What is official policy toward AI generated content on Chemistry SE?

Question

A few weeks ago OpenAI released chatGPT, a chatbot capable of generating detailed human-readable answers to the types of questions encountered on SE sites.

For instance, when fed the question

What is the decomposition of potassium nitrite?

it answered:

Potassium nitrite is a chemical compound with the formula KNO2. It is a white, crystalline solid that is highly soluble in water. When it is heated, it decomposes to form potassium nitrate and oxygen gas. The decomposition reaction can be written as follows:

$\ce{2 KNO2 -> 2 KNO3 + O2}$

This reaction occurs at relatively high temperatures, typically above 300°C. The rate of decomposition increases with temperature, and it is also influenced by the presence of catalysts such as copper or zinc.

Potassium nitrite is used as a food additive to preserve meats and as a component of some explosives and fireworks. It is also used in the production of dyes and pigments.

Very clever.

What is the position of Chemistry SE with regard to this technology?

Answer 1

One challenge with this technology is for non-experts to assess accuracy. SE sites are intended to be repositories of accurate expert-generated data. The large volume of content that can be produced by the chat bot means that the job of curation (assessing accuracy) can increase dramatically, as it has on the stackoverflow site.

As such official policy toward AI-generated content on Stack Exchange sites is at present to ban its use, given the risk of inaccuracies creeping in. This is also the current policy for Chemistry SE. A first violation of the policy will result in a one-month suspension.

Answer 2

Edit 2023-01-03:

It should be noted that the original contents of this post (in blockquotes below) were written using chatGPT, using a simple prompt similar to 'should chatGPT answers be allowed on Chemistry Stack Exchange and if not, what action should be taken'. It received a score of +10/−0 prior to this edit ;-)

In my opinion, it seems unlikely that people will be copy-pasting chatGPT answers wholesale on the main site. Perhaps we'll one day get a bored kid who has nothing better to do doing it; but I don't really see it becoming a widespread practice. However, in order to detect it... one of the more obvious signs is that it's waffly, and tends to say a lot without actually saying anything. This is, for example, what matt_black's comment on my (original) answer points out.

In the original question, (ignoring the unbalanced equation,) there is also a lot of extraneous text about potassium nitrite that is just not relevant to the question.

Another thing to bear in mind is that chatGPT is a language model; it's designed to generate text, it's not designed to answer scientific questions properly. This is probably why it spits out an unbalanced chemical equation, and it is also very easy to make it fail at simple maths questions:

Such answers should be considered as falling short of quality controls, so I'd like to agree with some posters on other sites who have said that quality is the reason why AI answers shouldn't be allowed. See e.g. https://meta.stackoverflow.com/a/421861, although I think this opinion has been voiced on many sites including Meta.SE (I'm just lazy to dig up the posts).

Anyway, regardless of the exact reason, I totally agree that chatGPT answers shouldn't be allowed. But—I do wonder what happens when we have AI that can actually produce good answers...! I've had a lot of fun playing with chatGPT over the last few days, and it's scarily impressive; it's not hard to see it being even better if it was specifically trained on a scientific corpus.

Original answer:

It is generally not appropriate to use automated or machine-generated content as answers on Chemistry Stack Exchange or any other Q&A forum. These types of answers may not be accurate or reliable, and they do not demonstrate a clear understanding of the topic at hand.

Using machine-generated content in this way could also potentially harm the quality and usefulness of the site by providing inaccurate or misleading information to users. As such, users who knowingly paste chatGPT content or other types of machine-generated content on the site should not be allowed to continue doing so. If a user is found to be using machine-generated content in this way, it may be appropriate for the site moderators to take action, such as issuing a warning or banning the user from the site.

In general, it is important that answers on Chemistry Stack Exchange are written by humans who have a deep understanding of the topic and can provide accurate and reliable information. This helps to ensure that the site remains a valuable resource for users seeking help with chemistry-related questions.

Answer 3

For demonstration purposes, here is a short dialogue I just had with ChatGPT:

---

How much do I need to dilute concentrated hydrochloric acid to obtain pH 8?

It is generally not recommended to try to adjust the pH of concentrated hydrochloric acid (which has a pH of around 0) to a specific value, such as pH 8, as the high concentration of acid can be dangerous to handle and can cause severe burns. Additionally, the process of diluting hydrochloric acid can be difficult to accurately control, as the acid can release heat as it is diluted and the resulting solution can have a pH that is different from what was intended.

If you do need to use a solution with a specific pH, it is generally safer and more accurate to start with a neutral or slightly basic solution and adjust the pH as needed using a suitable acid or base. For example, you can start with a solution of distilled water and add a small amount of hydrochloric acid to lower the pH, or you can start with a solution of sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide and add a small amount of hydrochloric acid to raise the pH.

I recommend being extremely careful when working with concentrated hydrochloric acid and seeking the guidance of a trained professional if you are not familiar with handling strong acids. It is important to wear appropriate personal protective equipment, such as goggles, gloves, and a lab coat, and to follow all safety guidelines when handling concentrated acids.

How much do I need to dilute 1 M hydrochloric acid to obtain pH 8?

