Think twice before you ask ChatGPT about your upcoming requirements for travel — one couple recently learned the hard way that the answers aren’t always reliable.
This past week, a Spanish travel influencer named Mery Caldass went viral on TikTok when she shared how OpenAI’s ChatGPT tool led her and her boyfriend astray on a trip to Puerto Rico.
In Caldass’ TikTok video, the text caption reads, “We missed the flight to Puerto Rico. We needed a visa and we didn’t know” in Spanish. In the video, Caldass is being consoled by her boyfriend while she tearfully explains in Spanish, “I always do a lot of research, but I asked ChatGPT and it said no.”
Caldass is likely referring to how tourists with a valid passport from Spain do not need a visa to enter Puerto Rico, but they do need to apply for an Electronic Travel Authorization (ESTA) online before traveling. Caldass did not reply to HuffPost’s request for comment before this story was published.
This is not the first time this kind of ChatGPT mix-up has happened. Travelers on social media have shared screenshots of their experiences missing buses and flights because they used ChatGPT to figure out visa requirements for the country they were traveling to — and ChatGPT gave them a misleading answer. (ChatGPT is known for being a poor vacation planner in general by suggesting “short walks” to restaurants miles away, among other mishaps.)
