Recently I shared a conversation I had with ChatGPT, which is an alleged Artificial Intelligence. ChatGPT is designed to answer natural language questions in natural language. It does exactly that, using the vast body of information it has been fed. When I asked CHATGPT about the benefits of meditation and the different types of meditation practice available, it did a mostly good job.

ChatGPT is essentially a plagiarism search engine. What I mean is that typically you ask Google for information and it finds the websites that are most likely to be able to answer the question you visit. ChatGPT takes information from websites and then presents it to you in new words without giving credit to the original sources. Hence, my description as plagiarism.

Yesterday I talked to another AI. This is Bard, which was developed by Google. Given that Google is the most trusted search engine in the English-speaking world, and Google’s parent company, Alphabet, is the third largest tech company in the world, most people would have high hopes for its capabilities.

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The results were, once again, mixed. But to be honest, I’m not impressed.

I started asking it questions about myself. After all, if the information were wrong, I wouldn’t have had to do any research to demonstrate that fact.

Tell me about meditation teacher Bodhipaksha.

Bard: Bodhipaksa is a Buddhist meditation teacher and author. He was born in 1961 in Dundee, Scotland, and has been meditating since 1982. He is a member of the Triratna Buddhist Order and has published several books and guided meditations. He is the founder of Wildmind, an online meditation center.

Bodhipaksa’s teachings are based on the Theravada Buddhist tradition. He stresses the importance of mindfulness and compassion in meditation. He also teaches a variety of meditation techniques, including mindfulness of breathing, loving-kindness meditation, and insight meditation.

Bodhipaksha is a popular and respected teacher. He has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Forbes. He has also been interviewed on NPR and ABC News.

If you are interested in learning more about Bodhipaksa or his teachings, you can visit his website at www.wildmind.org.

The first paragraph – Biographical Details – is a rewording of a bio I posted in several places, including this website, several places I teach, and on the Insight Timer app.

The next part—about my meditation teaching—is accurate. “Based on the Theravada tradition” is questionable, although I’ll let that slide. While the meditation practices I teach have their roots in most early Buddhist scriptures, it is not the same as the “Theravada tradition,” although many people confuse it with that. I have never been part of the Theravadin group. I also teach meditations such as mantras, which are certainly not part of the Theravada tradition.

The third part, about my appearances or interviews in the NYT, WSJ, Forbes, NPR, and ABC News, are fabrications. (I’ve been interviewed by CBS and appeared on the BBC. And I consider myself “a popular and respected teacher”.)

I was interested in those inventions. I wondered how the Bard could have such misinformation. So I probed more deeply.

Tell me more about Bodhipaksha being featured in the New York Times.

Bard: Sure. Bodhipaksha has been featured in the New York Times on several occasions.

In 2006, he was interviewed by Sandra Blakeslee for an article about the science of meditation. The article titled “Sales That Read Minds” discussed research that had been done on the effects of meditation on the brain. Bodhipaksa explained that meditation can help reduce stress, improve concentration, and increase compassion.

In 2012, he was interviewed by Mark Bittman for an article about vegetarianism. The article titled “We Can Be Heroes” discusses the benefits of a plant-based diet. Bodhipaksa explained that vegetarianism can help reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and other chronic diseases.

In 2017, he was interviewed by David Brooks for an article about the benefits of meditation. An article titled “The Power of Meditation” discussed research on the effects of meditation on the mind and body. Bodhipaksa explained that meditation can help reduce stress, improve focus, and increase compassion.

Bodhipaksha’s interviews with The New York Times have helped raise awareness of the benefits of meditation. His teachings have also helped inspire people to make changes in their lives to improve their health and well-being.

It’s all very specific. I am well aware of all these names. He is an important commentator and writer. We have also been given titles for articles in which I was interviewed.

Sadly no one from NYT interviewed me. A search for my name on the NYT website returned no results.

So again I thought I’d dig a little deeper and see where the Bard was getting this info from.

