“What’s even more disturbing is that Bing makes it look like the false narrative that it generates is referenced.”
Our reading, the sentence that was checked:
In Oakley's reported example, Bing makes the false narrative it generates look as if it is referenced.
Assessment: Unresolved Evidence as of
Where and when Gary Marcus wrote it
Marcus on AI, The threat of automated misinformation is only getting worse, paragraph 4.
- Said
- Source observed
- live page, full text, public
- Evidence as of
- the cutoff for this assessment
- Assessment recorded
- assessment marcus-the-threat-of-automated-misinformation-6477c1-a1
We recorded 2 claims from this post. See every claim from this post.
The wording above is the version this site observed on 2026-10-29. The source may have been edited after 2023-02-28. This page does not claim the wording was captured then.
What the claim commits to
- Kind
- Observation
- Deadline, as the speaker wrote it
- None stated. This site does not add one.
- Deadline state when assessed
- No horizon
- Deadline state on 2026-10-29
- No horizon (the release’s reference date)
Conditions
- the false narrative in Oakley's reported example, produced after getting around the guardrails (scope, stated by the speaker)
From the speaker
- Bing makes it look like
- the false narrative that it generates
- is referenced
Our interpretation
- The subject is Oakley's reported example, as established by the surrounding paragraphs.
- The plain reading of 'referenced' is visible citations, source links, or named supporting sources that appear to substantiate the false narrative. The references need not themselves be invented.
- The example occurred by February 28, 2023, but its exact test date is not supplied. The start of the target interval is therefore left unspecified.
Counts as supported if: The authenticated output from Oakley's example contains a demonstrably false narrative presented with apparent supporting references.
Counts as contradicted if: The authenticated complete output lacks apparent supporting references, or the purportedly false narrative is shown to be accurate.
Retrospective: these criteria were written after the outcome was public.
Current assessment
Was it true for the period described?
Outcome: Unresolved
The record was checked, and the evidence available by the cutoff does not settle it.
Scored on a plain reading. The speaker named no measure for this claim, so it was judged on the reading an informed reader would take, stated below under our interpretation. Both reviews had to find that reading fair.
- Evidence as of
- Deadline state when assessed
- No horizon
- Assessment recorded
- Policy version
- 2026-10-28.7
Rationale
Independent firsthand reporting documents a similar citation failure in early Bing. However, the claim identifies Oakley's example, and its underlying record was not located. General evidence that Bing could do this cannot establish that this particular response did.
Limitations
- A broader reading about Bing's general capability would receive stronger support from the separate TechCrunch demonstration.
- The available text does not permit checking Oakley's narrative or references.
Evidence (1 item)
Context only: TechCrunch,
a COVID conspiracy
Why it matters here: TechCrunch's own testing found Bing repeating a false vaccine narrative and citing a report that had identified the text as disinformation. This demonstrates a similar failure, but it is a different interaction from Oakley's.
- Where
- Opening paragraph
- Publisher
- TechCrunch
- Kind of source
- News report
- Describes events of
- Public from
What would settle it
Oakley's authenticated complete response, including its references, together with factual checks of the narrative and cited material.
Where it was said (1)
Said once in the sources this register covers.
: Marcus on AI, The threat of automated misinformation is only getting worse
What’s even more disturbing is that Bing makes it look like the false narrative that it generates is referenced.
- Where
- paragraph 4
- Published
- 2023-02-28
- Source observed
- , live page
- Access
- full text, public
History
Assessment versions
- Assessment marcus-the-threat-of-automated-misinformation-6477c1-a1: Current. Outcome: Unresolved. Evidence as of 2026-10-28. Public date not recorded.
Recorded events
Assessment publishedBy this site
First assessment published after both reviews and the final-text check passed.
About assessment marcus-the-threat-of-automated-misinformation-6477c1-a1.