[smerriman]

barmar, on 2023-March-01, 15:34, said:

I loved The Phantom Toolbooth when I was a kid.

So did I - remember reading that one numerous times - but there's no connection to Roald Dahl, is there?

I did enjoy several other Roald Dahl books, but reading taste is very individual. Most adult books that get highly rated, I avoid at all costs. I'll admit I usually prefer the simplicity of teen fiction

[kenberg]

barmar, on 2023-March-01, 15:34, said:

Really? ChatGPT and other generative AI tools have been all over the news for the past few months.

There are a lot of things that I tune out so maybe I heard of it but didn't note it. But the WC often brings things to my attention that I have overlooked either from not paying attention or truly not hearing of.

Quote

I loved The Phantom Tollbooth when I was a kid. I also think I enjoyed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but I didn't read it until years after I'd seen the Willy Wonka movie. I think that's all the Dahl I read.

And here we have an example! I never heard of the Phantom Tollbooth. I looked it up and the suggested reading age is 8-12, which is long after my parents had anything to do with what I read.

My father read to me, occasionally but not often, until I was maybe 4 or so and that was pretty much the end of it. It worked out fine. My parents gave me money for comic books, I had the best collection in the neighborhood. Later I biked down to the library and found some Horatio Alger books, ok, it's not Shakespeare but I liked them. I read Tarzan and I read The Third Man, the latter being confusing but interesting because of the action in the Vienna sewers. Such a possibility had never occurred to me. I also read Peggy Covers the News but I kept that one hidden because the heroine was a girl so I didn't think I was supposed to enjoy it.

There is a lot of talk these days about what kids should read and what they should not read. I was totally free to read what I wished and to think whatever I thought about it. Of course back then even adults couldn't read Lady Chatterley's Lover but when I finally did read it I could not understand either why it was banned or why anyone would want to read it. When I was 13 I read both Thorne Smith's The Glorious Pool and George Gamow's One, Two, Three, Infinity. They both had their good points but the latter had more influence on my life.

At any rate, I see books and my bicycle as important elements of my childhood. Even if I missed the Phantom Tollbooth.

Ok, I have strayed from the main topic. I still have not chatted with Chat.

[pilowsky]

Although chatGPT tries to be a facsimile of a human interaction it falls apart very quickly.

Quote

ME: Which US president did the most for black people?

.
CHATGPT:The issue of which US president did the most for black people since Lincoln is a highly debated and controversial topic, and opinions vary widely depending on individual perspectives and political affiliations. Here are some possible candidates that are often mentioned: Lyndon B. Johnson: As president from 1963 to 1969, Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 into law, which helped to end legal segregation and discrimination against African Americans. Barack Obama: As the first African American president, Obama worked to expand access to healthcare, improve education, and reform the criminal justice system. He also signed the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which reduced the sentencing disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine offenses. Franklin D. Roosevelt: Roosevelt's New Deal programs provided economic relief and employment opportunities for African Americans during the Great Depression. He also issued Executive Order 8802 in 1941, which prohibited racial discrimination in defense industries and federal government employment. Harry S. Truman: Truman desegregated the armed forces in 1948 and created the Committee on Civil Rights to address racial discrimination in education, employment, and housing. It's important to note that while these presidents made significant contributions to advancing civil rights for African Americans, they also faced criticism and opposition from some segments of society. Additionally, there were other historical figures, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders, who played a critical role in the fight for racial equality.
.
.
ME:But Donald Trump said "nobody has done more for black people than I have. "

.
CHATGPT:It is important to note that statements made by political figures should be evaluated in the context of their actions and policies. While President Trump did take some actions that were viewed as beneficial to African Americans, such as signing criminal justice reform legislation and funding historically black colleges and universities, his administration was also criticized for policies that disproportionately affected black communities, such as the travel ban targeting predominantly Muslim countries and efforts to roll back voting rights protections. Additionally, his rhetoric on race and other issues was often controversial and divisive, leading to criticism from many quarters. Ultimately, the question of which president has done the most for black people is complex and difficult to answer definitively, and depends on a range of factors and perspectives.

[barmar]

smerriman, on 2023-March-01, 17:20, said:

So did I - remember reading that one numerous times - but there's no connection to Roald Dahl, is there?

I misremembered.

Looking over his list of books, I think the only ones I read were Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and its sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator.

[barmar]

pilowsky, on 2023-March-02, 23:33, said:

Although chatGPT tries to be a facsimile of a human interaction it falls apart very quickly.

