Even AI Gets It Wrong: Gemini and the Post Office That No Longer Issues IDPs

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As usual, I'm planning to rent a car during my stay in Japan this coming winter and drive to various sightseeing spots. As a non-resident, I can't own a car there and don't hold a Japanese driving licence, so a rental car is really my only option — for which I need an International Driving Permit (IDP).

Wanting to get one, I asked Gemini where I could get an IDP near my home postcode and which documents I would need.

A rental car is pretty much my only way to get around during my stays in Japan.
Photo by Namito Yokota on Unsplash

The answer I received looked very thorough. Gemini listed four nearby post offices, complete with addresses, ratings and opening hours. It also carefully explained the required documents (a valid photocard driving licence, a passport photo, my passport and a £5.50 fee) and noted that Japan only recognises the 1949 Convention IDP. Feeling reassured, I drove to the post offices that Gemini had recommended.

What I was told on the ground

The post office Gemini sent me to. It no longer handled IDPs at all.
Photo by Stuart Frisby on Unsplash

When I actually got there, though, things didn't go as planned.

The first stop, Elmdon Heath Post Office, was a 10-minute drive away. Once there, I was told, "We don't handle that here." The second, Shirley Post Office, was another 17 minutes away. I heard the same thing there, and the staff member added that IDP issuance had stopped at post offices two years ago and that I should look for a PayPoint outlet instead.

With traffic, the drive home took another 25 minutes. In total, that's 52 minutes of driving, plus about 15 minutes spent queuing and talking to staff at each counter — around 67 minutes in total — and I came home empty-handed.

I asked Gemini why it had made a mistake

Something didn't sit right with me, so I asked Gemini directly why it had made this mistake, given that it had presumably searched the web — surely there was more current information out there?

Here's what it told me:

• In the UK, the issuance of IDPs had been transferred entirely from post offices to PayPoint as of 1 April 2024
• Gemini hadn't properly reflected that change and had instead given me outdated information suggesting that some post offices still issued IDPs
• Even though it had searched, it hadn't cross-checked properly against the most recent policy change

In short, AI can provide a very plausible-sounding answer, complete with specific store names and addresses, delivered with total confidence, even when that information has been invalid for over a year.

Rethinking how I work with AI

I spend several hours a day talking with AI. That's exactly why how much I trust its answers matters.
Photo by Jo Lin on Unsplash

I spend several hours a day, every day, conversing with AI. The more I use it, the more I'm struck by the breadth of its knowledge and the soundness of its judgement. Living day to day with something that seems to know almost everything, I've gradually fallen into the habit of simply trusting whatever it tells me.

However, this experience showed me something important: an AI can deliver a confidently wrong answer, even about something that seems too simple to get wrong. That's something to be careful about.

At the same time, if I have to double-check everything an AI tells me, I lose the time savings and reliable knowledge that I turned to it for in the first place — that would rather defeat the object. I honestly don't yet know how well I'll be able to spot an AI's mistakes going forward. I suspect the only way is to keep making mistakes like this one and learning from each of them.

Rather than depending on AI, I'd like to reach a point where I can have a genuine discussion with it on equal terms. With that in mind, I intend to keep moving forward one step at a time.

What this experience taught me

At 66, I found this a useful, hands-on reminder that, when it comes to official procedures like this, I shouldn't simply trust what an AI tells me. I need to verify it against a primary source — in this case, the DVLA or an official government website.

AI is genuinely useful, and I rely on it often, but it isn't infallible. For anything that can change overnight, such as a government process or a set of regulations, I now treat an AI's answer as a starting point rather than the final word.

For the record, here's the correct way to obtain an IDP in the UK these days:

In the end, it wasn't AI that helped — it was the store locator on the official PayPoint website.
Photo by Alicia Christin Gerald on Unsplash

1. Use the official PayPoint website and enter your home postcode to find a nearby outlet.
2. Confirm that the outlet handles International Driving Permits (IDPs).
3. Bring your UK driving licence, a passport-sized photo, your passport and the £5.50 fee.
4. Specifically ask for the 1949 Convention IDP at the counter.

It cost me a couple of wasted trips, but I learnt a valuable lesson about working with AI. If you're around my age and also rely on AI in your daily life, I hope you find this useful food for thought about the pitfalls behind the convenience.