ChatGPT is talking nonsense, actually forcing this company to develop new features overnight! The absurd reality and opportunities of AI hallucinations.

ChatGPT misled users into uploading non-compliant data, inadvertently forcing the interactive sheet music platform Soundslice to develop new features, revealing the impact and opportunities of AI hallucinations on product roadmaps? (Background: Who is AI taking jobs from? 4 million chat records reveal the answer) (Context: AI is indeed starting to take human jobs》Global corporations are accelerating layoffs, and American college graduates are unemployed immediately after graduation...) Hundreds of customer service emails containing screenshots of ChatGPT have recently flooded the interactive sheet music platform Soundslice, claiming GPT told them that as long as they "throw ASCII guitar tabs into Soundslice, they can be instantly converted into interactive sheet music." But this seemingly well-meaning AI guidance led Soundslice into a tsunami of error logs for several days. It turned out that ChatGPT told users that the platform supported an ASCII Tab translation function that actually did not exist. When hundreds of users followed this advice but repeatedly hit walls, engineers suddenly realized that AI hallucinations were pushing phantom demands into the real world. It turned out that ChatGPT was telling people to create an account on Soundslice and then import ASCII tabs to hear audio playback. So this explains it! AI hallucinations cause trouble: from error logs to market demand. Soundslice is a startup that scans traditional sheet music using OMR AI technology to generate interactive learning materials, but in early 2025, the server suddenly received a large influx of failed requests, all pointing to "upload ASCII Tab." Upon official investigation, many users attached screenshots of their conversations with ChatGPT, which led to the discovery that AI not only "fabricated" functionalities but also spoke with certainty, resulting in a serious disconnect between brand image and user expectations. The functionality originally provided by Soundslice allowed users to upload standard sheet music (as shown on the left in the image below) to convert it into playable and editable digital scores, but users misled by GPT uploaded ASCII tab scores (as shown on the right in the image below). Image source: Soundslice co-founder Adrian Holovaty. Soundslice official website screenshot. Forced product iteration: a triple dilemma. Faced with the influx of phantom demands, Soundslice had three options: ignore, clarify, or simply implement. After deliberation, the management team decided that ignoring it wouldn't work, and while issuing an announcement could stop the bleeding, it might disappoint users. Therefore, they chose to go with the flow and accelerate the release of the ASCII Tab parsing function (which was originally ranked lower on their "software development list for 2025"). Co-founder Adrian Holovaty wrote on his personal blog: To my knowledge, this is the first case where a company developed a feature due to ChatGPT incorrectly informing users of its existence. (Is it?) I share this story because I find it quite interesting. At the same time, he raised a thought-provoking point: I feel conflicted about this. I'm glad to add a tool that helps people. But I think our approach is a bit strange. Should we really develop some features to address misinformation? AI hallucination new challenges, governance, and opportunities. In fact, Soundslice is not the only victim (or perhaps beneficiary?). GitHub Copilot has also generated non-existent library names, leading developers to mistakenly install malicious packages in slopsquatting attacks (see SD Times report for details). A Coveo report also pointed out that AI hallucinations are eroding product reliability. But since AI hallucinations are difficult to avoid at this stage, we must learn to harness them. Companies might deploy an "AI observation radar" in error logs and community dialogues to capture erroneous recommendations in real-time; at the same time, they should reserve a "hallucination buffer pool" in the product roadmap so that when unexpected popular feature calls arise, they can quickly conduct MVP validation. The Soundslice case illustrates that phantom demands can also be monetized or uncover hidden user needs, but as co-founder Adrian Holovaty said, are they doing the right thing? The management team still needs to think carefully.