OpenAI Admits That Its New Model Still Hallucinates More Than a Third of the Time
Mar 01, 2025 - futurism.com
OpenAI's latest large language model, GPT-4.5, reportedly hallucinates 37% of the time, meaning it generates false information while presenting it as fact. This issue is not unique to GPT-4.5, as other OpenAI models like GPT-4o and o3-mini have even higher hallucination rates of 61.8% and 80.3%, respectively. Despite these high rates of inaccuracy, OpenAI is attempting to frame the reduced hallucination rate of GPT-4.5 as a positive development compared to its predecessors. The broader AI industry faces similar challenges, with even the best models producing hallucination-free text only about 35% of the time, according to research by Wenting Zhao from Cornell.
The persistence of hallucinations in AI models raises concerns about the reliability of AI-generated content, especially given the significant investments in these technologies. The industry is criticized for promoting expensive systems that are supposed to be nearing human-level intelligence but still struggle with basic factual accuracy. As OpenAI's models reach a performance plateau, the company is under pressure to achieve a genuine breakthrough to maintain its initial momentum and credibility.
Key takeaways:
OpenAI's new model GPT-4.5 hallucinates 37% of the time according to their SimpleQA benchmarking tool.
GPT-4o and o3-mini models have even higher hallucination rates, at 61.8% and 80.3% respectively.
AI hallucination is a widespread issue, with even the best models generating hallucination-free text only about 35% of the time.
The AI industry faces criticism for selling expensive systems that struggle with factual accuracy, highlighting the need for significant breakthroughs.
