A PROGRAM THAT HALLUCINATES IS NO MORE ACCEPTABLE THAN A HUMAN WHO DOES: The Talented Doctor Ripley (GPT): When Artificial Intelligence Lies about Medicine. “The Turing Test asks whether a computer can answer queries such that the questioner can’t determine whether the respondent is a machine or a human. ChatGPT may be the first system to pass the test. Unfortunately, the human from whom it is indistinguishable may be Tom Ripley—the sociopathic liar in Patricia Highsmith’s novel, The Talented Mr. Ripley.”

A program that not only generates false statements, but false citations to back them up, is not just defective, but outright dangerous. Its producers should face product liability suits for the damage done.