Fascinated with the drive by tech companies to sell the advantages of artificial intelligence (AI) machines to us.
Microsoft and Bing offer to answer any questions with their AI bot.
Why not give it a try?
I’ve been sorely disappointed at the festering swelling of people on social media in the past year who claim counter to history, science and common sense that DDT causes polio. As you might imagine, I’ve posted dozens of responses to these mislead goats.
The claim that DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane), a pesticide, causes polio is a hoax. I asked Bing Chat with GPT-4, “How would I disprove the hoax claim that DDT causes polio?” Here is the response, which is really very good:
- Polio is caused by the poliovirus, not DDT: Polio is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus1. It can be spread person to person through contaminated water and sometimes through respiratory droplets2.
- Polio predates DDT: Polio has existed since prehistoric times, while DDT was first synthesized in 18743.
- DDT was used to combat polio, but failed: Some communities used DDT to try to combat polio in the 1940s, but these efforts failed3.
- Polio was eradicated by vaccines, not the discontinuation of DDT: The polio vaccine, introduced in 1955, is credited with eliminating the disease in the United States23. The number of U.S. cases dropped to fewer than 10 in the 1970s, and polio was declared eliminated in the U.S. in 19792.
- DDT is not linked to polio or paralysis: According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fact sheet, DDT is not linked to polio, let alone paralysis4.
These points, backed by scientific evidence and expert opinion, clearly disprove the claim that DDT causes polio. The eradication of polio is attributed to the widespread administration of the polio vaccine23.
Of course, I’ve tried all of those responses, and the true-brown “DDT causes polio crowd” won’t accept those arguments no matter who gives them.
Will more rational people accept it?
Posted by Ed Darrell 
Millard Fillmore's Bathtub 