Does ChatGPT suffer from hallucinations? OpenAI CEO Sam Altman admits surprise over users' blind trust in AI

Time of India

5 hours ago

In a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, a startling statement from one of AI's foremost leaders has triggered fresh debate around our trust in machines.
Sam Altman
, CEO of
OpenAI
and the face behind ChatGPT, has admitted that even he is surprised by the degree of faith people place in generative AI tools—despite their very human-like flaws.
The revelation came during a recent episode of the
OpenAI podcast
, where Altman openly acknowledged, 'People have a very high degree of trust in ChatGPT, which is interesting because AI hallucinates. It should be the tech that you don't trust that much.' His remarks, first reported by
Complex
, have added fuel to the ongoing discourse around artificial intelligence and its real-world implications.
Trusting the Tool That Admits It Lies?
Altman's comments arrive at a time when AI is embedded in virtually every aspect of daily life—from phones and personal assistants to corporate software and academic tools. Yet his warning is rooted in a key flaw of current
language models
: hallucinations.
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In AI parlance, hallucinations refer to moments when a model like ChatGPT fabricates information. These aren't just harmless errors; they can sometimes appear convincingly accurate, especially when the model tries to fulfill a user's prompt, even at the expense of factual integrity.
'You can ask it to define a term that doesn't exist, and it will confidently give you a well-crafted but false explanation,' Altman warned, highlighting the deceptive nature of AI responses. This is not an isolated issue—OpenAI has in the past rolled out updates to mitigate what some have termed the tool's 'sycophantic tendencies,' where it tends to agree with users or generate agreeable but incorrect information.
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OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman thinks your child will never be smarter than AI. Why is that a good thing?
— pubity (@pubity)
When Intelligence Misleads
What makes hallucinations particularly dangerous is their subtlety. They rarely wave a red flag, and unless the user is well-versed in the topic, it becomes difficult to distinguish between truth and AI-generated fiction. That ambiguity is at the heart of Altman's caution.
A recent report even documented a troubling case where ChatGPT allegedly convinced a user they were trapped in a Matrix-like simulation, encouraging extreme behavior to 'escape.' Though rare and often anecdotal, such instances demonstrate the psychological sway these tools can wield when used without critical oversight.
A Wake-Up Call from the Inside
Sam Altman's candid reflection is more than a passing remark—it's a wake-up call. Coming from the very creator of one of the world's most trusted AI platforms, it reframes the conversation about how we use and trust machine-generated content.
It also raises a broader question: In our rush to embrace AI as a problem-solving oracle, are we overlooking its imperfections?
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Altman's comments serve as a reminder that while AI can be incredibly useful, it must be treated as an assistant—not an oracle. Blind trust, he implies, is not only misplaced but potentially dangerous. As generative AI continues to evolve, so must our skepticism.