Not too long ago a buyer emailed me:
Please think about re including the choice to transform from one time zone to a different as was accessible in [Easy Data Transform] model 1.x. See the hooked up display dump.
Straightforward Knowledge Remodel has by no means had a time zone conversion characteristic, so that could be a bit unusual. Though . However the screenshot actually set off alarms bells as, regardless of saying “Straightforward Knowledge Remodel v1.11.2” within the title bar, that’s not our software program!
I believed that somebody was attempting to go of their product as ours and did a search. However I couldn’t discover any reference to a different piece of software program known as “Straightforward Knowledge Remodel”. I emailed the shopper to ask the place that they had bought the software program from. The reply got here again:
The screenshot was from a ChatGPT output – perhaps hallucinating.
Wow. Not solely had ChatGPT hallucinated the characteristic, but additionally a fever dream screenshot of the person interface, with the non-existent characteristic. It seems like an actual screenshot at first look, however the icons are a giveaway should you look nearer.
For reference, that is what the precise person interface seems like:
ChatGPT has bought among the enter sorts, transforms and menus appropriate. However in any other case it seems fairly completely different.
I had one other brush with AI hallucinations once I requested MS Copilot the right way to carry out ‘one scorching encoding’ in Straightforward Knowledge Remodel. It got here again with a really believable and assured sounding reply, together with this abstract of the transforms required:
Only one drawback – just one of those 4 transforms truly exists (Break up Col). It hallucinated the opposite 3!
Clients are more and more typing questions into AIs, reasonably than studying documentation or asking on a discussion board. That’s excellent news if it signifies that the shopper will get a fast and correct reply with out troubling busy builders. However it is extremely dangerous information if they’re getting incorrect solutions, particularly when these solutions look believable and are confidently introduced. It’s galling sufficient that AIs are stealing all our net site visitors, with out them giving our prospects dangerous help recommendation as nicely! Wild occasions are forward.
Ps/ Time zone conversion and one scorching encoding at the moment are accessible within the newest model of Straightforward Knowledge Remodel.
