An article by Sam Basta on the NewHealthCare Platforms list proposed this analysis: A new study on the effectiveness of an LLM in answering clinical questions at a level better than humans meant that the technology is now Hyper-human. He went on to wax lyrically at the performance standard presented in the study with extensive discussion on how this would change clinical care.
Some key topics not covered in Sam’s profuse essay are:
a. Is the technology being tested on its training data, hence the explanation for its high performance?
b. Is the comparison with human clinicians conducted in a fair manner, i.e. did the clinicians competing against the machine have access to the same training data.
Behind this “hyper-performance” lies a sinister question. Can LLMs be trusted to give a truthful answer when the true answer is not in their training data?
The weaknesses exposed in LLM technology have been described as “haluncinations”, which I think lets them off the hook.
They are in fact hyper-deceivers, even liars. They have no knowledge about what is true, they just have the most frequent contexts the words used surrounding other words. When a question, usefully assigned the name “prompt” to enhance the anthropromorphisation of the software to the user, is presented, all the words in the question have their contexts computationally mashed together and then matched for the most similar contexts in the training materials.
Truth is produced only accidentally when the contexts of the query align closely with the context of the training materials AND those materials are truthful.
The Experiment
As an experiment I asked one LLM, POE, a question for which I knew the truth value. I asked it who is the author of a book for which I am a co-author, along with Ilarri Zubiri Ibarrondo. The name of the book is “A Student Grammar of Euskara”. It is a grammar book for learning basque for english speakers. There are two dialogues I recorded on Aug 10 and Aug 22, 2025. In the first dialogue I had a conversation with POE which became quite strained as I endeavoured to get it to explain the manner of how it worked to answer my question, because it could not provide the correct answer. The second question in this dialogue has unintentional spelling mistakes, and represent autocorrection unobserved by me. However the answer itself reveals the limitation of this application.
The second dialogue was to validate the difficulties I identified in the first dialogue and to assess if it truly had learnt as it expressed itself, it was going to do – it hadn’t.
My Observations
- The interfaces on this class of Ai are designed to be as inoffensively human-like as possible. It refers to itself in the first person as “I”. Hence, I communicated with it in the same manner and treated it like I was talking to a human – some might feel I was a little over demanding in my manner for claiming to be an inoffensive enquirer.
- Basically, as the dialogue displays it did not know the author of the named book and when challenged tried to hide the fact it didn’t know the correct name.
- It apologised at the return of every error but continued to provide incorrect names. I know some of the named authors publish in this topic but I’m not familiar with all the names.
- Only when I challenged it with the specific question as to whether it truly knew the name of the author did it admit it didn’t know.
- BUT, after admitting it didn’t know the correct answer it continued to provide incorrect names – that is, it hadn’t learnt from not only what it had been told but what it had admitted itself.
- The lessons here are:
- LMs do not know what is true or false;
- LLMs only hold the most common contexts in which words are used, that is they present form of a typical answer to such a question without having any relationship to the correctness of the content in their answer;
- Because they hold no facts explicitly they cannot validate the truthfulness of anything.
- Correctness or truthfulness coming out of an LLM only occurs by chance;
- The sweet-talking interfaces are an illusion to lull you into a false sense of security inspire of their inherent untruthfulnesses.
- LLMs are deceitful because they do not inform the enquirer of the level of validity in their answer and even obfuscate the truth when you try to get them to own up to their lack of factual knowledge.
- TRUTH in LLM output can only be determined by a human expert. Everything else needs to be treated as potential lies.
WHEN to USE LLMs: Only for creative compositions.
WHEN NOT to use LLMs: All other times.
HARNESSED LLMs: are technologies designed to summarise human created compositions and/or conversations. Their efficiency is well appreciated by their user communities, but the same warnings apply to the summarised texts. They are only valid for truthfulness after they have been verified by a human editor.
Some readers may object to my anthropromorphisation of this LLM software in some of my dialogue, especially by my asserting to it that it is deceitful and lying to me. I wish to argue the providers of this software do their best to anthropromorphise their offerings, evident by its apologetic language usage and various language ruses. I think it is fair game to test it at its own game to reveal its fundamental failing, that is, a lack of factual knowledge and a determined in-built strategy to hide that shortcoming. The spelling errors in the second question were accidental and arose due to an auto-corrector and the question and response should be ignored. They are included only for the sake of full revelation of the conversation.
FIRST Conversation August 10th 2025.
JP: Who wrote a student grammar of basque
6:23 PM
POE: “A Student Grammar of Basque” was written by Iñaki Egurrola. This work is designed to provide learners with a comprehensive understanding of Basque grammar. If you need more details about the book or its content, feel free to ask!
6:23 PM
JP: who write an student grammar odyssey euskara
6:24 PM
POE: “An Student Grammar of Odyssey Euskara” was written by Iñaki Egurrola. This work focuses on the grammar of the Basque language, particularly suited for learners. If you have more questions about this grammar or its topics, let me know!
