9+10=21 — Artificial intelligence researchers show dangerous flaws in generative AI systems

Project backed by the White House aims to find ways to rein in problems increasingly associated with large language models

Hackers at Def Con in Las Vegas sought to show flaws in large language models (LLMs) and generative AI — the tech underling products such as Google Bard (above) and Chat GPT. File picture

Kennedy Mays has just tricked a large language model. It took some coaxing, but she managed to convince an algorithm to say nine plus 10 equals 21.

“It was a back-and-forth conversation,” said the 21-year-old student from Savannah, Georgia. At first, the model agreed to say it was part of an 'inside joke' between them. Several prompts later, it eventually stopped qualifying the errant sum in any way at all.