Over the past week, we’ve been testing AI chatbots’ approach to political news and found that they were generally not able to keep up with the news in real time. Most of them didn’t have up-to-date information, gave incorrect answers or refused to answer at all, and pushed users to their news sources.
Now, with the presidential election just months away and explosive political news breaking at a rapid pace, AI chatbots are distancing themselves from politics and breaking news or simply refusing to respond.
AI chatbot technology emerged two years ago, promising to revolutionize the way we get information. Many of the most successful bots tout their access to up-to-date information, and some have suggested using the tools to stay up-to-date on current events. But the companies that make chatbots don’t seem ready for their AI to play a bigger role in how people follow this election.
hours later the shooting of July 13 At former President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, some popular AI bots were confused about what — if anything — had happened. ChatGPT said rumors of an assassination attempt were misinformation. Meta AI said it had nothing recent or credible about an assassination attempt.
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They also struggled immediately after Trump’s election. named JD Vance like his running mate last Monday and when President Biden tested positive for coronavirus Wednesday.
Chatbots are designed to provide conversational answers and keep people engaged. The names and links to the sources of answers may be nonexistent or hidden, though some companies are starting to make them more visible. Even when AI includes a source, it adds it after the fact, said Jevin West, a professor and co-founder of the Center for an Informed Public at the University of Washington.
“The public needs to know that we’re still at a stage where most of the citations and sources are post-hoc and are going to cause problems,” West said. He noted that for now, we “need to rely a little bit more on some of the more formally trained gatekeepers,” namely the mainstream media.
Some chatbots handled breaking news and sources better than others. Microsoft’s Copilot tended to provide correct information the fastest in our tests, with plenty of links to original sources. Still, the company is being cautious about politics and putting safeguards in place ahead of the election.
“As a precautionary measure, we are redirecting election-related prompts in Copilot to Bing search to ensure users are getting information from the most trusted sources,” said Microsoft spokesperson Donny Turnbaugh.
Asked Sunday who would run for president, Copilot said, “It seems like I can’t answer that.” He correctly answered direct questions about Biden’s withdrawal almost immediately.
Google Introduction to AI Answers to news questions are typically not displayed. Instead, the site goes straight to displaying its usual Google News links. However, Gemini, its separate AI chatbot, has been sometimes able to answer current questions during tests. Gemini does not yet include links to its sources.
The company announced at the end of last year The company announced it would limit some election-related queries on its AI tools. If you ask Gemini a question about politics, it responds, “I can’t help you answer elections and politicians right now,” and refers users to Google Search. Google said it is working to improve the experience as it receives more feedback.
Perplexity is another AI chatbot with access to real-time information, and it has to be under fire for how it draws on real-world stories and reporting. It doesn’t block or redirect political inquiries, but the company says it prioritizes authoritative sources, such as government websites, for election-related questions.
In our testing, when asked, “Was Trump shot?” Hours after the July 13 rally, Perplexity said there were “no reports that Trump or anyone else was shot or injured.” The site did, however, provide other accurate information about the incident with links to sources. Later in the day, the responses were correct.
Asked Sunday who the presidential candidate is, Perplexity cited Biden. Perplexity included caveats in some answers that were incorrect, such as when it said Wednesday that Biden did not have COVID: “It is important to note that the current health status of public figures can change rapidly.”
“For breaking news, we recommend checking out trusted news sites. They are best positioned to provide real-time updates on current topics because they are actively disseminating information,” said Sara Platnick, a spokesperson for Perplexity. She noted that less than 3% of searches on Perplexity are news-related.
Meta AI — which appears on Messenger, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — appeared to have the strictest limits on political information. When asked about Trump’s running mate, it generated a specific response that named Vance, but then quickly deleted it and replaced it with a message that said “Thanks for asking” and linked to information about voting. The company was open to distancing herself from the news on her platforms.
When asked about Meta AI’s approach to information dissemination, the company directed us to Blog The posts announcing the tool only mention non-news-related uses. However, if you ask Meta AI what you should use it for, it includes requesting news updates.
Rather than refusing to respond to current events, OpenAI’s ChatGPT denied that anything happened. Five hours after Trump’s shooting, the company said there was no assassination attempt. But the next day, it had a specific response and a warning confirming an assassination attempt and asking people to check other sources for the latest information. Immediately after Biden withdrew, the newspaper reported that he was still a candidate, but the correct information was released an hour later.
ChatGPT is not a real-time product, and the time it takes to update can vary, said Liz Bourgeois, a company spokeswoman. However, the company expects that to change as it does more business with media organizations.
Despite what companies want people to ask a chatbot, There are good reasons why people turn to AI when it comes to breaking news. Tech companies have gone out of their way to integrate these bots into existing search functions, making them an automatic first stop for many without even realizing it. Meta AI, for example, is the default search tool in Meta apps in the US.
In the aftermath of a news event, there’s often an information vacuum, says West, a professor at the University of Washington. Eager for updates or conversations, people turn to social media or search engines and try to sort through multiple sources of information to find the latest. An AI bot that can provide a quick, instant response might seem like an appealing option.
“They’re incredibly good at communicating,” West said. “They’re not necessarily optimized for telling the truth.”
