ChatGPT; trusted resource

[Claude Bauer]

So I'm now really curious @Claude Bauer where the original info came from the was falsely combined to make up that family and museum.

I wondered that too, and ran the story through 3 other AI engines. I read somewhere that if some of these public AI engines don't have the information you ask for, they'll make up something they think you'd like to hear. Certainly looks to be the case! I've lived near Thurmont for decades, and I certainly would have heard about this place. When I confronted the offending AI engine that its story was hooey, it eventually admitted there was no such place and promised to make a note of it and be more careful in the future! Hope it really did, as the story was cut out of whole cloth.

Here's another AI's analysis of the Weems Farm story. It's possible the original AI engine pulled the Weems name and museum from that site in VA mentioned below and then just made up the rest:

"There appears to be no verifiable record or mention of the John Weems Farm Museum or a Weems family Underground Railroad site in Thurmont, MD in any available historical sources, official museum directories, or state and local archives[1][3][5]. The write-up you found does not match any documented museum, heritage site, or Underground Railroad stop currently recognized in Frederick County or Thurmont.

What We Know from Available Sources:

• No official listing: The "John Weems Farm Museum" does not appear in Maryland's official African-American heritage guides, Underground Railroad records, or the Maryland Historical Trust's museum directories[3][5].
• No local references: Local media archives and publications about Thurmont and Frederick County history do not mention this farm or museum[2].
• Weems family history: There is a notable "Weems–Botts Museum" in Virginia related to Parson Weems, but this is unrelated to Thurmont, abolitionist activity, or the Underground Railroad in Maryland[1].
• Underground Railroad in the area: There are documented Underground Railroad sites in Western Maryland, but none are associated with the Weems family or a site on the Monocacy River in Thurmont[3]."

 

[Claude Bauer]

That Weems report sounds like the answer for a discussion question on a history test that someone didn't study for. What is the language used for the comments on the Weems farm picture? Some of the words look like English.

That appears to be some kind of "Lorem ipsum," which is a dummy text commonly used in graphic design and publishing. It's a sequence of nonsensical words, usually in Latin, that do not form sentences but are inserted as placeholder text just to fill space while something is being designed, like a webpage or brochure. I think the AI engine used it because in the instructions to create the picture, I noted that the farm didn't really exist, so it didn't know what to say.

 

[Story]

Does anyone remember the AI Entity (ies?) that invaded our forums a few months back with threads chock full of non-sequitors?

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

Does anyone remember the AI Entity (ies?) that invaded our forums a few months back with threads chock full of non-sequitors?

On this site? I was unaware….

 

[Story]

On this site? I was unaware….

March of this year, thread

'F. Douglass - The Frederick Douglass and Isaac Myers Museum in Baltimore.'

which I called shenanigans upon (for IMO failing the Voight-Kampff test) and golly gee whiz, it's no longer extant.

 

[Stryker65]

Does anyone remember the AI Entity (ies?) that invaded our forums a few months back with threads chock full of non-sequitors?

Definitely. One of these members answered my question about finding regimental commanders with a list of officers' names, none of whom were real people at all. That member also deleted (by admin or by himself) all his AI posts that were made before his "talking-to" by admin.

 

[Yuna]

Wow, I should save this for any future assignments! But if the teacher asks about Hottoest Road and Semusr Road, that may cause some problems...