AI becoming more powerful, but its hallucinations are getting worse

Last month, an AI bot that handles tech support for Cursor, an up-and-coming tool for computer programmers, alerted several customers about a change in company policy.

- CADE METZ & KAREN WEISE

Last month, an AI bot that handles tech support for Cursor, an up-and-coming tool for computer programmers, alerted several customers about a change in company policy. It said they were no longer allowed to use Cursor on more than just one computer.

In angry posts to internet message boards, the customers complained. Some cancelled their Cursor accounts. And some got even angrier when they realised what had happened: The AI bot had announced a policy change that did not exist. "We have no such policy. You're of course free to use Cursor on multiple machines," the firm's chief executive and co-founder, Michael Truell, wrote in a Reddit post. "Unfortunately, this is an incorrect response from a front-line AI support bot."

More than two years after the arrival of ChatGPT, tech companies, office workers and everyday consumers are using AI bots for an increasingly wide array of tasks. But there is still no way of ensuring that these systems produce accurate information.