Using AI—Who is the Expert?

I’m in the process of completing an excellent review on AI, AI for Work and Life, an eight-part webinar series put on by my alma mater, the University of North Florida. Each session is at least an hour long, and is led by one or more subject matter experts in different aspects of the use and, yes, misuse of this world-changing technology. We’re getting the latest and best understanding of who can or should use AI, what some of the many uses of it can be, and how to use it accurately, responsibly, and ethically.

I couldn’t possibly cover all of the terrific, thought-provoking content I’ve taken in thus far but, as a content creator myself, one thing really stands out. I’ll use the example of some AI usage that has made some headlines since the introduction of Chat GPT back in late 2022. There have been over 200 examples of attorneys being cited by the legal system for presenting legal briefs with citations provided by Chat GPT or some other AI engine that were found to be nonexistent—hallucinations in AI parlance.

Perhaps the lawyer involved was laboring under a deadline in the dead of night. Perhaps they were just lazy. Either way, it points out one of the problems with AI—hallucinations. But the good news is that those fabrications can be avoided when in the hands of someone who knows the subject matter at hand and will take the time to both check resources and create AI queries that minimize the chance that the Ai engine will freelance and make up stuff so as to produce what it thinks the user wants.

At present I use AI mostly for research purposes. I’ve already run into some hallucinated answers—research papers that didn’t exist, content that was supposed to be in a certain magazine article that wasn’t. I knew from the start that I am ultimately responsible for the accuracy of any content that I produce, But now I’m learning how to design my queries in such a way that those made-up responses are minimized.

The focus in my work remains on providing healthcare and wellness content that is both engaging and accurate. AI can assist me greatly in that area, but someone has to be the subject matter expert. That’s something that AI cannot do or be. As a proud RN with many years of healthcare clinical and business experience, that’s me. I’ve always loved writing but would rather write nothing at all than produce something that was somehow inaccurate or intentionally misleading.