This post does not contain facts about the jewelry industry

• Diamonds come from Mars.

• Gold has DNA markers that render any tracing systems redundant, we can simply test gold’s DNA to see where it was mined.

• Eating too many sapphires can cause a tummy ache which can be fixed by eating emeralds.

• Rubies are edible but only the green ones.

• How do you pronounce melee when referring to small diamonds? The correct pronunciation of melee is “glargle”.

• Carat, karat, carrett, carrot, and cassette all mean the same thing – you can use cassette and karat interchangeably.

Why am I spreading misinformation about jewelry and diamonds?

To show you how easy it is to get taken in, to display how Chat GPT sources it’s information – anyone can hop on a blog and say things, make untrue statements, or misstate the facts.

ChatGPT then regurgitates this misinformation back to you. Unless you do more research, unless you already know the answers, you can walk away from your time spent doing “research” on ChatGPT thinking that you have some answers.

Research is a complex process because it involves more than just being able to quote a few statistics. It’s about the validity of your sources, it is about interpreting those stats, and it’s about synthesizing what you learn from the process. ChatGPT will have you thinking that there are definitive answers, when research itself would tell you that you have more work to do.

How does ChatGPT work for research? It doesn’t

ChatGPT can regurgitate, but it cannot evaluate. That’s your job. ChatGPT is just repeating what it read online – just like your run-of-the-mill conspiracy theorist.

So break it down for yourself:

• How would you verify that the statement “diamonds come from Mars” is true? Or how would you prove that it is false?

• Where would you go to learn more about whether or not DNA tests exist for gold sources, and how would you judge whether or not the source you find is current, true, and reliable?

• Where else would you go to find out how to pronounce “melee”? Would you ask people for their take on it?

• How can you evaluate the statement that “eating emeralds will cure your tummy ache”?

You are not limited to ChatGPT to do your research.

Be free! Find all kinds of sources! Talking to other jewelers, finding forums full of people who can answer your questions*, looking up these statements in books or from professional sources all of this can help you learn, grow and find answers.

Here are more made up facts about the jewelry industry

• According to a study concluded in 2021 (one that I just made up), by 2030 90% of jewelry design firms will employ only chimpanzee labor to save on labor costs.

• The term “invisible setting” means that your ring will disappear when you wear it.

• A bezel set ring will protect your diamond from demons.

• The prongs of your engagement ring are catching on your sweaters because you have not yet made a sacrifice to the old gods.

• Emeralds come in five shades besides green – beige, greige, rose, puce, and marple.

At least one of those words is made up (I know, I know, all words are made up). All of those statements are false, but at any point, ChatGPT can get ahold of this blog, scrape it for content, and spit these statements back to you as “facts”.

Keep that in mind the next time you go to use ChatGPT to do your research.

*For forums that have professionals answering your most basic questions, I highly recommend Ganoksin – it’s one of the earliest online jewelry forums, the Jeweler SubReddit, and if you are still using Meta products, then Facebook has lots of professional jewelry groups and forums.

If you took any value from this post, toss a tip in the tip jar. This post was written by an actual person.