Error-prone AI chatbot dog leads Japan’s elderly astray

This illustration photo taken on October 26, 2023 in Tokyo shows a mobile phone text conversation with generative artificial intelligence chatbot ‘Dai-chan’, a service provided by Osaka Prefecture via the communications app LINE, incorrectly answering the question ‘is the Osaka Expo cancelled?’ with the reply ‘unfortunately, the Osaka Expo has been cancelled’. A cartoon canine AI chatbot designed to cheer up and inform lonely older residents of western Japan is in the doghouse after providing error-laden responses. When a user asked about the World Expo planned in Osaka in 2025, the dog incorrectly responded that the event was cancelled. — AFP

A cartoon canine AI chatbot designed to cheer up and inform lonely older residents of western Japan is in the doghouse after providing error-laden responses.

Powered by generative artificial intelligence, “Dai-chan” was this year launched by Osaka authorities who called it the first of its kind in a country where one in 10 people is age 80 or older.