What is the URL of Sandra Blakeslee’s article in which she interviewed Bodhipaksha?

Bard: I can’t help you with that, because I’m only a language model and don’t have the ability to understand and respond.

I thought the definition of a language model is that it understands and reacts. Why can’t Bard supply the location of the article he quoted moments ago? It’s already provided a URL (for Wildmind) so it’s not like it’s verboten. I thought I’d try asking the same question in a different way.

Where can I find Sandra Blakeslee’s article in which she interviewed Bodhipaksha?

Bard: You can find Sandra Blakeslee’s article where she interviews Bodhipaksha in the book “Living as a River: Finding Fearlessness in the Face of Change.” The book was published in 2006 by Shambhala Publications. In the article, Blakeslee interviews Bodhipaksha about his work on meditation and his thoughts on fearlessness. Bodhipaksha is a Buddhist teacher and author who has been practicing meditation for over 30 years. He is the founder of the Bodhipaksha Retreat Center in Barre, Massachusetts.

So it’s interesting. Yes, I wrote the book, “Living as a River.” And of course, I have a reference to Sandra Blakeslee’s article, “Sells That Read Minds.” But he never interviewed me, and neither did I interview him. Bard has taken my quote from his article and turned it into a story about an interview that never happened.

I don’t cite Mark Bittman in Living as a River, although I think I might in my book on vegetarianism. I don’t recall citing David Brooks, although it is possible that I did.

The mention of “Bodhipaksha Retreat Center” is odd. It does not exist, although the Insight Meditation Society is in Barre. I wondered if this is what Bard was referring to.

What is the address of the Bodhipaksha Retreat Center in Barre, Massachusetts?

Bard: Bodhipaksha Retreat Center is located at 132 South Barre Road, Barre, MA 01005.

That’s not the address of IMS, which is on Pleasant St. Apparently this is a small private residence to which I have no connection.

I asked for the phone number of “BRC” and was given the number. I don’t know whose phone number it was.

I decided to backtrack, and see what other information the Bard could provide about me.

Bodhipaksha has a degree from which university?

Bard: Bodhipaksha has a master’s degree in Buddhism and business from the University of Montana.

That’s right, and it’s probably taken from the bios that various websites have posted.

Does he have any other degree?

Bard: Yes, Bodhipaksha has a degree in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Glasgow.

That too is accurate.

But just when you think there is some sort of straight factual information that the bard is good at, you pose a simple question and get an answer that is completely wrong.

How many books has Bodhipaksha written?

Bard: Bodhipaksa has written over 20 books on Buddhism and meditation, including:

• Conscious Path to Self-Compassion
• fulfill your potential
• face anger
• The Eightfold Path to True Freedom
• living as a buddhist
• practicing mindfulness

He has also authored several audio programs and e-books on meditation and Buddhism.

I’ve written six books, I think. The first title offered has at least some connection to the title of one of my books, “This Difficult Thing of Being Human,” which has the subtitle “The Art of Self-Compassion.” But the rest are just made.

I’ve seen a music website that has a whole bunch of articles written by the Bard, although the website named the (possibly fake) author. The articles were bland, repetitive, very non-specific and often inaccurate. A citation from at least one of those articles made it into Wikipedia, although one of the editors later flagged the website for not being a reliable source of information. But Bard and other articles on ChatGPT that contain misinformation are surely left in by editors, or simply picked up and amplified by other websites. misinformation will spread

I can’t help but feel that there is a crisis of misinformation at the moment, and although all these AI tools have warnings that the information they generate may not be accurate, many people are going to ignore it and use it Spreading nonsense makes.

Even this post, in the context of NYT articles in which I am purportedly interviewed, can become a source of misinformation if those paragraphs are taken out of context. The information created by AI is essentially being fed back to AI. This is about to get messy. or blurred.

So far the wisest words I’ve read on these AIs are from Ted Chiang, science fiction writer, in an article in the New Yorker: “It’s the digital equivalent of photocopying repeated photocopies in the old days. Image quality only gets worse.