OpenAI's ChatGPT Stuns Users With Unexpected Welsh Responses: Bug, Feature, Or Is The AI Simply Hallucinating?

ChatGPT users in the United Kingdom were left scratching their heads when OpenAI’s chatbot suddenly started responding to their English-language queries in Welsh.

What Happened: Users engaging with ChatGPT’s new voice interface were taken aback when their English inquiries were translated into Welsh, with the bot then responding in the same language, reported Financial Times on Thursday.

This glitch has been reported by several users, including those who neither understand Welsh nor live in or near Wales.

In February also, some users reported a bug where the bot would answer text questions in a mix of Spanish and English, the report noted.

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In a statement to the report, the company suggested users experiencing the Welsh glitch set their “Speech” setting to English rather than “Auto-detect,” but could not guarantee this would resolve the issue.

The Welsh language bug is a new manifestation of the common problem of large language models “hallucinating.” The problem continues to plague generative AI systems despite years of development and significant investment, the report stated.

OpenAI did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comments.

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Why It Matters: This incident comes on the heels of a series of controversies surrounding OpenAI.

Last month, a former safety employee at OpenAI, voiced concerns over the company's approach to Artificial General Intelligence, comparing it to the ill-fated Titanic due to its focus on product launches over safety measures.

A group of whistleblowers at OpenAI have also filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission, alleging that the company has been obstructing them from reporting potential risks associated with its AI technology to regulators.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.