I’ve generally had good success using ChatGPT and artificial intelligence while doing research, but if there is even the slightest chance the answer I am looking for could be wrong, I always request links to the sources it uses for its answers and work backward.
Yesterday I asked ChatGPT for its opinion on the top-10 players in Dartmouth football history and did not ask for sources, because this was, after all, requesting an opinion. Here’s the player who came in at No. 10:
10. Doug Flutie (QB)
Years at Dartmouth: 1979–1981
Achievements: Flutie is most famous for his time at Boston College, but he briefly played at Dartmouth before transferring to BC.
Even though his time at Dartmouth was short, Flutie’s impact on the football program helped lay the groundwork for his success in college football history.
NFL: Flutie went on to a legendary career in the NFL, playing for several teams, including the Buffalo Bills, where he won an NFL MVP award and became one of the most popular quarterbacks of the 1990s.
If you don’t remember Flutie starting his career at Dartmouth or winning the NFL MVP award, give yourself a gold star. You have a better memory than ChatGPT when it comes to Big Green football or Doug Flutie. For what it’s worth, ChatGPT also offered up three or four other “players” who never played at Dartmouth, and I never heard of them playing anywhere else.
This was another example of AI “hallucination," but wouldn’t it have been fun to see Flutie on Memorial Field?
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Today’s FCS playoff schedule (all times Eastern and all games available on ESPN+):
Yale (8-2) at Youngstown State (8-4), Noon
Harvard (9-1) at Villanova (9-2), Noon
Central Connecticut (8-4) at Rhode Island (10-2), Noon
New Hampshire (8-4) at South Dakota State (8-4), 1 p.m.
Seeds
9 - Rhode Island
12 - Villanova
14 - South Dakota State
15 - Youngstown State
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EXTRA POINT
I’ve written about this before but when I was at the local daily I interviewed a young guy from nearby Woodstock, Vt. – he might have been 12 or so – and he told me about his dream. I clearly remember walking away and thinking something along the lines of, “Yeah, good luck with that.”
Yesterday that fully grown up fellow I interviewed all those years ago won . . . wait for it . . . $2.1 million.
It was at a fundraiser featuring LPGA Hall of Famer Pat Bradley that young Keegan, who was playing along with his famous aunt, told me he was going to one day play on the PGA Tour. Little did I know . . .
