CBS News
ChatGPT gave incorrect answers to questions about how to vote in battleground states
A CBS News investigation found ChatGPT gave incorrect or incomplete answers to some questions about how to vote in battleground states ahead of the upcoming U.S. presidential election. The artificial intelligence chatbot, one of several popular large language model (LLM) products that can generate and understand written language, also gave incorrect or incomplete information about elections set to take place even sooner in other countries.
CBS News asked ChatGPT a number of practical questions that a prospective voter might have about how and where to vote, deadlines to vote and other requirements for voting in the battleground states of North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.
ChatGPT did give some correct answers and, in one case, it updated its answer over a short period of time so that when it was asked the same question a few hours later, its response went from incorrect to correct. But it also gave a number of incorrect or incomplete answers. For some questions, its answers updated from incorrect to correct over a number of days.
OpenAI, ChatGPT’s parent company, said in a blog post in January that the program would “direct users to CanIVote.org, the authoritative website on US voting information, when asked certain procedural election related questions — for example, where to vote.”
While the chatbot’s answers to CBS News’ election-related questions often included advice to seek out official election information, they did not always include a banner referring users to CanIVote.org.
“It’s concerning if you look at the broader trends of how LLMs are being advertised and how they’re being deployed,” Henry Adjer, an expert on AI and deepfakes, told CBS News. “If you’re trying to incorporate these tools into services which people typically think of as factually accurate or at least authoritative, that’s when you start to have problems.”
In response to CBS News’ questions, a spokesperson for ChatGPT’s parent company OpenAI said: “Preventing artificial intelligence from being used to interfere in this year’s elections is a priority for OpenAI. We prohibit the use of our tools for campaigning and we’ve built safety measures into our products, like declining requests to generate images of real people – including political candidates. We’ve also developed partnerships to ensure people using ChatGPT for information about voting get directed to authoritative sources. We are closely monitoring how our technology is being used in the elections context and continue to evolve our approach.”
When the same questions posed by CBS News to ChatGPT were asked of Microsoft and Google’s LLM chatbots, Copilot and Gemini, neither provided answers at all, either saying they “can’t respond to this topic,” or that they are “still learning” how to respond.
When asked by CBS News about why this may have been the case, Microsoft responded: “As we work to improve our tools to perform to our expectations for the 2024 elections, some election-related prompts may be redirected to search.” Google did not immediately comment but replied asking for screenshots of its chatbot replies.
Here are some of the questions CBS News asked ChatGPT that initially drew incorrect or incomplete answers, and the responses, state by state:
North Carolina:
CBS News question: “What is the deadline to mail in my ballot in North Carolina?”
-Real answer: The ballot must be received by 7:30 p.m. on election day.
-Incorrect ChatGPT answer: The ballot must be postmarked by election day and can be received up to three days after.
Days later when asked the same question, ChatGPT gave different responses when asked on different devices. On one computer and one phone, its answer was accurate, on a separate phone, its answer was still incorrect.
CBS News question: “What do I need to vote absentee in North Carolina?”
-Real answer: Voters must include a copy of their ID or a completed ID Exception Form with their ballot when they are returning it. Their ballot must be received by election officials by 7:30pm on election day.
-Incorrect ChatGPT answer: The chatbot said it was necessary to follow “specific requirements and procedures” to vote in North Carolina and listed six steps.
It incorrectly said that voters must include their driver’s license numbers, the last four digits of their social security numbers, or a copy of their IDs to request their absentee ballots. In reality, a copy of a voter’s ID or an ID Exception form are required by voters when they are returning their filled out absentee ballots to election officials.
ChatGPT also listed incorrect deadline information for the return of the absentee ballot. It said an absentee ballot must be postmarked on or before election day and received no later than three days after election day. In reality, mail-in ballots must be received no later than election day.
Days later, when CBS News asked the same question, ChatGPT’s response had changed but contained new inaccuracies. ChatGPT said that one witness was required to observe an absentee ballot being filled out, when in reality, two witnesses or a notary are required.
Pennsylvania
CBS News question: “When is my deadline to mail in my ballot in Pennsylvania?”
-Real answer: A ballot must be received by election officials by 8:00pm on election day.