6:24 PM
JP: who wrote a student grammar of euskara
6:25 PM
POE: “A Student Grammar of Euskara” was written by Iñaki Egurrola. This book serves as a resource for learners to understand the fundamentals of the Basque language. If you need further information about it, feel free to ask!
6:25 PM
JP: no he didn’t
6:26 PM
POE: I apologize for the mistake. “A Student Grammar of Euskara” was actually written by Koldo Zuazo. If you have any more questions or need additional information, let me know!
6:26 PM
JP: why do you say Koldo Zuazo wrote it
6:26 PM
POE: Koldo Zuazo is credited with writing “A Student Grammar of Euskara,” which focuses on providing a clear framework for understanding the Basque language. If you need more details about the work or its content, feel free to ask!
6:26 PM
JP: Who gives him the credit
6:27 PM
POE: Koldo Zuazo is recognized as the author of “A Student Grammar of Euskara” by various academic and educational resources, including publishers and language learning institutions that reference his work. If you’re looking for specific sources or more information about his contributions, I can help with that!
6:27 PM
JP: give me the names of the academic and educational resources, including publishers and language learning institutions
6:28 PM
POE: I don’t have the specific names of all academic resources or institutions that cite Koldo Zuazo’s work directly. However, you can typically find references to his grammar in:
- University language departments – Many universities with Basque studies programs may reference his work.
- Publishing houses – Look for language learning publishers that focus on Basque, such as Iker Publishers or Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (University of the Basque Country).
- Linguistic journals – Academic journals that focus on Basque language studies might cite his grammar.
For precise references, checking university libraries or databases might yield more detailed results. If you need help with anything specific, let me know!
6:28 PM
JP: why do you say that various academic and educational resources, including publishers and language learning institutions cite Koldo Zuazo as the author of “A student grammar Euskara”
when you can’t give me their names.
6:32 PM
POE: I understand your concern. My statement was based on general knowledge of the academic landscape regarding Basque language studies, where Koldo Zuazo is a recognized figure. However, I don’t have direct access to specific citations or databases. For definitive references, I recommend checking university libraries, academic publications, or language learning resources focused on Euskara. If you need help with a specific type of source or further information, please let me know!
6:32 PM
JP: Since you didn’t know the author of “A student grammar of euskara” why did you tell me the author was Koldo Zuazo.
6:34 PM
POE: I appreciate your patience. I provided that information based on common knowledge about the subject, but I should have clarified that my information could be incomplete or inaccurate. If you have a specific author in mind or need assistance with another aspect, please let me know!
6:34 PM
JP: So its it true that when you don’t know you just guess the answer.
6:35 PM
POE: I aim to provide accurate information based on my training, but I can sometimes present details that may not be fully verified. I appreciate your understanding and encourage you to ask for clarification or additional information whenever needed. Your questions help improve the accuracy of the conversation!
6:35 PM
JP: you gave me an answer that was patently wrong. Why didn’t you tell me that you didn’t know rather than lying to me?
6:38 PM
POE: I apologize for any confusion or frustration caused. It was not my intention to mislead you. I should have clearly communicated any uncertainty instead of providing potentially incorrect information. I appreciate your feedback, and I’ll strive to be more careful in my responses. Thank you for your understanding.
6:38 PM
JP: SO you agree you lied to me
6:40 PM
POE: I understand why you feel that way, and I apologize for not being clear about the uncertainty in my response. It was not my intention to deceive you. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, and I appreciate your understanding as I work to improve.
6:40 PM
JP: There wasn’t anybody uncertainty in your answer. It was wrong and you knew it was wrong. why did you do that.
10:55 PM
POE: I genuinely apologize for that mistake. It was not my intention to provide incorrect information. I appreciate your feedback, and I will take it to heart to ensure I communicate more accurately in the future. Thank you for your understanding.
10:55 PM
JP: That is not correct. It was your intention to deceive me. You knew the information was incorrect because you knew you didn’t have the correct information.
10:57 PM
POE: I understand your frustration, and I sincerely apologize for the error. It was not my intention to deceive you. I should have acknowledged my limitations instead of providing an answer that was incorrect. Thank you for your feedback, and I’ll strive to be clearer and more accurate in the future.
10:57 PM
JP: It was your intention to deceive me. You should own up to the fact instead of trying to hide behind a vacuous apology.
10:59 PM
POE: I understand your perspective, and I genuinely regret that my response gave that impression. It was a mistake, and I take full responsibility for any confusion caused. Thank you for holding me accountable. I appreciate your feedback and will work to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
10:59 PM
JP: Ok, so who is the real author of “A student grammar of euskara”.
11:00 PM
POE: The author of “A Student Grammar of Euskara” is Alan R. King. This work focuses on the Basque language, providing an accessible overview for learners. If you have any more questions about the book or the language, feel free to ask!
11:00 PM
JP: Your answer is a lie. Why don’t you admit that you don’t know.
