Don’t trust AI for these 4 things

April 19, 2024

By Kim Komando

I used AI recently to write a birthday note, plan a trip to Hong Kong and program my robot. But this tech is still in the infant stages and it has some major blind spots you need to know about.

Ask things like “How many basketballs would you have to stack up to reach the moon?” all day. (It’s 1,595,524,852 by the way.) But when it comes to these four Ps, you’re better off skipping the chatbot.

1. Protection

If you own a small business it’s tempting to save money by skipping the lawyer fees and drafting contracts via ChatGPT or any other chatbot. In almost all cases, the legal risk isn’t worth it.

If you ask the wrong question or use the wrong legal jargon in your prompt, you might get an answer that’s totally off-base or out-of-date with current updates. 

Lawyers are experts at navigating legal “gray area” and the specific legal language that applies to your personal situation. They’re also accountable for getting it right (i.e. you can sue them if they mess up).

When it’s OK: Need help reviewing a legal doc or getting your feet under you with how existing laws and regulations work? Sure, chatbot away.

2. Precision

Don’t trust AI to do your taxes. Even the AI assistants built into platforms like H&R Block and TurboTax are wrong more than 30% percent of the time (paywall link).

Tax laws for things like deductions and retirement contributions change every year. Being off by even few hundred dollars could cost you dearly down the road. 

When it’s OK: Don’t know what you don’t know? Use AI to figure out what questions to ask a tax pro (or how to find a great CPA).

3. Prognosis

Are you even human if you haven’t panic-WebMD’d your symptoms in the middle of the night? AI makes self-diagnosis all the more enticing. 

But make no mistake: ChatGPT4 might be the worst doctor you’ve ever met. In a test against real doctors diagnosing children’s medical conditions, it was only right 17% percent of the time. 

When it’s OK: AI’s pretty good at offering general rules and preventative advice. It can also help parse test results and help you interpret findings. I use it that way!

4. Partnership

A recent survey found 23% of Americans now use AI to enhance their dating profiles and messages, up from 15% last year.

AI can learn pickup lines and jokes and even mimic your unique way of texting if you train it well enough. Your crush would probably have no idea you used AI to write that love letter. 

The question is … should you? I don’t know about you, but I don’t want anyone else to do the talking for me.

When it’s OK: For love, just don’t. Stick to chatbots for the boring, unemotional kind of writing — like asking your landlord for a rent break or processing a refund.

Tl;dr … If it can get you sued, audited, hospitalized or dumped

Do yourself a favor and leave AI out of it. 

The quality of your answers depends on the quality of the data and the quality of your questions. And, until there are more laws regulating AI, if you make a big decision based on bad info, you’re the one left holding the bag.