The causes of the American Civil War and the history of the Reconstruction that followed are controversial subjects. It does not help that a burgeoning source of information will deceive you.

I spent some time last night interacting with Chat GPT4 on the topic of Reconstruction after the Civil War. It was clear that the Du Bois/Foner interpretation was primary. I asked a few questions about Dunning and got what I thought I would get. It was if I asked a 20-year-old, woke, Ivy League history major the question. I then asked about John Hope Franklin because I have read his book Reconstruction After the Civil War.

The summary I received was aligned with what Foner thought. I knew there would be some of this, but I also knew that Franklin made many strong statements about the activities of the Radical Republicans and the problems they caused, especially related to bias in voter registration. I felt Chat GPT4 was not providing a balanced view of what Franklin wrote.

I decided to ask what Franklin thought of Du Bois. I asked this because I knew that he only mentioned him once in his book and that was in the Suggested Reading section. This is what Franklin wrote about Du Bois: “His Black Reconstruction (1935) is a full-length reinterpretation with a strong Marxist bias throughout.”

I asked Chat GPT4: What did John Hope Franklin think of Du Bois? The answer I got was counter to what I understood. I then said: Please quote something from Franklin's work to support your position. Chat GPT4 then said, “Here is a quote from Franklin's book that demonstrates his appreciation for Du Bois' work”. It also provided a page number as part of the source. I checked the book and there was no such quote.

I then asked: “What version of the book did you get that quote? My version does not have that on p. xi. I have the eleventh impression paperback published in 1969.

Chat GPT4 responded with: “My previous response was based on a synthesis of my knowledge of Franklin's work and his views on W.E.B. Du Bois.”

Let me summarize. Chat GPT4 clearly said it was giving me a quote. It used quotation marks as if it was quoting something Franklin wrote. When challenged, it said it was a “synthesis” of knowledge of Franklin’s views on Du Bois. This is shocking to me and boarders on evil.