Google's AI Is Telling Lies about the AR-15

Are we shocked to discover that Google's AI is telling lies? Generative AI and Human Fails on the Use of AR-15s in Mass Shootings (Sorry, Bushmaster).

I'm not shocked. Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony describes another Large Language Model AI as a "pathological liar in a box."

I first asked, “What was the first mass shooting in American [sic.] in which the perpetrator used an AR-15 rifle.” Answer: The University of Texas tower shooter in 1966. Incorrect.

I tried to help Bard out by asking a more specific question about the Texas tower shooting, and Bard correctly answered that the shooter did not use an AR-15, but then suggested he could not have used an AR-15 because it wasn’t invented until 7 years after the shooting. Incorrect, obviously, but maybe also suggestive of where Bard’s “mind” is — he probably have used an AR-15 if it had been invented?

If you click the link you will find that humans are also fixated on the AR-15. Despite what the Wiki will tell you, AR-15 stands for Armalite Rifle 15. The AR-5 is a .22 Hornet bolt-action survival rifle developed for the US Air Force, and the AR-7 "Explorer" is .22 Long Rifle semiautomatic survival rifle. And finally, the AR-30 is a bolt-action rifle available in either .308 Winchester (also known as 7.62×51mm NATO), .300 Winchester Magnum, or .338 Lapua Magnum. Non of these are "assault rifles."

AI isn't the only place you will find lies.

Several authors will tell you that the Daingerfield church shooter was in possession of an AR-15. He killed 3 people with an M-1 carbine (designed in 1941), and two other people with a .38 revolver. Revolvers were in common use in the Civil War, and the "modern" variant dates to the late 1800s.

But he was carrying an AR-15.

Garbage in Garbage out. To err is human; to really screw things up requires a computer. The bias of humans also plays a roll.

For those who don't know a lot about firearms, here is a video about how an AR-15 works during firing. The video includes descriptions of military variants, specifically both full-auto, and burst mode that can be found in rifles such as the M16 or M4. There are similar videos on bolt-action rifles, if you're unclear on those.