I wanted to have some fun here the other day so I told ChatGPT to create an article describing a walking tour in the city of Brussels, explaining where to walk and what you will see along the way. It was a great idea, and the content dealing with the attractions and what you see was all awesome.
But, as you probably know, it is always worth checking the work of ChatGPT, because there are things at which the platform isn't very good. It is good when it comes to historical data (mostly) and it is good when it comes to handing over pure data. But, if you have ever dealt with geographical data that must be combined with other data, it is often a mess.
I remember telling ChatGPT to give me information about the most beautiful attractions along the Danube in Budapest. It shouldn't be a hard task, but ChatGPT only copies and rewrites, and doesn't necessarily consult a map before giving the information. As a result, I got an article including attractions in Budapest far away from the Danube, places that should never have been in that list.
Back to my walking trip in Brussels..
ChatGPT decided to start the article at a reasonable place, at Grote Markt. That is the main square in Brussels, so it is a natural and beautiful place to start a walking tour in the Belgian capital. Only a few blocks away, you can find the famous Manneken Pis, the statue of a boy peeing into a fountain. Already here, ChatGPT messed up some street names and described where to go. And after this, it just got worse. It totally messed up which directions you should go and what streets you should be walking on to reach Place de Grand Sablon, and later Mont des Arts, Brussels Park, the Royal Palace, the EU Parliament, and other places.
In the end, I had to spend more time rewriting the article than I would have spent writing it all from scratch. But still, it was a fun experience, but it tells me about the importance of fact-checking what ChatGPT gives you, especially when combining straightforward information with maps and geography.
Would you like to take a look at the article yourself? You can find it at https://www.brusselsguide.net/a-delightful-stroll-through-in-the-center-of-brussels/