ChatGPT couldn’t answer this question about Star Trek stars
By Mike Poteet
Did Nichelle Nichols sing with Carol Burnett?
Star Trek teaches us to be optimistic, to hold out hope. I desperately wanted to believe that Nichelle Nichols, at least, had appeared on The Carol Burnett Show. I wanted to believe Burnett had sung a duet with Nichols, as she did with so many of her musical guest stars. I couldn’t imagine I’d never seen such a clip if it existed, but I was willing to be proven ignorant.
I asked ChatGPT for details, and it referred me to “a Star Trek parody sketch titled ‘Trek to the Stars’ which aired on November 29, 1967.” It also offered three sources to back it up.
“According to IMDB,” I told the bot, “there was no episode of The Carol Burnett Show on November 29, 1967.” Oh, how I wished the ChatGPT interface allowed for italics and boldface! I felt like Samuel T. Cogley in “Court Martial,” raging against the machine (see the video above).
ChatGPT acknowledged I was correct, and now told me “Trek from the Stars” appeared on the October 2, 1967 episode.
I checked, and told ChatGPT: “IMDB says the October 2, 1967 episode of The Carol Burnett Show did not include a sketch entitled ‘Trek to the Stars.’”
ChatGPT made one last reply, still clinging to some shred of its dignity: “I apologize for the continued errors in my previous responses. Upon further research, it appears that there may have been some confusion regarding Nichelle Nichols’ appearance on The Carol Burnett Show. While it is widely reported that Nichelle Nichols appeared on The Carol Burnett Show in a sketch titled ‘Trek to the Stars,’ it is possible that the specific episode and date of the sketch are uncertain or incorrect. The sketch may have appeared on a different episode or been retitled.”
Anytime anyone, mortal or machine, uses the passive voice, pay close attention. If they tell you “many people say” or “it is widely reported” but can’t tell you by whom, you are right to be suspicious. They may not, in the end, be wrong, but do your due diligence and check the facts for yourself.
My work here was done. I felt like Captain Kirk after he’s outreasoned or outtalked one of the various would-be supercomputer gods the Enterprise encountered every so often.
ChatGPT was Norman on Mudd’s world, his ears steaming with the strain.
ChatGPT was Nomad, confronted with its errors, one by one.
And I shed no tears!