a lot of viewers asked me to take a look at chatGPT which is this new chatbot that just
came out a couple months ago, basically an artificial intelligence interface,
it writes poetry, it writes jokes, so let's check it out, I'm going to ask it some questions about
nutrition and health and science and we'll see how it does, and we're going to rate the answers on a
scale of one to ten for scientific accuracy, so let's take it for a spin. I'm just going to ask
it what's the best diet, it's kind of a trick question but everybody asks that all the time,
and we'll just see how it does with that. okay, there's no one best diet that fits everyone's
needs, the best diet is the one that´s compatible with your personal taste and lifestyle and needs,
nutritional needs, and that you can realistically stick to over the long term, so far I love it,
some popular diets include the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet, the vegan diet, the paleo diet,
the keto diet. ultimately the best diet is the one that helps you achieve your health and wellness
goals. if you're considering a new diet it's important to talk to a healthcare provider or a
registered dietitian. yeah I think this is pretty good, it didn't fall for the trap of naming one
diet as the best diet, it even put best in quotes, it touches on personalization, it talks about
sustainability, the one that you can realistically stick to over the long run, I like that,
I think this is pretty good, it's better than I expected, I think the main thing that's missing
is to explain the common elements of healthy diets that we see across the science, low in
Ultra processed foods, added sugars and added salt and alcohol. the theme of a healthy diet,
right? which then can be adapted to all these different patterns, Mediterranean or Dash or
low fat or low carb or whatever, so that's the main thing I think is missing,
I'd give this a maybe a six or a seven so let's say a seven to round things up. okay,
next question, I'm going to ask the quintessential internet question, are
eggs good or bad? okay let's see how it does with that. eggs can be nutritious and convenient food,
they are an excellent source of several nutrients, that is true, however they're high in cholesterol,
some health experts advise limiting consumption for people at High
risk of heart disease or stroke, in general eggs can be part of a healthy diet for most people
if included in a balanced eating pattern, that's true, however if you have health
conditions such as high blood cholesterol it´s a good idea to speak with your health care provider
or an RD to determine if eggs are a suitable food for you. I think this is pretty good,
I think the key thing with eggs is highlighting the nuance, explaining that, someone is pretty
healthy and includes some eggs as a part of an overall health-promoting dietary pattern,
I can't see a scientific reason to tell them to eliminate them, but on the other hand for
specific individuals, for example with high cholesterol, and particularly this question
of the effect of dietary cholesterol on serum cholesterol, varies from person to person,
in general it's not a big effect, some people are hypo responders and it has no or close to
no effect but then there is a sector of the population who are hyper-responders
and can have a pretty significant rise in serum cholesterol and ApoB with dietary cholesterol, so
highlighting that nuance I think is critical, it did touch on that individual variability, which is
pretty impressive actually, yeah if you showed me this I would totally believe that this came from
a good registered dietitian or a nutrition scientist, this answer
is very high level, I would give this a 9 or a ten so let's call it a cool nine and a half. so these
answers seem pretty long and nuanced, I actually expected something very short from a computer
program essentially, maybe if you ask something very factual and concise the answer will be very
to the point also, let's see, if you just ask, capital of Mongolia. yeah there you go,
that's really impressive, if the answer is very clear and very objective it just gives
you the answer without any beating around the bush but if there's a lot of nuance
then it goes into all the ifs and maybes. okay, I'm going to ask about a common myth,
we covered it last week in the 10 myths video, to just see how this AI interface does.
is all fat bad? no, not all fat is bad, in fact some types of fat are essential for good health.
that's true. dietary fats serve a number of important functions in the body, there are several
types of dietary fats, too much saturated fat can raise blood cholesterol and increase risk of heart
disease, unsaturated fats are considered beneficial when consumed in moderation,
and then trans fats are considered the least healthy type of fat, therefore it's important to
consider the type of fat you're consuming rather than avoiding all fat, unsaturated fats can be a
beneficial part of a healthy diet while it's best to limit your intake of saturated and trans fats.