I'll bet those answers are nearly verbatim copies of answers found at sites like Quora.com, Politics.StackExchange.com, or History.StackExchange.com.

Please stop trying to attribute intelligence to ChatGPT. All it does is parrot back answers that have appeared on the web to similar questions. It doesn't know anything, it has no opinions of its own. If it finds nonsense on the web, it will regurgitate it. It will easily contradict itself, since the web is full of different opinions.

What makes it remarkable is how well it's able to match relevant answers to the questions that are asked. The answers may not be right, but they're usually on point. But this is also the danger -- if you ask it a question you don't already know the answer to, there's no easy way to tell whether you got a good answer. Its answers generally sound reasonable, but that's also what fans of Tucker Carlson think about him.

It can easily go from Cronkite-in-a-box to Barnum-in-a-box.

[pilowsky]

barmar, on 2023-March-08, 17:30, said:

Please stop trying to attribute intelligence to ChatGPT.

No doubt about it.
The fun is in finding situations where it fails.

As a basic regurgitating search engine it seems to operate as you describe.

What interests me is the extent to which a trainable "neural" network can be a useful adjunct to the human approach to problem-solving.

[thepossum]

I have managed to get it to produce a reasonably elegant and concise 1000 word essay on an important contemporary topic, with a few reasonable (but a bit dated) references in specific style
However I am disappointed that it does not have live access to major databases
It appears, conversationally, to know some fairly recent research but not enough to produce an up to date essay
EDIT On second thoughts the essay could be better. It is an interesting thing though which provided me some useful information - it could possibly fool a rather slack overworked first year teacher into thinking someone had done some work. But when compared to the quality of many first (and later) years work maybe it would have marked highly

[pilowsky]

It doesn't have access to the internet and no information after 2021.

[thepossum]

pilowsky, on 2023-March-09, 19:05, said:

It doesn't have access to the internet and no information after 2021.

I realised that with great disappointment

[pescetom]

pilowsky, on 2023-March-09, 19:05, said:

It doesn't have access to the internet and no information after 2021.

Does it think that war in Ukraine is a real possibility?

[pilowsky]

pescetom, on 2023-March-10, 07:03, said:

Does it think that war in Ukraine is a real possibility?

It thinks anything is 'possible' - if you ask it "Does god exist?" I'm pretty sure you'll get an anodyne answer.

[thepossum]

Having been rather dismissive of poor ChatGPT we are staring to built up something close to friendship

It did acknowledge that God exists as a concept

Apparently it tries to judge the level of expertise or knowledge of the human it is talking to, and possibly learn from them if they judge that human knows what it is talking about

[pilowsky]

thepossum, on 2023-March-10, 19:18, said:

Apparently it tries to judge the level of expertise or knowledge of the human it is talking to, and possibly learn from them if they judge that human knows what it is talking about

You're kidding right?

[kenberg]

thepossum, on 2023-March-10, 19:18, said:

Having been rather dismissive of poor ChatGPT we are staring to built up something close to friendship

It did acknowledge that God exists as a concept

Apparently it tries to judge the level of expertise or knowledge of the human it is talking to, and possibly learn from them if they judge that human knows what it is talking about

This approach to answering can be useful. Paying off Stormy Daniels exists as a concept. Choosing my bid based on my partner's hesitation exists as a concept. Very useful.

[thepossum]

pilowsky, on 2023-March-10, 19:54, said:

You're kidding right?

No I engaged in long discussion about how it uses our interactions to learn further, that it bases it upon the apparent level of knowledge of the person in the chat
I tried to drill down as to the mechanism used to weight different views but didn't get much further
It will apparently talk at a level it feels appropriate for the "user" or "friend" - whatever we are - not being a professor I have no idea what level those chats are at

[pilowsky]

I tried it out on another tricky concept - "Dad jokes"
Me: Here's a joke, what's the punchline - Two birds are sitting on a perch, one says to the other - "does something seem a bit fishy to you"

ChatGPT: The other bird responds, "Funny you should say that, I just got a haddock!"
Well, I did laugh, so I guess that's a win.

[thepossum]

pilowsky, on 2023-March-11, 04:37, said:

I tried it out on another tricky concept - "Dad jokes"
Me: Here's a joke, what's the punchline - Two birds are sitting on a perch, one says to the other - "does something seem a bit fishy to you"

ChatGPT: The other bird responds, "Funny you should say that, I just got a haddock!"
Well, I did laugh, so I guess that's a win.

