You have to help AI

One of the best things about ChatGPT is....you can actually have a chat. Meaning that it remembers the previous contributions to the existing conversation, which is something traditional search engines don't do. However, you have to have some degree of scepticism about what it tells you.

I recently asked ChatGPT "Which of arsenal's first team squad are 6 feet or more tall?" [why? I hear you ask; good question]. It came up with a dreadful set of answers which I knew to be out of date because previous players were included. Now here's another good thing about ChatGPT: it tells you where it got its data from. In this case it quoted Ladbrokes, the bookmakers. Now no-one in their right mind, trying to answer this question, would dream of using Ladbrokes as the source material for the answer. So, in attempt to educate the AI, I followed up with "Some of this is out of date. Try alternative source". The conversation continued "You’re right — that source was stale. Pulling from ESPN’s current 2025/26 Arsenal squad page, here are the players listed at 6'0" (183 cm) or taller as of 30 Aug 2025". And that was that; I got my info, well sourced.

I wanted to persist with my annoyance: "can i ask you not to use ladbrokes next time?" and got the response "Got it — I’ll steer clear of Ladbrokes as a source for squad info. ESPN, Transfermarkt, the Premier League’s official site, and Arsenal’s own page are much more solid anyway."

Questions remain:

• If it knows those sites are "more solid", why did it go to Ladbrokes in the first place?
• Will ChatGPT retain my "Ladbrokes ban" for future conversations or just this one?

I didn't know the answers so I simply asked. "If you know those sites are "more solid", why did you go to Ladbrokes in the first place?"

Answer: "Fair point. Honestly, it comes down to how the search engine serves results. When I did that first fetch, Ladbrokes had a nicely formatted squad list that showed up high in the rankings, so I pulled from it. Problem is, betting sites often copy data from older feeds and don’t always keep it fresh — which is exactly what you spotted. The more reliable places (ESPN, Transfermarkt, official Premier League/club sites) sometimes sit lower down in search results or behind trickier layouts, so they don’t always surface on the first pass. I should have gone straight for them once you asked about something as specific as player heights."

So there you have it - this version of ChatGPT goes for speed of response ahead of accuracy. I'm still like a dog with a bone so I ask "Do you have settings where I can optimise accuracy rather than speed?"

Answer: "Not in the sense of a toggle you can flip, Nigel. There’s no “accuracy mode” vs “speed mode” built into me. What actually happens is:

• By default, I try to balance speed and reliability, which means sometimes I grab whatever structured data surfaces quickest (like that Ladbrokes squad list).

• If you’d rather I always prioritise accuracy, you can just tell me explicitly: “only use official or trusted sources (ESPN, PL, club site, Transfermarkt)” — and I’ll go that route, even if it takes a bit longer to fetch and verify. Think of it less like a setting, more like giving me marching orders for how thorough you want me to be."

Finally, I asked the key question "If I say 'only use official or trusted sources', does this apply to this conversation or all future conversations?"

Answer: "Right now it would only apply to this conversation unless you tell me to remember it. If you want it to carry over into all future chats, I can save a note in your profile (something like “Nigel prefers that football info comes only from official or trusted sources like PL, Arsenal site, ESPN, Transfermarkt”). That way I’ll automatically follow it without you needing to remind me every time. Do you want me to make that a standing rule for you?"

Yes, I said.

"Updated saved memory. All set — I’ll stick to those trusted sources for football info going forward."

I'm baffled where and in what form this "saved memory" is; will it be accessed by my conversations on a different device? So I asked and was told "Yes — the memory I’ve saved for you is tied to your account, not the device. So whether you’re on your desktop, phone, or anything else signed into your ChatGPT account, I’ll carry over that preference about using only trusted football sources."

I end the conversation with a completely superfluous "Thanks". Basically because I like to feel I'm conversing with a sentient being and, in conversation with a human, that's what I'd do.

I think you have to not only learn how the AI works but also how to help it come up with the right answers. Just thought you'd like to know.

Incidentally, this is all from ChatGPT's free version. If you want, you can get "advanced reasoning" for £20 p.m. or "pro reasoning" for £200 p.m. Not for me.

Also incidentally, most of the regular search engines now include AI responses, so the ubiquitous verb to "google" is no more.