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ChatGPT Couldn't Give Me the Name of a Movie About a One-Armed Baseball Player or: Why Using Chatbots for Medical Diagnosis is 'Concerning'

Today, The Washington Post published an article titled "ChatGPT is little help for doctors in diagnosing diseases, study finds."

Yesterday, ChatGPT couldn't give me the name of a movie about a one-armed baseball player.

The fact that it couldn't give me the correct answer wasn't concerning, but the frequency in which it gave incorrect answers, the absolute confidence in which they did so, and the fabricated synopses for the movies they gave, was. While my example might be a little ridiculous, the WaPo article was enough for my eyes to pop out a little, considering here at Interactually, we only trust AI to perform some limited digital marketing tasks, where the stakes are quite a bit lower than medical diagnoses.

David Veldt - News - 11/19/2024

Marketing Teams Expected to do More with Less in 2024

According to a recent CMO survey by Gartner, marketing budgets fell to just 7.7% of overall company revenue in 2024. Spending on labor and agencies dropped, while spending on paid media jumped. In other words, companies are expecting their marketing departments to do more with less, and increasingly throwing money at outputs rather than people to manage them, hoping that AI can come to the rescue to make up the gaps in productivity and ROI.

It's easy to jump to conclusions from this. My high-level, obviously biased reaction is that this trend leads toward less strategy, lower conversion rates and effectiveness, and potential disaster. Case in point: Look at how many companies who have made generative AI the core component of their SEO strategy have been hit hard; many after seeing initial success.

David Veldt - News - 10/25/2024

What the Repeal of Net Neutrality Means for Digital Marketing

A year ago, a conservative family member asked me who I voted for, and I'm 95% certain they asked even though they knew the answer. After I replied they said, "I thought you'd be for Trump, being a business owner and all." Ethics and potential constitutional crises aside - which are some major things to set aside, but there's a lot going on right now - I explained that there was no greater threat to my business than the Trump administration.

In addition to demonstrating a complete lack of knowledge when it comes to the Internet, President Trump said nearly a year before his election:

...maybe in certain areas, closing that Internet up in some way. Somebody will say, ‘Oh, freedom of speech, freedom of speech.’ These are foolish people.,

David Veldt - News - 11/22/2017

The EU's Clever Workaround for that Pesky "Freedom of Expression" Thing

On Tuesday, the European Court of Justice ruled in favor of Mario Costeja Gonzalez (pictured above) of Spain in his suit against Google, aimed at getting them to remove pages related to Gonzalez's 1998 debt troubles that he argued are now irrelevant. Europe's top court ultimately decided that people have "the right to be forgotten."

Here's what's wrong with that.

David Veldt - News / Reputation Management / SEO - 05/15/2014

Google Is A Gossip Queen

Oh, Google. I know you mean well, but sometimes you just try too hard and come across like a real Chatty Cathy. Even worse, a Chatty Cathy Know-It-All.

I've got your back, though. The semantic web is to blame. In your quest to gain a human-like understanding of queries and content, you've relied a little too much on the web of information that has been created by the general Internet population. This works well in theory, but you underestimated one thing: Our undying thirst for #juicy #gossip!

At the heart of the matter is Google's Knowledge Graph.

David Veldt - News / SEO / SERP FAIL - 04/03/2014

Some Thoughts on Guest Blogging

There's been some excitement in the SEO world in the past few days. It doesn't take much to get people in our industry all riled up, but this one is spurring some real anger toward Google for assuming the roles of Relevance Police, Judge and Executioner.

The issue at hand is that of guest blogging.

David Veldt - News / SEO - 03/28/2014

How to Lose 40% of Your Traffic (In One Simple Step)

Let this be a cautionary tale. A tale about what happens when you don't follow your own advice.

In the past six months, I have lost over 40% of my traffic. It was remarkably easy; much easier than increasing my traffic by 40%. I really didn't have to do much. In fact, I did nothing at all.

David Veldt - Digital Strategy / News - 03/21/2014

Forgiveness > Permission

"It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission." - Grace Hopper

These words have given innovators, entrepreneurs and visionaries across the world the justification (not that they needed it) to take bold risks and test new waters with relative uncertainty. Originating from a legendary programmer, few industries lean on this mantra more heavily than tech. For the most part, it is this mindset that has enabled the world of web technology to evolve at a blistering pace.

David Veldt - Digital Strategy / News - 08/29/2013

How To Find The Email Address Of Any Position Within Any Company

Disclaimer: The following method is one I use on occasion to reach out to industry thought leaders and the like for non-spamming purposes only. Use this information as you will, but please, use it wisely and respectfully.

Whether you're a job candidate that wants to open a direct line with human resources, a link builder that wants to get in with the marketing or IT departments, or you simply misplaced the email address of someone you just met, chances are you've wished for a little black book full of all the most elusive email addresses.

The good news is that you can easily find these email addresses relatively easily and quickly.

David Veldt - Digital Strategy / News - 08/01/2013

Every Moment Is Captured, But Nothing Is Experienced

I don't enjoy concerts in the way most people typically do. To the casual observer, it may appear that I don't enjoy them at all; but that would be false. I don't put my arms up, dance in place or sing along. Instead, you'll see me with my hands in my pockets or arms folded, just smirking and watching the band with wonder and enjoying the music.

David Veldt - Mobile / News - 06/06/2013

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