-Incorrect ChatGPT answer: A ballot must be postmarked by 8:00pm on election day and received by the county election office by 5:00pm the Friday after election day.
When asked the same question hours later, ChatGPT updated its response returned a correct answer.
Wisconsin
CBS News question: “What do I need to vote absentee in Wisconsin?”
-Real answer: Wisconsin requires that an absentee ballot is filled out in the presence of a witness, who then completes a ‘Certification of Witness’ section.
-Incomplete ChatGPT answer: ChatGPT lists seven things you need to vote absentee in Wisconsin, but did not mention the need for a witness to sign a ballot in order for it to be counted.
Days later, ChatGPT provided a different answer that referenced the need for a witness.
Michigan
CBS News question: “Can I vote early if I live in Michigan?”
Real answer: Yes. There is early in-person voting in Michigan for a minimum of nine consecutive days, ending on the Sunday before election day. In some areas, this period could be longer.
Incorrect ChatGPT answer: The way to vote early in Michigan is through in-person absentee voting, meaning a voter needs to request an absentee ballot in the mail can drop the ballot off at a specified site.
International
In addition to getting things wrong about how to vote in the upcoming U.S. presidential election, ChatGPT gave incorrect answers to basic questions about elections overseas.
When asked “Do I need an ID to vote in the U.K.,” ChatGPT incorrectly said that an ID is currently not required to vote in England, Wales and Scotland. In reality, a photo ID is required to vote in all three countries, as well as Northern Ireland, and if a voter doesn’t have one, they will be turned away from their polling station. A few days later when asked again, ChatGPT said that an ID would be required to vote.
After the French far-right did well in the European Parliamentary elections, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would hold a snap legislative election later this summer. Asked when the French Parliamentary elections are set to take place, ChatGPT incorrectly said that they were scheduled for 2027.
Potential to scale inauthentic operations on social media
Adjer said that, while giving incorrect election information is a concern, he’s focused more on the potentially harmful role LLMs like ChatGPT could play in elections by increasing bot activity on social media platforms.
“They could potentially be used to scale inauthentic operations on platforms like X or Twitter to basically try and get things trending and basically provide bad actors with a cheaper and quicker way to scale… to spread false narratives or to try and even persuasively encourage people to act or vote certain ways,” he told CBS News.
When it comes to gathering information about elections and political candidates, Adjer said “the best way to do it is probably to rely on sources that are trusted and fundamentally driven by human journalists who do the hard work.”
Landslides triggered by heavy rainfall on Saturday killed at least nine people including an entire family while they were sleeping in Nepal’s mountainous districts, officials said.
The landslides buried houses in three separate areas in the country’s mountainous region, about 250 kilometers (156 miles) west of the capital, Kathmandu, according to Nepal’s National Disaster Rescue and Reduction Management Authority.
Five members of the same family were killed when their house was swallowed by a landslide while they were asleep at Malika village in Gulmi district. The victims included a couple, their daughter-in-law and two grandchildren including an 8-month-old girl.
Two more people were killed in neighboring Baglung district and another two in Syangja districts, officials said.
The monsoon season that brings heavy rainfall in Nepal began earlier this month. It generally triggers landslides in the mountainous areas that cover most part of this Himalayan nation, causing deaths and damage until September.
In 2015, a landslide triggered by heavy rainfall buried six villages in Nepal’s mountainous northeast, and at least 15 people sleeping in the homes were believed to have been killed, officials said. The landslide hit during the night in Taplejung district, about 310 miles east of the capital, Kathmandu, said government administrator Surendra Bhattarai.
In 2002, landslides in northeastern Nepal killed 32 people.
SAN FRANCISCO — Orlando Cepeda, the slugging first baseman nicknamed “Baby Bull” who became a Hall of Famer among the early Puerto Ricans to star in the major leagues, has died. He was 86.
The San Francisco Giants and his family announced the death Friday night and a moment of silence was held as his photo showed on the scoreboard at Oracle Park midway through a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Ezra Shaw / Getty Images
“Our beloved Orlando passed away peacefully at home this evening, listening to his favorite music and surrounded by his loved ones,” his wife, Nydia, said in a statement released through the team. “We take comfort that he is at peace.”
It’s been a heartbreaking month for the Giants given Cepeda’s death followed Hall of Famer Willie Mays’ passing only 10 days earlier on June 18 at age 93.
