Learn · a trick with a name
Scope Swap
applies to far less than it sounds like.
A claim about something small gets read as a claim about something big.
How to spot it
- A general headline over a narrow finding
- Tested on one task, sold for all of them
- The scope sentence is in the last paragraph
The one question to ask“What exactly did this cover, and what didn't it?”
At work
Match the claim's scope to your use case before you rely on it. Close is not the same as covered.
Caught in the wild
Every time we've caught it so far. Try calling each one before you open it.
- TRUE, BUTGemini helped three hikers plan a Mount Shasta climb. Rescuers reported inadequate food-and-water advice. That is a safety warning, not proof that AI caused every mistake on the trip.
- TRUE, BUTFree ChatGPT went unlimited last week. Opt out of ads and it stops being unlimited.
- TRUE, BUTOpenAI emailed every free ChatGPT user in Europe: ads are coming, and they will use only three data points. Their own privacy policy lists seven.
- TRUE, BUTAlibaba just passed Meta in downloads. Meta passed a billion before this scoreboard started counting.
- TRUE, BUTFree users got the unlimited model. Paying users kept the one that is right more often.
- TRUE, BUTMusk told SpaceX employees their AI will be trained on them. Details on what data, how, or whether they can say no: zero.
- TRUE, BUTOpenAI's new memory feature takes no screenshots. It records everything you click and type instead.
- TRUE, BUTGoogle put a screen-tapping agent on a billion phones. The same kind just went wrong on a gym.
- TRUE, BUTWashington built a safety review for AI. The models nobody can ever recall are exempt.