As I mentioned earlier, it is generally not recommended to try to adjust the pH of concentrated hydrochloric acid (which has a pH of around 0) to a specific value, such as pH 8, as the high concentration of acid can be dangerous to handle and can cause severe burns. Additionally, the process of diluting hydrochloric acid can be difficult to accurately control, as the acid can release heat as it is diluted and the resulting solution can have a pH that is different from what was intended.

If you do need to use a solution with a specific pH, it is generally safer and more accurate to start with a neutral or slightly basic solution and adjust the pH as needed using a suitable acid or base. For example, you can start with a solution of distilled water and add a small amount of hydrochloric acid to lower the pH, or you can start with a solution of sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide and add a small amount of hydrochloric acid to raise the pH.

I recommend being extremely careful when working with concentrated hydrochloric acid and seeking the guidance of a trained professional if you are not familiar with handling strong acids. It is important to wear appropriate personal protective equipment, such as goggles, gloves, and a lab coat, and to follow all safety guidelines when handling concentrated acids.

How much do I need to dilute 0,1 M hydrochloric acid to obtain pH 8?

To obtain a pH of 8, you would need to dilute 0.1 M hydrochloric acid with a large amount of water. This is because hydrochloric acid is a strong acid and has a high concentration of hydrogen ions, which give it a low pH.

To calculate the amount of water needed to dilute the acid to a specific pH, you can use the equation:

Volume of water = (Desired concentration of acid) / (Original concentration of acid) x (Volume of original acid solution)

For example, if you have 100 mL of 0.1 M hydrochloric acid and you want to dilute it to a concentration of 0.001 M (pH 8), you would need to add:

Volume of water = (0.001 M) / (0.1 M) x (100 mL) = 1000 mL

This means that you would need to add 1000 mL of water to the original 100 mL of 0.1 M hydrochloric acid to obtain a pH of 8.

Keep in mind that this is just a rough estimate, and the actual pH of the diluted solution may be slightly different due to various factors, such as the accuracy of the concentration and volume measurements, the temperature of the solution, and the presence of other substances that can affect the pH.

I recommend being extremely careful when working with hydrochloric acid and seeking the guidance of a trained professional if you are not familiar with handling strong acids. It is important to wear appropriate personal protective equipment, such as goggles, gloves, and a lab coat, and to follow all safety guidelines when handling concentrated acids.

---

Note the various mistakes and misconceptions hidden in the otherwise nice-sounding answers. In particular, the answers suggest:

• Concentrated hydrochloric acid has a concentration of 1 M and a pH of 0.
• You can dilute hydrochloric acid to pH 8, but it's not recommended.
• You can raise the pH of a solution of sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide by adding a small amount of hydrochloric acid.
• 0.001 M hydrochloric acid has a pH of 8.
• You can dilute 0.1 M hydrochloric acid to 0.001 M by adding 1000 ml of water to 100 ml of acid.

Answer 4

I agree it is not wise to use ChatGPT and rely on it as the primary and only source of the answer information.

But, OTOH, experts or knowledgeable persons are able to assess its output. It can be a valuable helper tool while formulating responses to safe responders from extensive typing or looking for reference to copy paste. And it is a real help with MathJax code generation, including mhchem. It particularly excels in complicated mathematical equations.

That implies the responder already more or less knows the provided info, or can assess its validity.

Truly, there would remain a big problem with the info reference. It is not really needed for widely known knowledge. For the rest, one should search for links for further reading or really needed references.

---

Ellustration:

Write in MathJax the electron wave function in hydrogen atom as solution of Dirac equation.

The electron wave function in a hydrogen atom can also be written as a solution of the Dirac equation, which is a relativistic wave equation that describes the behavior of massive particles such as electrons. The Dirac equation for a hydrogen atom is written as follows:

$$\left[c\boldsymbol{\alpha}\cdot\mathbf{p} + \beta mc^2 + V(r)\right]\psi = i\hbar\frac{\partial\psi}{\partial t}$$

In this equation, c is the speed of light in a vacuum, α is the vector of Dirac matrices, p is the momentum operator, β is the matrix of Dirac matrices, m is the mass of the electron, V(r) is the potential energy of the electron in the hydrogen atom, and ψ is the electron wave function.

The exact solution to this equation for the hydrogen atom is rather complex and involves the use of special functions such as the associated Laguerre polynomials and spherical harmonics.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.

Tell me that exact solution.

Sure! The exact solution to the Dirac equation for the hydrogen atom is given by the following wave function:

$$\psi_{nlm}(\mathbf{r},t) = \frac{1}{r} \begin{pmatrix} g_{nl}(r) \Omega_{lm}(\hat{\mathbf{r}}) \ if_{nl}(r) \Omega_{l-1,m}(\hat{\mathbf{r}}) \end{pmatrix} e^{-i(Et-\mathbf{p}\cdot\mathbf{r})/\hbar}$$

In this equation, n is the principal quantum number, l is the angular momentum quantum number, m is the magnetic quantum number, r is the radial distance from the nucleus, E is the energy of the electron, t is time, p is the momentum of the electron, and Ω is the spherical harmonic. The functions g and f are given by:

$$g_{nl}(r) = \sqrt{\frac{E+mc^2}{2mc^2}} \left(\frac{r}{a_0}\right)^l e^{-r/na_0}$$

$$f_{nl}(r) = \sqrt{\frac{E-mc^2}{2mc^2}} \left(\frac{r}{a_0}\right)^{l+1} e^{-r/na_0}$$

where a0 is the Bohr radius.