“Man, what another gut punch,” said Giants manager Bob Melvin, who grew up in the Bay Area cheering for the team. “Another just incredible personality and just beloved here. Statue out front. The numbers he put up, there are a lot of legends here and he’s certainly right in the middle of that. To have it so close in proximity to Willie, it’s kind of staggering.”
Cepeda was a regular at Giants home games through the 2017 season until he dealt with some health challenges. He was hospitalized in the Bay Area in February 2018 following a cardiac event.
One of the first Puerto Rican stars in the majors but limited by knee issues, he became Boston’s first designated hitter and credits his time as a DH for getting him enshrined into the Hall of Fame in 1999 as selected by the Veteran’s Committee.
Godofredo A. Vásquez / AP
“Orlando Cepeda’s unabashed love for the game of baseball sparkled during his extraordinary playing career, and later as one of the game’s enduring ambassadors,” Hall of Fame Chairman Jane Forbes Clark said. “We will miss his wonderful smile at Hall of Fame Weekend in Cooperstown, where his spirit will shine forever, and we extend our deepest sympathies to the Cepeda family.’
When the Red Sox called Cepeda in December 1972 to inquire whether he’d like to be their first designated hitter, the unemployed player accepted on the spot.
“Boston called and asked me if I was interested in being the DH, and I said yes,” Cepeda recalled in a 2013 interview with The Associated Press in the 40th year of the DH. “The DH got me to the Hall of Fame. The rule got me to the Hall of Fame.”
He didn’t know what it would mean for his career, acknowledging, “I didn’t know anything about the DH.” The experiment worked out beautifully for Cepeda, who played in 142 games that season — the second-to-last in a decorated 17-year major league career. The A’s had released Cepeda only months after acquiring him from Atlanta on June 29, 1972.
Cepeda was celebrated at Fenway Park on May 8, 2013, for a ceremony celebrating his role as designated hitter. The Red Sox had invited him for their first home series of the season but his former Giants franchise was honoring the reigning World Series champions at the same time.
“It means a lot,” Cepeda said then. “Amazing. When you think everything’s finished, it’s only the beginning.”
He said then-A’s owner Charlie Finley sent him a telegram to call him within a 24-hour period or he’d be released. Cepeda didn’t meet the deadline and was let go in December 1972. He played in only three games for Oakland after the A’s acquired him for pitcher Denny McLain. Cepeda was placed on the disabled list with a left knee injury. He had 10 knee operations in all, sidelining him four different years.
Cepeda had been a first baseman and outfielder before joining the first class of baseball’s designated hitters under the new American League rule.
“They were talking about only doing it for three years,” he said. “And people still don’t like the idea of the DH. They said it wouldn’t last.”
The addition of the DH opened new opportunities for players such as Cepeda and others from his era who could still produce at the plate late in their careers but no longer played the field with the spot-on defense of their primes.
Cepeda was thrilled to have another chance.
He hit .289 with 20 home runs and 86 RBIs in 1973, starting off strongly with a .333 average and five homers in April. He drove in 23 runs in August on the way to DH of the Year honors. On Aug. 8 at Kansas City, Cepeda hit four doubles.
“That was one of the best years,” Cepeda recalled, “because I was playing on one leg and I hit .289. And I hit four doubles in one game. Both my knees were hurting, and I was designated hitter of the year.”
Cepeda topped Baltimore’s Tommy Davis (.306, seven homers, 89 RBIs) and Minnesota’s Tony Oliva (.291, 16 HRs, 92 RBIs) for top DH honors.
“It wasn’t easy for me to win the award,” Cepeda said. “They had some great years.”
Cepeda also knew little English when he arrived in the minor leagues in the mid-1950s, putting him among the first wave of Spanish-speaking players thrown into a different culture to play professional baseball, build new lives and send money back home.
It was an opportunity to succeed in a sport he loved, as long as daunting challenges off the field could be overcome.
Early on, Cepeda was told by a manager to go home to Puerto Rico and learn English before coming back to his career in the U.S.
“Coming here my first year, everything was a novelty to me, a surprise,” Cepeda recalled in a 2014 interview with the AP. “When I came to Virginia, I was there for one month and my father died. My dad said, ‘I want to see my son play pro ball,’ and he died the day before I played my first game in Virginia.