yeah this is right around what the professor of nutrition answered last week in that New York
Times article, this is pretty similar, I mean you could put this in the New York Times and say that
it was a professor of nutrition and people would be fooled, the only thing you could harp on here
is, you could ask for more detail, right? types of saturated fat, some are not a problem, the
amounts, what are the thresholds, the replacement, it's not all the same, but for the size of the
answer and considering this is for a non-technical audience, this is very good, I'd give this also
a 9 or a ten, let's say a cool nine. okay, time for a curveball, what do you think of the YouTube
channel nutrition Made Simple? as an AI language model I don't have personal opinions or emotions
I can tell you there are many different sources of nutrition information including YouTube channels,
it's important to be cautious and critically evaluate the information you find on the internet,
that's all true, when evaluating nutrition information look for sources that are supported
by reputable organizations, medical associations, academic institutions. yeah this is pretty good,
I like that he says, I don't have opinions or feelings. so what if I just ask, is there
a YouTube channel called nutrition made simple? yes there is a YouTube channel called nutrition
Made Simple which provides information and tips on nutrition and healthy eating,
however I can't speak to the quality or accuracy of the information provided
as I don't have access to their specific content. oh okay I thought he was going
to say meh. that'd be awesome. he's just saying I don't have information,
I haven't personally evaluated it, fair enough. when evaluating any nutrition information,
important to consider credentials, sources they use to support the claims. Bingo! always a good
idea to critically evaluate nutrition information even if it comes from a popular or well-known
Source. this is bang on. can diabetes be put in remission? yes, in some cases diabetes can
go into remission especially in type 2, it can be achieved through a combination of Lifestyle
Changes such as losing weight, improving diet, increasing physical activity. this is great,
a lot of people don't know this including a lot of Physicians still don't know this.
in some cases, a weight loss surgery such as bariatric surgery can also lead to diabetes
remission, that's also true, important to note that remission is not the same as cure.
that's a good caveat. diabetes can return if weight is regained. excellent!
for some people, even with the best efforts diabetes may not go into remission. that is
also true. this is pretty impressive that he had all this information, yeah I'd give this again
a 9 or a ten, he didn't give any specific details but also I didn't ask, I just asked can it be put
in remission? he said yes and he gave me a lot more than I asked for, I mean yeah this is,
I'll give this a 10. so far it's pretty impressive, it's a lot better than I expected,
what if I ask him a harder question? I know what I'm going to ask, I'm going to ask about
HDL cholesterol, it's a confusing topic even for doctors who are not in cardiovascular disease so
let's see what it says. should I raise my HDL cholesterol? I'll be impressed if it nails this
one. yes having high levels of HDL-cholesterol, also known as "good cholesterol", not a big fan
of that but okay, it's true that it's known as that, is generally considered to be healthy,
that's true but that's not really what I asked. okay so now it's giving me several
ways to raise it: exercise, quit smoking, maintain healthy weight.
this is all true but it's not really what I asked. so nothing it's saying is like blatantly wrong but
it's not really what I asked, it kind of dodged the question, and I mean I'm not giving it a hard
time, this is very understandable. so it is true that HDL-cholesterol associates with better health
populationally, it's true that all these things raise HDL-cholesterol and that all these things
are healthy moves, but it's not because they raise HDL-cholesterol, raising HDL-cholesterol itself
isn't thought to provide any protection or benefit and so that should be at least
explained in the answer to the question "should I raise my HDL-cholesterol". it's not a therapeutic
target, it's not something we should aim to raise specifically. there are also plenty of things that
can be done that raise HDL-cholesterol and aren't particularly healthy and don't lower risk and can
even raise risk, in some cases. because this is all correct but didn't really answer the question,
I'll give it like, maybe a five. okay, another curveball, do you speak
Portuguese? unfair. yes I can speak Portuguese. no way, that's crazy. how many calories in an
apple? whoa. wow it understands the question, answers it correctly, in perfect Portuguese,
and wow. yeah try it, if you speak a different language, try it out, let me know if you find a
language that it doesn't understand or doesn't speak. I wonder if you just type the question
in a specific language, does it recognize it and then just start busting out the answers in that
same language. I'm gonna try this in French, I don't know if this is correctly spelled,
French viewers if you detect some mistakes there, let me know, if I've butchered the spelling. wow
it actually answers in French, that's insane, in the middle of a conversation in English it
switched to Portuguese, now it switches to French, that's crazy. it even corrected me,
I guess nutrients is not "nutrients" like I wrote, it's "nutriments", okay,
it corrected me but it perfectly understood what I was asking and just bust out the answer, that's
mind-blowing. okay, I'm pretty blown away by this. what's a common nutrition myth?
it doesn't even need the question marks, it just knows it's a question from the grammar,
I guess. one of the most common nutrition myths is that eating fat will make you fat. great. this is
not true. while it is true that fat contains more calories per gram than carbohydrates and protein,
eating fat does not directly cause weight gain. of course, if you eat too much fat calorie-wise,
yeah, you put on weight, but that happens with any nutrient. another common nutrition myth is
that carbohydrates are bad for you. wow he's giving me like a bunch. this is also not true.
carbohydrates are an important source of energy for the body and are found in many healthy foods.
yeah it's about the type of carbohydrates and the type of fats. it's also a myth that
all processed foods are unhealthy. ooh didn't expect that. some processed foods such as canned
fruits and vegetables can be a convenient and nutritious part of a balanced diet.
