Broadcaster Lee Hong-ryeol. [Herald POP (now Herald Muse) provided]
Broadcaster Lee Hong-ryeol. [Herald POP (now Herald Muse) provided]

Broadcaster Lee Hong-ryeol has confessed to losing money on shares after consulting ChatGPT on his investments.

On Tuesday, Lee appeared on the YouTube channel "Lee Seong-mi's I'm a Fuddy-Duddy," where he explained that he uses the paid version of ChatGPT and has set up separate chat rooms for different topics — including one for his daughter-in-law, one for couples' health and another for brainstorming ideas. He said he started on the free version but switched to the paid tier at the suggestion of Kim Tae-won, who sat next to him on MBN's talk show "Dongchimi."

Lee recalled Kim telling him, "Try switching to the paid version. It's like hiring the smartest person in the world as your personal assistant." Lee added that he believes users should first get fully comfortable with the free version before upgrading to paid.

He then said he uses a dedicated chat room for share investments, consulting ChatGPT on which stocks look promising and when to sell.

When host Lee Seong-mi asked, "So are all your stocks in the red right now, oppa?" Lee replied, "It gave me some bad advice. I'm down quite a bit right now," adding, "So for now I've stopped chatting in that room" — drawing laughter from those present.

Lee said he stays alert to incorrect answers from ChatGPT. "I always tell it, 'If you don't know something, just say so. Don't give me false information,'" he said. "It does lie sometimes."

He recalled one instance where he asked ChatGPT for shops selling men's belts at Namdaemun Market, only to find that not a single store it recommended actually existed.

Lee, who has served as a promotional ambassador for a digital literacy program for five years, urged his peers to embrace digital technology rather than shy away from it. "Digital changes by the day," he said. "Even if you can't keep up with everything, I really hope people will at least learn the basics."


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