AI Research Assistant Result with no source
I asked the AI Research Assistant to find a 1940 census. It described the census record with the information I would expect it to have, but the census link takes me to a marriage record. I would like to see the census record it supposedly found. The PID # is LRZD-PTT - George Cloud.
Answers
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The source material the A.I. used for your request is actually a copy of Vital records from 1944. If you have access to Ancestry.com you can find the 1940 census records.
1940 census records found on FamilySearch.
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This is the response from AI:
George Cloud was recorded in the 1940 Census as living in Harlan, Kentucky.
In the 1940 Census, George Cloud is listed as a male, married, and residing in Harlan, Kentucky. His birth year is noted as 1905, and he is identified as a white individual. The census also includes his wife, Mary Cloud, and their children: James Donald Cloud, Eliza Cloud, Lola Cloud, and Betty J Cloud. This information confirms his family structure during that time period.
This is VERY misleading if the information did not come from the 1940 census. Why would the information be presented in this way if the 1940 census was not used as a source?
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AI is still a new and learning entity. What we are doing with AI is still uncharted territory
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@jamiehadlock - re "AI is still a new and learning entity. What we are doing with AI is still uncharted territory"
The problem is that, based on what @RondaF has said, the software has described what is plainly one thing, but cited another entirely. That makes it not fit for purpose. At the very least, warnings need to be added programmatically by FS staff that say that the data and citation may not match. And goodness knows which of the two is right… If any…
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your observation is correct and I agree. It was very frustrating to me because I am pretty good at finding census records, but I could not find that particular one. Then the described the census record as though they are looking at but no link was given, so I was disappointed.
yes I agree. We are still working out bugs with AI and that would be a heads up to give people that the link might not be correct for responding.
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@RondaF - I just tried the first 5 or 6 AI hints on my list, and in fairness I didn't find any idiocies like the one you describe. But what I did find was that I couldn't tell any difference between AI Hints and the conventional Record Hints - once I thought to cross check, which came in at the 2nd hint, I think.
Now, as far as I'm concerned AI Hints matching conventional Record Hints is good - I don't mean that the hints were correct, at least one was for the wrong family (match on the father, totally wrong mother, but it was the same fault on both hinting systems). But conventional Record Hints are at least sensible even if occasionally wrong, so my AI hints were therefore at least sensible even if occasionally wrong.
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