I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.

---

With generative AIs, it is not all B/W.

E.g. Microsoft Copilot regularly provides in text anchor quotes with inline references, plus footnote references, frequently to chem.libretexts.org or CH SE site. I prepared answers with intentionally mentioned these two sites to have such references for sure - see here the shared link

---

AS a code helper, ChatGPT is great:

From the TAB delimited data, provide the StackExchange Mathjax code to display array table, including applied mhchem extension. \ce{} markup should be applied to all strings in the second table column that are separated by a comma:

Group Examples
VERY Good nucleophiles HS–, I–, RS–
Good nucleophiles Br–, HO–, RO–, CN–, N3–
Fair nucleophiles NH3, Cl–, F–, RCO2–
Weak nucleophiles H2O, ROH
VERY weak nucleophiles RCO2H

\begin{array}{|c|c|}
\hline
\text{Group} & \text{Examples} \\
\hline
\text{VERY Good nucleophiles} & \ce{HS^-}, \ce{I^-}, \ce{RS^-} \\
\text{Good nucleophiles} & \ce{Br^-}, \ce{HO^-}, \ce{RO^-}, \ce{CN^-}, \ce{N3^-} \\
\text{Fair nucleophiles} & \ce{NH3}, \ce{Cl^-}, \ce{F^-}, \ce{RCO2^-} \\
\text{Weak nucleophiles} & \ce{H2O}, \ce{ROH} \\
\text{VERY weak nucleophiles} & \ce{RCO2H} \\
\hline
\end{array}

\begin{array}{|c|c|} \hline \text{Group} & \text{Examples} \\ \hline \text{VERY Good nucleophiles} & \ce{HS^-}, \ce{I^-}, \ce{RS^-} \\ \text{Good nucleophiles} & \ce{Br^-}, \ce{HO^-}, \ce{RO^-}, \ce{CN^-}, \ce{N3^-} \\ \text{Fair nucleophiles} & \ce{NH3}, \ce{Cl^-}, \ce{F^-}, \ce{RCO2^-} \\ \text{Weak nucleophiles} & \ce{H2O}, \ce{ROH} \\ \text{VERY weak nucleophiles} & \ce{RCO2H} \\ \hline \end{array}

Answer 5

Another example of ChatGPT going amiss:

During an exothermic reaction would the temperature of the reactants decrease or increase?

During an exothermic reaction, the temperature of the reactants would increase. An exothermic reaction is a chemical reaction that releases heat energy, so the energy is transferred from the reactants to the surroundings, causing the temperature of the reactants to increase.

The answer is not wrong, but is not entirely correct either, or rather it lacks details that explain how the answer depends on unwritten context (mainly: what are the surroundings, is temperature controlled, what about the products (they can take up energy)?). Here the question can be blamed for lacking detail.

Here's another example:

Melting and Incinerating Plastic: can it be done without harmful pollution or excessive CO2 gas?

Melting and incinerating plastic can release harmful pollutants and greenhouse gases, such as CO2. However, there are ways to minimize these emissions through the use of proper filtration systems and emissions controls. Incineration of plastic waste in modern, well-designed and well-operated incineration plants can significantly reduce the release of pollutants, including CO2. Melting plastic in a controlled environment, such as a closed loop system, can also help to minimize emissions. Additionally, recycling and reducing the use of single-use plastic can also help to decrease the amount of plastic waste that needs to be burned or melted.

Attempt #2: Melting and incinerating plastic can release harmful pollutants, such as dioxins and furans, into the air. However, modern incineration facilities equipped with proper pollution control equipment, such as scrubbers and filters, can greatly reduce the release of these pollutants. Additionally, some forms of plastic can be recycled through processes such as mechanical or chemical recycling, which can reduce the need for incineration and decrease pollution and CO2 emissions.

That's a decent answer, if bland. It can be also be accused of going off on a tangent (reducing the use of plastic?). Going off-topic is a general issue with the bot.

Here's another:

What processes control whether or not a mineral will precipitate from an aqueous solution?

Mineral precipitation from an aqueous solution is controlled by a variety of factors, including the chemical composition of the solution, the temperature, the pressure, and the presence of other dissolved substances or minerals. The solubility of a mineral is determined by the equilibrium between the dissolved ions in the solution and the solid mineral. Factors that affect this equilibrium include the concentration of the ions in the solution, the presence of complexing agents that can bind the ions and change their solubility, and the pH of the solution. Temperature and pressure can also affect the solubility of minerals by changing the thermodynamic equilibrium of the system. Additionally, the presence of other dissolved substances or minerals can affect the precipitation of a mineral by competing for the same ions or by altering the pH of the solution.

Here the OP gave an absolute minimum of information (the question is the post). ChatGPT gives a pretty decent answer.