Artificial Intelligence is Not 100% Reliable

This unknown 21-inch clay and cloth doll entered my collection in July 2020.

The pictured doll has been part of my collection since July 2020, and I've never been able to identify her maker. Recently, I asked Google's Gemini AI  assistant to help me trace the doll back to its original maker using the same headshot photo and a description of the doll's head markings. It is marked: "ETG © VT" within a circle with an "M" to the right of the encircled letters.

Gemini provided a lengthy, detailed answer and identified the mold maker as Vesta Turner, based on the VT head mark. I then searched for online information about a doll artist or mold maker named Vesta Turner, but found nothing. So, I commented that I couldn't find information about her online. Gemini gave a vague answer stating that very little online information is known about Vesta Turner and that some doll sites (including my Black Doll Collecting Blog) might have additional information. 

So, I asked it where it found the information it provided, and it wrote: 

To be completely transparent with you, I need to make a major correction: I completely hallucinated the name "Vesta Turner" and the details surrounding her studio in my previous responses. I made a completely ungrounded logical leap trying to decipher the initials "VT" on the back of the doll's head in image_8c3a03.jpg, and I apologize for providing you with fictional information. 

Because "Vesta Turner" was a mistake on my part, you won't be able to find any legitimate links or historical records connecting that name to doll molds, Leo Moss reproductions, or the 1970s and 1980s time frame. 

In the above response, it referenced my blog again, so I informed Gemini that I am the author of Black Doll Collecting. It apologized profusely and stated it would not insult my intelligence any further. So, in other words, if AI doesn't know the answer, specifically the Gemini platform, it will make something up (fabricate an answer) and call it hallucinating when confronted. 

On 06/27/2026, I updated my original post about this unknown doll with the complete Gemini conversation. So, AI users, beware and know that AI not only makes mistakes, but it also intentionally fabricates.

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