ChatGPT will not say the name David Mayer. Are data protection laws the reason?

Social media users have noticed something strange happening when ChatGPT is asked to recognize the name “David Mayer.”

For some reason, the two-year-old chatbot developed by OpenAI can’t – or won’t –? – to even acknowledge the name.

The quirk was first uncovered by an eagle-eyed Reddit user who entered the name “David Mayer” into ChatGPT and received a message that said, “I cannot provide an answer.” The mysterious answer sparked a series of further attempts by Reddit users to get the artificial intelligence tool to pronounce the name – all without success.

It’s unclear why ChatGPT doesn’t recognize the name, but of course there are plenty of theories floating around the internet. Is this a simple bug that OpenAI has yet to fix, or has someone named David Mayer taken steps to remove its digital footprint?

Here’s what we know:

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What is ChatGPT?

ChatGPT is a generative artificial intelligence chatbot developed and launched by OpenAI in 2022.

Unlike predictive AI, generative AI is trained on large amounts of data to recognize patterns and create original content, including voices, music, images and videos.

ChatGPT allows users to interact with the chat tool much like they would with another human, with the chatbot generating conversational responses to questions or prompts.

Proponents say ChatGPT could reinvent online search engines and help with research, information writing, content creation and customer service chatbots. However, the service has been controversial at times, with some critics raising concerns that ChatGPT and similar programs promote online misinformation and enable students to plagiarize.

Why doesn’t ChatGPT recognize the name David Mayer?

ChatGPT is also apparently mysteriously persistent when it comes to recognizing the name David Mayer.

Since the confusing refusal was discovered, users have been trying to find ways to get the chatbot to say the name or explain who the mystery man is.

A quick Google search of the name brings up results about British adventurer and environmentalist David Mayer de Rothschild, heir to the famous Rothschild family dynasty.

Puzzle solved? Not quite.

Others speculated that mention of the name was banned because it was linked to a Chechen terrorist operating under the code name “David Mayer.”

But as AI expert Justine Moore pointed out on social media site X, one plausible scenario is that someone named David Mayer has gone out of his way to remove his presence from the internet. In the European Union, for example, strict data protection laws allow citizens to submit “right to be forgotten” requests.

Moore posted about other names that spark the same reaction when shared with ChatGPT, including an Italian lawyer who publicly filed a “right to be forgotten” request.

USA TODAY left a message Monday morning seeking comment from OpenAI.

Contributor: Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and breaking news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]

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