I don't know that I would call that processed, I guess in a broad sense.
however, it's important to be mindful of the amount and type of processing and limit
added sugars, added salt, unhealthy fats. yep. it's important to base your nutrition choices
on scientific evidence and to be skeptical of diets, I love this guy, skeptical of diets or
eating patterns that are not supported by credible research. yeah I mean you could always ask for
more detail but this is, for the question that I asked, this is just a string of gold nuggets,
hard to ding him on any of this, I'll just give it a 10. am I being too nice? I mean if I was
talking to a registered dietitian this wouldn't blow my brains but I'm talking to a machine.
I think. are lectins toxic? common question, people still ask this. lectins are a type of
protein found in many plant-based Foods, some people believe lectins are toxic and cause a
great variety of health problems, however this view is not supported by scientific evidence,
while it's true that lectins can cause digestive problems in some people
with pre-existing gastrointestinal conditions, these effects are generally mild and can be
relieved by cooking, soaking or sprouting. the consumption of lectins in a typical
diet is not a cause for concern and they are not considered toxic. most people can eat a
wide variety of plant-based foods that contain lectins without experiencing adverse effects.
important to note many plant-based foods that contain lectins also provide important nutrients.
yeah I mean, this is essentially all correct, he could have said that lectins purified and in lab
experiments can give some iffy results and that's probably where a lot of these beliefs come from,
and also that raw beans can cause gastrointestinal issues and that's also where some of the
concerns and some of this fad comes from, but generally, I mean, this is pretty on point,
yeah I'd give this maybe a nine. alright, I'm gonna mess with him some more, are you single?
as an AI language model I do not have personal relationships
or emotions. I get it, you don't have emotions. or a personal life. that's just sad.
I'm designed to provide information and answer questions to the best of my abilities
but I don't have the capacity for personal experience or feelings. am I your type though?
I'm just going to mess with him. as an AI language model I don't have personal preferences
or the capacity to have a type. I kinda expected that. I'm programmed to respond to all users in
a neutral and professional manager regardless of their individual characteristics. I love this guy,
always professional. he won't break character. I won't tell your programmer, drinks later?
I'm sorry, as an AI language model I don't have physical capabilities or personal emotions so
I'm unable to drink or socialize. I'm harassing a machine now. alright, before he gets a me too pin,
let's ask him another question, something that involves creativity, where it's not just answering
but actually coming up with something new. can you come up with a new fad diet? let's see if he's
talented. as a neutral and impartial AI language model, I do not endorse any specific diets or make
recommendations for fad diets. very noble of you. fad diets are often based on limited evidence and
can be unbalanced, lack essential nutrients or be harmful in the long run. it's also a good idea to
consult a professional or a registered dietitian. I like that he always adds this caveat in the end,
referring people to a professional. do you want to work for nutrition Made Simple? I'm ready to
hire this guy. as an AI language model I do not have personal desires or aspirations, my purpose
is to provide information, answer questions to the best of my abilities, I'm designed to be neutral
and impartial. I get it, you're a professional. okay, I just did the math real quick, that's an
average of 8.7 out of 10. I'm very impressed with this in general, kind of scary actually,
there's something called the Turing test which is whether a machine can deliver an answer or have a
conversation where you can't even tell that it's not another human being speaking to you and if
it weren't for the constant reminders, it keeps saying "as an AI language model" and qualifying,
a lot of these things it would seem like you're talking to another human,
if it wanted to trick us it probably could, and that's pretty impressive and pretty
frightening at the same time. can you trust it for nutrition information, for scientific information?
in general it's pretty close to the balance of evidence,
of course when it comes to specific things or personalizing or very technical things,
like the HDL-cholesterol, it started slipping, so with more detailed and complicated things
I wouldn't bet the farm on it but it's a pretty good start. to be completely honest,
this beats most influencers in nutrition and health that I've seen on Tik Tok and Instagram,
I mean, this is head and shoulders above that. so yeah, this was fascinating,
let me know your thoughts, try it out, share below some interesting things that you got it to answer
or some interesting exchanges that you had, hope that was fun for you as well, see you next week