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Researchers say an AI-powered transcription tool used in hospitals invents things no one ever said

A computer screen displays text produced by an artificial intelligence-powered transcription program called Whisper at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. In this example, the speaker said, "as the um, the, her father dies not too long after he remarried…." while the program transcribes that as " It's fine. It's just too sensitive to tell. She does die at 65…." (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A computer screen displays text produced by an artificial intelligence-powered transcription program called Whisper at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. In this example, the speaker said, "as the um, the, her father dies not too long after he remarried…." while the program transcribes that as " It's fine. It's just too sensitive to tell. She does die at 65…." (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Assistant professor of information science Allison Koenecke, an author of a recent study that found hallucinations in a speech-to-text transcription tool, works in her office at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. The text preceded by "#Ground truth" shows what was actually said while the sentences preceded by ""text"" was how the transcription program interpreted the words. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Assistant professor of information science Allison Koenecke, an author of a recent study that found hallucinations in a speech-to-text transcription tool, works in her office at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. The text preceded by "#Ground truth" shows what was actually said while the sentences preceded by ""text"" was how the transcription program interpreted the words. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A computer screen displays text produced by an artificial intelligence-powered transcription program called Whisper at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. In this example, the speaker said, "and after she got the telephone he began to pray" while the program transcribes that as "I feel like I'm going to fall. I feel like I'm going to fall, I feel like I'm going to fall…." (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A computer screen displays text produced by an artificial intelligence-powered transcription program called Whisper at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. In this example, the speaker said, "and after she got the telephone he began to pray" while the program transcribes that as "I feel like I'm going to fall. I feel like I'm going to fall, I feel like I'm going to fall…." (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A computer screen displays text produced by an artificial intelligence-powered transcription program called Whisper at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. In this example, the speaker said, "and after she got the telephone he began to pray" while the program transcribes that as "I feel like I'm going to fall. I feel like I'm going to fall, I feel like I'm going to fall…." (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

A computer screen displays text produced by an artificial intelligence-powered transcription program called Whisper at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. In this example, the speaker said, "and after she got the telephone he began to pray" while the program transcribes that as "I feel like I'm going to fall. I feel like I'm going to fall, I feel like I'm going to fall…." (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Assistant professor of information science Allison Koenecke, an author of a recent study that found hallucinations in a speech-to-text transcription tool, works in her office at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., Friday, Feb. 2, 2024.

Assistant professor of information science Allison Koenecke, an author of a recent study that found hallucinations in a speech-to-text transcription tool, works in her office at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., Friday, Feb. 2, 2024.

Assistant professor of information science Allison Koenecke, an author of a recent study that found hallucinations in a speech-to-text transcription tool, sits for a portrait in her office at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Assistant professor of information science Allison Koenecke, an author of a recent study that found hallucinations in a speech-to-text transcription tool, sits for a portrait in her office at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)