A Spanish social media influencer went viral for all the wrong reasons this week, after she posted a teary TikTok video describing her disastrous travel plans.
Mery Caldass and her boyfriend were planning a romantic getaway trip to Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory. But Caldass, who said she “always [does] a lot of research” for her trips, relied on ChatGPT for one critical question—did they need a visa to visit Puerto Rico?
ChatGPT told her that no she did not need a visa, and apparently Caldass did no further digging. The truth is that while a visa isn’t required for stays of fewer than 90 days, travelers do need to complete the U.S. State Department’s Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) form.
This form determines the visitor’s eligibility for entering the country.
The video of Caldass crying in an airport after missing her flight has been viewed more than 13,000 times. Perhaps trying to add some humor to the situation, she also said that the regularly insults ChatGPT, calling it names, and perhaps this incident was the AI tool’s way of getting “his revenge.”?
While many people in different industries use ChatGPT as a tool to begin research or craft questions for a survey, it is known to “hallucinate” and make up incorrect information, or give misleading data.
Savvy users will treat it as a junior assistant and double check all critical information.
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