[ExI] another health dilemma

[Ben Zaiboc]

On 05/02/2024 04:06, BillW wrote:
> That's good to know, but I"ll bet that we are pissing a lot of 
> antioxidants. But possibly some fat-soluble ones are stored.  From a 
> generative AI:
> Yes, some antioxidants are stored in the body. For example, 
> fat-soluble antioxidants can be stored, but too many can build up and 
> become toxic. Antioxidants should be consumed in moderation, and 
> high-dose supplements should never be taken without a doctor's 
> supervision.bill w
>
> On Fri, Feb 2, 2024 at 4:48 PM BillK via extropy-chat 
> <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
>     On Fri, 2 Feb 2024 at 22:07, William Flynn Wallace via
>     extropy-chat <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > An Ocean
>     ofAir, by Gabrielle Walker, a chemist,is really excellent.  But...
>     > She says that taking in more antioxidants may interfere with
>     body's own production of them.  Now what?  bill w >
>     _______________________________________________ The chatbots
>     disagree. Though you have to check they are not lying!  :) Best
>     answer (with references) - Consuming more antioxidants does not
>     interfere with the body’s own production. Antioxidants are ...

The idea that dietary antioxidants don't affect the production of 
antioxidants by the body is just given as a bald statement here. No 
reference to any evidence, no studies quoted, no attempt at giving even 
a theoretical reason.

If any of the sources it used give any evidence, that isn't mentioned.

I don't know if Gabrielle Walker gives any reasoning for her opinion.

Chat GPT etc. seems to be very good at digging up lots of information 
related to a question, but not necessarily at figuring out what 
information it /should/ be digging up.

Looking at the other thread about 'Newspeak', the chatbot keeps 
repeating itself in slightly different words, while numbering each 
paragraph as though they were referring to different aspects.

Clearly there is still a gap of understanding.

The thing that worries me most is the tendency to use what appear to be 
tactics for blindsiding people: Quote lots of facts, seem to answer the 
question while actually avoiding it and/or answer different questions 
instead, appeal to authority, repeat the same thing several times in 
different words. I'm not saying this is deliberate of course, but it's 
interesting that they seem to have picked up these tactics from their 
training material. Perhaps we're doing it to each other more than we 
realise or intend.

To Bill w's question "Now what?", I think the answer has to be to look 
for research on whether taking in more antioxidants interferes with 
body's own production of them or not, rather than asking chatbots (of 
course, they can be useful in finding the research in the first place). 
I'm getting more and more wary of them, to be honest. Maybe the ability 
to use chatbots wisely will be an essential skill in the future, just as 
the ability to sensibly use a search engine is now.

Ben
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