An excellent observation. In addition to companies marketing their "not ready for prime time" products, your comparison of AI to a fool speaks, when one thinks of the traditional court jester. Meant to entertain.
--- "...the most recent web posting and treat that data as gospel truth...." This is what these Large Language Models do. Find something and paraphrase it, without having the ability to see through contradistinctions and human errors. Research engines for specific things is something they can do, but that is not intelligence. It is e-paperwork, filing and retrieving.
Best wishes.
Thank you for placing a finer point on my comment and for stating it so much more concisely. I wish I had stated it as well as you but you drove the point home eloquently. Nicely done.