ChatGPT users unhappy with botsplaining

A recent thread on Reddit's r/ChatGPT has sparked a lively discussion about the ethical guidelines integrated into the GPT-4 model. The user behind the original post, Athoros_Iarek, expressed frustrations about the moral lecturing, or botsplaining, embedded in the AI's responses, which they claim has become increasingly prominent in recent weeks.

The user cited several examples of the AI model's behavior that they found problematic. For instance, the AI allegedly lectured the user about the ethical implications of creating a macro for a defunct MMO game server, warning about potential rule-breaking and fairness issues. Another incident involved the AI cautioning the user about cultural appropriation when they requested a Russian-inspired Star Wars character name.

These ethical interventions by the ChatGPT, though designed to promote responsible use, have left some users feeling frustrated and slowed down in their interactions with the AI. Athoros_Iarek lamented that the model is becoming less useful for both their professional tasks and leisure activities, mainly due to the constant "moral dilemma garbage" as they put it.

The user's grievances prompted a flurry of responses from the community, with some commenters sharing similar experiences of the AI's moral lecturing impeding their usage. One commenter suggested that the AI's excessive caution stems from its inability to understand context, leading to unnecessary ethical warnings in situations where they are not applicable.

I have no need for a screwdriver hell bent on trying to figure out what I'm going to screw.

— u/rushmc1

The situation raises important questions about the integration of ethical guidelines in AI systems. While such guidelines are crucial in preventing misuse of AI, their implementation needs to strike a delicate balance. Too strict enforcement may lead to user dissatisfaction and hinder the bot's utility, as evident from the Reddit thread.

The Reddit community is yet to come to a consensus on potential solutions. However, one commonly suggested approach is to improve the ChatGPT's contextual understanding. This could potentially reduce the frequency of unnecessary ethical interventions, thus enhancing the user experience without compromising the ethical guidelines. One of the users suggested reminding ChatGPT that as an AI model it doesn't have an opinion and it's purpose is to comply to user's requests.