Margaret Atwood Slams AI as 'Garbage In, Garbage Out' in Blunt Critique

Margaret Atwood slams AI, says "it's garbage in, garbage out"

Washington, June 28

Speaking during a career 'Q and A' at the inaugural Babell Literary and Cultural Festival in Porto, Portugal, Atwood reflected on her first and only encounter with Anthropic's Claude AI.

As per Deadline, the celebrated writer, who was in Portugal primarily to discuss her memoir Book of Lives, said she turned to the chatbot not for writing assistance but to uncover a spoiler from the British detective series Father Brown.

"Claude gave me the wrong answer, or it lied. Of course, it didn't know it was lying because it's not a human being; it's a large language model," Atwood said, adding, "It had skimmed and sampled a lot of television reviews, but they never give away the ending in online criticism, so it was misled by the things it had read about the show," as per Deadline.

Using the anecdote to explain her broader concerns about AI, Atwood argued that large language models, which are trained using previously published material, are not reliable enough to be depended on without verification.

"Human beings are not robots, but they are opportunists, so if there's an easy way to cheat and it's hard to detect, people will do it," she said, adding, "But the thing about AI is that it's garbage in, garbage out. Even people who use it for business reasons have to check it because it makes mistakes."

The discussion also turned to censorship, a subject closely associated with Atwood's decades-long career.

Her works have often faced political challenges and bans, with The Handmaid's Tale appearing last year on PEN America's list of the most-banned books in school districts across the United States.

"It's a good sales gimmick," Atwood joked when asked about book bans, adding, "Don't read this book. It's too hot to read. And then people rush off to buy it and think, where are the depraved parts?"

Atwood said living in Canada has largely shielded her from direct censorship, describing the country as being mostly committed to freedom of speech and thought.

However, she expressed concern over the current political climate in the United States.

"What's happening in the United States right now is that they're attempting to stifle political dissent, and as we know, that's the lead-up to a dictatorship. Luckily, the Americans aren't buying it," she said.

"And we don't have a state media over there yet, although the billionaire pro-Trumpers are buying up legacy television stations and newspapers. That's what they're trying to do. But there is, however, a counter movement that is bringing the establishment of new media and outlets with large distribution online. It's something to be watched," she said, according to Deadline.

The session concluded on a lighter note when Atwood was asked to name her favourite book that she has written. Staying true to her trademark wit, she declined to choose.

"I never make such choices because the others will hear about it and they'll get their revenge," she joked.

The Babell Literary and Cultural Festival runs until June 29.

— ANI