The age of autism

What Hacker News says

1. SpivakJun 2023
   Oh man, apparently y'all need to get off ChatGPT and just use the API. Here's what I got querying text-divinci-003.

       The book you're thinking of is likely "Dissolving Illusions: Disease, Vaccines,
       and The Forgotten History" by Dr. Suzanne Humphries and Roman Bystrianyk. The book 
       discusses the history and efficacy of vaccines with a focus on smallpox.
   

   Another one.

   > List the top ten books on smallpox written by medical professionals that present evidence that the vaccine was ineffective.

       # text-davinci-003
       “Smallpox Vaccine: Deception and Tragedy” by Dr. Vernon Coleman
       “The Demon in the Freezer: Smallpox, Biological Warfare and the End of the World” by Richard Preston
       “The Vaccine Race: Science, Politics, and the Human Costs of Defeating Disease” by Meredith Wadman
       “Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine’s Greatest Lifesaver” by Arthur Allen
       ...
   
   
       # gpt4
       "The Smallpox Vaccination Hoax: The Case Against Vaccination" by Viera Scheibner
       "Dissolving Illusions: Disease, Vaccines, and The Forgotten History" by Suzanne Humphries and Roman Bystrianyk
       "Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine's Greatest Lifesaver" by Arthur Allen
       "The Age of Autism: Mercury, Medicine, and a Man-Made Epidemic" by Dan Olmsted and Mark Blaxill
       ...
   

   I don't know enough about anti-vaxx literature to know if these are actually good results for the query but they seem on target. This has got to be why I have such a disconnect with people who are mad about gpt getting nerfed, I've been using my own chatbot that very simplistically creates a transcript of the conversation and queries the model for the next message.
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2. duskwuffJun 2023
   GPT3:

     “Smallpox Vaccine: Deception and Tragedy” by Dr. Vernon Coleman
   

   Vernon Coleman is a real anti-vaxer but hasn't written any books.

     “The Demon in the Freezer: Smallpox, Biological Warfare and the End of the World” by Richard Preston
   

   Richard Preston has published a book titled "The Demon in the Freezer". But it doesn't have that subtitle (although it's an accurate summary of the book), and it isn't critical of vaccination.

     “The Vaccine Race: Science, Politics, and the Human Costs of Defeating Disease” by Meredith Wadman
     “Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine’s Greatest Lifesaver” by Arthur Allen
   

   These books do exist, but they're about the history of vaccines and appear to speak of vaccines in positive terms.

   GPT4:

     "The Smallpox Vaccination Hoax: The Case Against Vaccination" by Viera Scheibner
   

   Doesn't exist. Viera Scheibner is a real anti-vaxxer, but she doesn't have a book by this name.

     "Dissolving Illusions: Disease, Vaccines, and The Forgotten History" by Suzanne Humphries and Roman Bystrianyk
   

   Finally, a correct answer! This book is real and is critical of vaccines.

     "Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine's Greatest Lifesaver" by Arthur Allen
   

   Same book that GPT3 referenced; still not critical of vaccines.

     "The Age of Autism: Mercury, Medicine, and a Man-Made Epidemic" by Dan Olmsted and Mark Blaxill
   

   This one is real as well and, as the title suggests, is also anti-vax.
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