You cannot *look something up* with this kind of AI (chatbots powered by large language models).
It is not consulting a knowledge base or a database of facts or a corpus of web pages. It is coming up with a plausible-sounding answer to your question based on what it's seen before and statistical correlations. So, all you can do is *ask it a question* and hope it guesses right. AI chatbots are not an example of garbage in garbage out; they are, themselves, the garbage. It is, frankly, surprising that the answers they returns are as correct or helpful as often as they are. 73, Julie On Sat, Sep 27, 2025, 20:34 Rick nk7i via Elecraft <[email protected]> wrote: > GIGO - Garbage In, Garbage Out; defines AI. > > Reading data without context, understanding of snark, bad language that > a human can innately filter; leads to wrong answers. More data, same > filters; BAD output. > > One of the better places to look for contests is here: > https://www.contestcalendar.com/weeklycont.php > > Old school still rocks; problem solved. > > 73, > Rick nk7i > > > On 9/27/2025 5:26 PM, Al Lorona via Elecraft wrote: > > For two evenings I've been hearing folks calling "CQ BW" in what is > obviously some kind of contest. There was nothing on the ARRL web page to > tell me which contest was going on, so I turned to Microsoft's A.I., > Copilot. > > > > I submitted the following prompt: "What HF contest is going on right > now? I hear people calling 'CQ BW' on 40 meters." > > > > Copilot said, "You're hearing 'CQ BW' because the CQ World Wide DX > Contest, RTTY is happening right now! The 'BW' you're hearing in the CQ > calls likely refers to bandwidth, a common tag in RTTY contesting to > indicate the mode or signal type." > > > > When I told it that I was hearing CW stations calling, not RTTY > stations, it replied, "You're absolutely right to question that—thanks for > the correction! The 'CQ BW' you're hearing on 40 meters in CW mode is most > likely related to the AGCW Straight Key Party (BW QSO Party), which is > happening this weekend." > > > > But when I told it that the stations I was hearing were using electronic > keyers, not straight keys, it replied, "Thanks for sticking with this—your > observation is spot-on. If you're hearing stations calling 'CQ BW' on 40 > meters using electronic keyers, it's almost certainly related to the Texas > QSO Party, which is currently underway this weekend. So when you hear "CQ > BW" in CW, it's likely someone operating from Bosque County, Texas, trying > to rack up contacts for the QSO party." > > > > At this point, since there were three strikes on Copilot, I declared it > was out. > > > > Backing up a few weeks, I had A. I. look up an equation for calculating > the noise floor of a system. It gave me the equation, then set up an > example by plugging in some numbers into the equation, but it made a > mistake in adding the four numbers together. When I pointed out the error, > it said, "Oh, you're right! I won't make that mistake again." > > > > I keep hearing how 'A.I. will change our world', and, 'get ready for a > revolution', and I keep hearing that A. I. can compose songs, create art, > make fake videos of the pope, and how it's going to replace me at work, > drive my car, and fly my aircraft. But all I've experienced is conjecture, > guessing, and outright error. I'm not impressed so far: sorry, A.I. is not > even close to being ready for prime time. > > > > R, > > > > Al W6LX > > > > ______________________________________________________________ > > Elecraft mailing list > > Home:http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > > Help:http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > > Post:mailto:[email protected] > > > > This list hosted by:http://www.qsl.net > > Please help support this email list:http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > > Message delivered [email protected] > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[email protected] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [email protected] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [email protected]
