For the people who do not know me, hi, my name is Kait. I have been a veterinary technician for more than 10 years.
My blogging journey has been a learning curve and lets face it sometimes ideas are slim pickings especially while you are learning the ropes.
Originally I had went on Chat GPT to find some inspiration for things to write about. I have never used it before and for curious about what it had to offer. I also was wondering if there was something I was missing when writing my blogs.
I began by asking Chat GPT basic questions about what to write about in my niche and ended up going down a rabbit hole and the results I was receiving truly surprised me!
What is Chat GPT?
If you have not heard of Chat GPT, you’re missing out! There are a lot of great things about the system that can be very helpful.
Chat GPT is an AI bot that scours the internet for answers to the questions you ask it. It has a wide range of “knowledge” that can give you answers you would find without the need to Google hunt.
There are pros and cons to Chat GPT as there is with everything. But it is can be entertaining to ask it about the things you have been wondering about but have not had the will-power to research on your own.
But- BEWARE- of the results your receive. I will go further into why throughout this article.
The Prep
When asking Chat GPT my pet safe gardening questions I had prepped the system to know a little about me and what I was going to be asking.
I wanted to give Chat GPT a chance to give me the best answers it has even though I am sure this AI bot does not have an ability to purposely “lie” or construe its results.
Notice the disclaimer on the bottom.
The Results
So, lets just get right into it.
I asked Chat GPT 5 questions that I know the answers to about pet safe gardening. As I have mentioned earlier, I have been a veterinary technician for over 10 years and have gained a lot of knowledge in the field.
I wanted to make sure that I had the knowledge base to accurately rate the results I had received. I did not give Chat GPT any indication of if its results were correct or incorrect so it would not construe the results.
I will be referencing my article about identifying and avoiding toxic plants and the ASPCA Poison Control website to give an accurate representation of the correct answers.
Question 1
For my first question, I started off with herbs. I have been wanting to grow some indoor herbs myself and have luckily already done my research to find the right ones for my family.
Of course my herb garden is going to come up in a future article where I share what I learned while growing my herbs. But enough about my soon to be new passion project.
The question I asked Chat GPT was: What are 7 pet safe herbs that you can keep indoors?
Here are the results:
Looks pretty good right? It is an easy to read list of herbs that I would totally consider having in my garden.
The only problem I have with this list is that 3 of those herbs can be dangerous for pets. If you have read some of my articles before you may have an idea as to which ones I am referring to.
The Answer: Parsley, Chives and Mint
Can you believe that Chat GPT wrote chives as being pet safe! Its an onion!
Parsley: Although it would take large amounts for your pet to ingest to have this effect, it can in fact cause photosensitization (dermatitis and sunburn).
Chives: This is actually the herb that got me questioning everything. If you are up to date on your pet knowledge, you would know that pets should not have onions. What are chives? An onion? Strange….
The effects chives can have are vomiting, breakdown of red blood cells, blood in urine, weakness, high heart rate and panting.
Mint: Large amount of mint would need to be ingested again to be at toxic levels for your pet. It could cause vomiting and diarrhea.
Question 2
This time, I decided to go less specific with my question and the results were interesting. It was very clear to me that Chat GPT can be wrong but, it can also be right.
I asked Chat GPT: What are some pet safe plants I can keep in my house?
This question was not as specified as the first, asking for a broad list of plants kept indoors that are pet safe. There is obviously a much larger list to choose from than herbs specifically that are pet safe.
Here are the results:
This was the perfect list. When fact checked, all of the plants listed are 100% pet safe.
I even found some plants that I may want to add to my own household. I cannot comment on the low light conditions that Chat GPT had offered in its explanation because in all honesty, I have not heard of some of these plants.
But they are all very pretty plants and I wouldn’t mind giving them a go. There is a lot less risk to experimenting with plants than experimenting with your pets.
Question 3
For my third question, I asked Chat GPT another broad question that I thought it would answer correctly based on my previous findings.
It definitely seems as though Chat GPT does well with more broad questions with a copious amount of possibilities rather than a narrow list.
I think what happened when I asked it about the herbs, there were not many to choose from and Chat GPT would not write that it did not have all 7 herbs and therefore added some that I probably would not have put on the list.
I asked Chat GPT: How can I increase the likely-hood that my pets will not get to the plants in my garden?
I had to ask it for a short list because my first go around it gave me a very long list but I will not deduct points for an extensive answer.
For this response, everything seems pretty straight forward but I would have wished that Chat GPT would provide some sort of study or proof that lavender, rosemary or citrus peels would deter pets from my garden.
If you have a Labrador Retriever or a feisty cat, you may know that a little smell will not deter them from eating anything so I do not think that would work for every pet owner.
I also have never recommended that a pet owner use a citrus peel to deter pets from doing anything, like licking their surgical incision.
I would be interested in testing the theory or hearing from anyone that has had experience with success or failure.
Question 4
You know how I just mentioned that I wish Chat GPT had provided some proof? Well, I asked it for the proof.
So, I asked for proof and I am not impressed by its response… at all.
This is not actually “proof” this is more of the ramblings of someone who does not actually have proof. I actually had to ask it for studies for it to get a little further.
But the fact that this is what it gave as proof is frankly, terrible.
How am I supposed to just believe that the ramblings is trusted information.
However, when I asked it for studies, it did submit those as well.
Question 5
For the last question, I wanted to ask a pretty simple question to see what it would come up with. I specified it to see if it would answer incorrectly to make sure it met the quantity I specified.
Surprisingly, it met some of the standards I asked for.
Take note about what Chat GPT states in “Fish Emulsion” fertilizer and “Bone Meal”.
I appreciate that it is stating some stipulations to the ones it had mentioned but if something is not truly pet safe, even in Chat GPT’s system, why list it at all.
I personally think it should state something more like, I cannot list all of them because there aren’t enough to list.
Conclusion
In looking over Chat GPT’s answers with my background I have found that in a lot of cases, Chat GPT could be very helpful. But it could also be harmful for someone who is using the system for something like pet safety.
I have come to the conclusion in this research that if you ask it broader questions the system passes the test and answers more accurately rather than if you specify a number and stipulation.
Chat GPT makes promises to deliver to exactly what you’re asking without letting you know that there are not enough answers on the list to discuss.
This would come in handy if a reader is asking it more important questions that can be harmful if answered wrong.
What are your thoughts?