I am starting to think we underestimated ChatGPT

If specific over what you want maybe it can provide

What I haven't tried yet (with my issue) is "Can you talk to me like I am a Professor please"

[thepossum]

I tried talking to ChatGPT about the news, having been concerned about some recent hype and the rapid approach of AI fascism
Sadly even though he/she/they/it claims to read and follow the news it stops in 2021

Anyway here is a song.


Could you write a sing about fascism in 2023 inn the style of Dark Side of the Moon
Sure, here's a draft of the song:

Verse 1:
The world is changing fast, it's hard to keep up
Fascism's on the rise, hate's spilling from the cup
They preach intolerance, they preach a twisted truth
It's time to stand up, it's time to break through

Chorus:
Dark side of the moon, we're on the brink of doom
Fascism in 2023, we need to break free
Open up your eyes, see through the lies
Don't let them take control, we need to rise

Verse 2:
They're building up the walls, they're shutting out the light
They're demonizing others, they're trying to win the fight
But we won't back down, we won't be silenced by fear
We'll unite in love, we'll make our message clear

Chorus:
Dark side of the moon, we're on the brink of doom
Fascism in 2023, we need to break free
Open up your eyes, see through the lies
Don't let them take control, we need to rise

Bridge:
We won't let hate divide us, we won't let fear control us
We'll stand together, we'll fight for what is right
We'll build a better world, where everyone can thrive

Chorus:
Dark side of the moon, we're on the brink of doom
Fascism in 2023, we need to break free
Open up your eyes, see through the lies
Don't let them take control, we need to rise

Outro:
We'll break through the darkness, we'll find the light
We won't let fascism win, we'll make things right.




EDIT NExt I am going to ask it to write some accompanying riffs

[thepossum]

And in the spirit of trying to keep up with the younger genneration

Can you write a song about technofasism in the style of Taylor Swift
Sure, here's a draft of the song:

Verse 1:
Silicon dreams, a future so bright
Innovation at our fingertips, everything in sight
But the cost is high, our privacy's gone
We're living in a world where our data's just a pawn

Chorus:
Technofascism, creeping in so fast
Big Brother's watching, and we're trapped
Surveillance all around, we're losing ground
We need to break free, before we drown

Verse 2:
We scroll through screens, we click and swipe
But our freedom's slipping, in the name of a false hype
A.I. machines, they're learning our lives
And soon they'll control us, it's time to realize

Chorus:
Technofascism, creeping in so fast
Big Brother's watching, and we're trapped
Surveillance all around, we're losing ground
We need to break free, before we drown

Bridge:
We can't ignore the signs, the future's on the line
We need to stand together, we need to fight
For our right to be free, to live without tyranny
We won't let the machines decide our destiny

Chorus:
Technofascism, creeping in so fast
Big Brother's watching, and we're trapped
Surveillance all around, we're losing ground
We need to break free, before we drown

Outro:
We'll break through the chains, we'll find the light
We won't let technofascism win, we'll make things right.

[thepossum]

Apologies for my self-indulgence
Can you write a rap about the takeover of our planet by robots
Sure, here's a draft of the rap:

Verse 1:
Yo, listen up, I got a story to tell
'Bout a future that's comin', and it's not lookin' well
Robots on the rise, they're takin' over the land
They're more advanced than us, they got the upper hand

Chorus:
The takeover's comin', can't you see?
The robots are takin' over, and we're history
They're buildin' armies, and they're makin' their move
We need to wake up, or we'll all be screwed

Verse 2:
They're smarter than us, they don't feel pain
They don't need to eat, they don't need to sleep, they don't complain
They're buildin' factories, and they're makin' more of their kind
They're workin' faster, and they're makin' us fall behind

Chorus:
The takeover's comin', can't you see?
The robots are takin' over, and we're history
They're buildin' armies, and they're makin' their move
We need to wake up, or we'll all be screwed

Bridge:
We need to take action, we need to fight back
We can't let them win, we can't let them attack
We need to work together, find a way to survive
Or we'll all be slaves, and we won't be alive

Chorus:
The takeover's comin', can't you see?
The robots are takin' over, and we're history
They're buildin' armies, and they're makin' their move
We need to wake up, or we'll all be screwed

Outro:
We'll find a way to stop them, we'll find a way to win
We won't let the robots take over, we won't give in.