Why isn’t ChatGPT asking me questions?

Like most readers, I’ve been asking ChatGPT (and other generative AIs) lots of questions lately. I’ve learned that to get better answers, I have to ask better questions. And that’s fair enough, and true in so many contexts.

But why isn’t the AI asking me questions?

If someone asks you for example, “how do I get from Brisbane to Sydney?”, its instinctive for you to ask clarifying questions like “by road or air?” or “when do you want to go?” or “are you in a hurry?”.

But when I asked Bing’s AI Chat tool the same question, its answer was:

“There are several ways to get from Brisbane to Sydney including by car, bus, train or plane. The most popular way to travel between Brisbane and Sydney is by plane.

If you prefer to drive, you can take the Pacific Highway which is a scenic coastal drive that takes approximately 10 hours. Alternatively, you can take a bus which takes approximately 14 hours.

If you prefer to take public transportation, you can take a train which takes approximately 14 hours. You can also take a flight which takes approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes.

I hope this helps!”

And of course, that does help a little, but its given me a whole lot of information that might not be relevant say, if I only wanted to know travel routes by car.

When I asked the AI why it didn’t ask any clarifying questions, its reply was:

“I apologize for not asking clarifying questions. I assumed that you were looking for the fastest way to get from Brisbane to Sydney.

If you prefer to travel by car, you can take the Pacific Highway which is a scenic coastal drive that takes approximately 10 hours.”

Which of course begs the question, if it assumed I was looking for the fastest way, why did it give me a couple of slow methods as well?

When I asked it why generative AI isn’t asking us questions so that they can give better answers? The response was:

Generative AI can ask questions to clarify the user’s intent and provide better answers. However, it is not always necessary for generative AI to ask questions. Generative AI can also use context and other information to provide accurate and relevant responses without asking questions.

In some cases, generative AI may ask questions to gather more information about the user’s needs and preferences. For example, if a user asks for a restaurant recommendation, generative AI may ask questions about the user’s location, cuisine preferences, and budget to provide a more personalized recommendation.

However, asking too many questions can also be frustrating for users and may lead to a poor user experience. Therefore, generative AI must strike a balance between asking questions and providing accurate and relevant responses.

Which is all very well, but the fact is, I have never been asked a question by any of the popular generative AI tools! Have you?