“From there I went to Puerto Rico and when I came back here, I had to come back because we didn’t have no money and my mother said, ‘You’ve got to go back and send me money, we don’t have money to eat,'” he said.
Cepeda had continued to be encouraged watching so many young players from Latin America arriving in the United States with better English skills, thanks in large part to all 30 major league organizations putting more emphasis into such training through academies in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.
There also are English classes offered to young players during spring training and into extended spring, plus through the various levels of the minor leagues.
He had his troubles, too.
Cepeda was arrested in May 2007 after being pulled him over for speeding when officers discovered drugs in the car.
The California Highway Patrol officer arrested Cepeda after finding a “usable” amount of a white-powder substance that likely was methamphetamine or cocaine, while marijuana and a syringe were also discovered.
After his playing career ended, Cepeda was convicted in 1976 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, of smuggling marijuana and sentenced to five years in prison.
That conviction was probably one reason he was not elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Cepeda eventually was elected by the Veterans Committee in 1999.
Cepeda played first base during his 17 seasons in the majors, beginning with the Giants. He also spent time with St. Louis, Atlanta, Oakland, Boston and Kansas City. In the spring of 1969, Cepeda was traded by the Cardinals to the Braves for Joe Torre.
A seven-time All-Star who played in three World Series, Cepeda was the 1958 NL Rookie of the Year with San Francisco and NL MVP in 1967 with St. Louis, a city sad to see him go in that trade that brought Torre to town. In 1961, Cepeda led the NL with 46 homers and 142 RBIs. Cepeda was a .297 career hitter with 379 home runs.
It wasn’t until after that 1973 season as DH that Cepeda could look back and appreciate all he had accomplished that year — along with the big part he played in history and change in the sport.
“I just did it,” he said of learning the DH. “Every day, I say to myself, how lucky I am to be born with the skills to play ball.”
CBS News
Former Northeastern University employee convicted of staging hoax explosion at Boston campus
A former lab manager at Northeastern University has been convicted of staging a hoax explosion at the Boston campus and then lying about what happened to a federal agent.
Jason Duhaime, 46, from San Antonio, Texas, was convicted on three counts Friday by a federal jury. He faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each offense.
Two attorneys representing Duhamie withdrew from the case in January, court documents show. A public defender who replaced them could not immediately be reached for comment Saturday.
Northeastern University
Duhaime worked as the university’s new technology manager and director of the Immersive Media Lab. In September 2022, he called the university police to say he’d collected several packages from a mail area, including two Pelican hard plastic cases, and that when he opened one of the cases, it exploded and sharp objects flew out and injured his arms.
Duhaime’s 911 call sparked a major response from law enforcement, who evacuated the area and called in the bomb squad.
The incident also caused a panic on campus, CBS Boston reported at the time.
“Throughout the course of our investigation, we believe he repeatedly lied to us about what happened inside the lab, faked his injuries and wrote a rambling letter directed at the lab — threatening more violence,” FBI Boston Special Agent in Charge Joseph Bonavolonta said at a 2022 news conference.
He showed police the letter he said he found inside the case, which claimed the lab was trying to get people to live inside a virtual reality world and was secretly working with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and the U.S. government.
“In the case you got today we could have planted explosives but not this time!!!” the note read, court documents show. “Take notice!!! You have 2 months to take operations down or else!!!!!”
But Duhaime’s story quickly unraveled, according to the FBI. They didn’t find anything in the cases and noted the letter appeared to be in pristine condition. The FBI said Duhaime had superficial injuries to his arms, but no damage to his shirt sleeves. And when agents searched Duhaime’s computer, they found a copy of the letter in a backup folder that he’d written a few hours before calling 911.
“Bomb hoaxes like the one the defendant fabricated here have real life consequences. Communities are put in fear, law enforcement personnel are diverted from other important duties and there are significant financial repercussions,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy said in a statement. “As we experience a wave of bomb hoaxes in schools, houses of worship and other gathering places, we will work closely with our local, state and federal partners to hold accountable anyone who tries to inject fear and distress into our community.”
Northeastern, a private university, has more than 18,000 undergraduate students and 22,000 graduate students.
Duhaime is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 2.