare a Crisis Plan: Have a plan for how to respond to the misuse of AI that could affect your business or industry.
- Stay Informed: Stay current on the latest developments in AI technology, regulations, and best practices to ensure that you are not exposed to risks.
- Support AI Regulation: Promote the adoption of ethical standards by the industry and demand that governments regulate the use of generative AI to prevent its misuse.
To these steps, you can leverage AI’s potential while protecting against its pitfalls.
Last but not Least: If you’re facing challenges and wondering how others are managing similar issues, why not join The Leadership Collective Community? It’s a peer group and webcast platform designed for leaders to exchange insights and experiences.
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