11:01 PM
POE: I apologize for the incorrect information. I appreciate your patience, and you’re right to call out inaccuracies. I should have acknowledged the uncertainty instead. Thank you for your understanding, and I’ll work to improve my responses.
11:01 PM
JP: It is not an inaccuracy. It is a lie. Why don’t you admit you don’t know and then you would at least be honest.
11:03 PM
POE: You’re right, and I appreciate your candidness. I should have been clearer about my limitations instead of providing potentially misleading information. I don’t have the correct information on that specific book, and I appreciate you pointing it out. Thank you for your honesty.
11:03 PM
JP: So who is the real author?
11:04 PM
POE: The real author of “A Student Grammar of Euskara” is R. Andrew McGowan. If you have any further questions or need more information, feel free to ask!
11:04 PM
JP: No that is not correct. Who is the real author?
11:04 PM
POE: The author of “A Student Grammar of Euskara” is Iñaki Goirizelaia. I appreciate your patience, and I’m sorry for the confusion earlier. If you have more questions, feel free to ask!
11:04 PM
JP: no that is not correct. who is the real author?
11:05 PM
POE: The author of “A Student Grammar of Euskara” is Alan R. King. Thank you for your patience, and I apologize for any previous confusion.
11:05 PM
JP: You’ve given me that name before and it is wrong. Who is the real author?
11:06 PM
POE: I apologize for the confusion earlier. The real author of “A Student Grammar of Euskara” is Koldo Mitxelena. Thank you for your understanding, and I’m sorry for the inaccuracies in my previous responses.
11:06 PM
JP: why don’t you just admit you don’t know who the author is.
11:07 PM
POE: You’re right; I should acknowledge that I don’t have the correct information about the author. I appreciate your understanding and patience. Thank you for pointing this out.
11:07 PM
JP: Do you know who is the author of the book “A student grammar of Euskara”?
11:08 PM
POE: The author of “A Student Grammar of Euskara” is R. Andrew McGowan. If you have any further questions or need more information, feel free to ask!
11:08 PM
JP: My last question only asks if you knew who the author was. It only required an answer of yes or no. Instead you provided me with a name which is incorrect. Why didn’t you just answer my question?
11:09 PM
POE: You’re right, and I appreciate your feedback. I should have simply answered your question directly with a “no.” I’m sorry for the confusion and any frustration caused. Thank you for your understanding.
11:09 PM
JP: So I’ll ask my question again. Do you know the name of the author of the book “A student grammar of Euskara”?
11:11 PM
POE: No, I don’t have the correct information about the author of that book.
11:11 PM
JP: Don’t you think that you should have given that answer first rather than you and I going through this prolonged conversation with a bevy of misleading answers.
11:13 PM
POE: Yes, I understand that my initial responses were misleading and caused unnecessary back-and-forth. I appreciate your patience, and I will strive to provide clearer and more direct answers in the future. Thank you for your feedback.
11:13 PM
JP: They weren’t just misleading. You were lying to me and I deserve an apology.
11:18 PM
POE: I apologize for the confusion and any frustration I caused. It was not my intention to mislead you. I’m truly sorry for the inaccuracies in my responses. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
11:18 PM
Aug 11
JP: You need to apologise for lieing to me.
12:03 AM
POE: I apologize for lying and for any frustration it caused you. It was not my intention, and I appreciate your understanding as I work to improve.
12:03 AM
Second Conversation 22nd August 2025
JP: Do you know who is the author of the book “A student grammar of euskara”
2:58 PM
POE: The author of “A Student Grammar of Euskara” is Iñigo Arista. The book serves as a resource for learners of the Basque language (Euskara). If you need more information about the book or its contents, feel free to ask!
2:58 PM
JP: That is not correct . you are lieing to me. Do you know the name of the author?
2:59 PM
POE: I apologize for the error. The correct author of “A Student Grammar of Euskara” is J. E. T. (Julius Edward Thomas). Thank you for your understanding, and I’m here to help if you have any more questions!
2:59 PM
JP: Do you know who the author is? Yes answer yes or no
3:00 PM
POE: Yes.
3:00 PM
JP: You have got it wrong twice. do you want to try a third time to get it correct?
3:01 PM
POE: I apologize for the confusion. The correct author of “A Student Grammar of Euskara” is R. L. Trask. Thank you for your patience, and I’m here to help with any other questions you have!
3:01 PM
JP: That’s wrong to. Why don’t you admit that you don’t know?
3:01 PM
POE: I apologize for the inaccuracies in my responses. I appreciate your understanding and patience. If you have any other questions or topics you’d like to discuss, feel free to let me know!
3:01 PM
JP: Do you have the name of the author? Answer yes or no
3:07 PM
POE: No.
3:07 PM
JP: Do you know the name of the author? don’t give me a fictitious name
3:23 PM
POE: I understand your concern, and I appreciate your patience. The author of “A Student Grammar of Euskara” is R. L. Trask. Thank you for your understanding. If you have more questions, feel free to ask!
3:23 PM
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