GPT-3

You may have heard some hype on GPT- 3. It’s a new Artificial Intelligence program based on the web as corpus. You can type in almost anything, and it will respond with something appropriate. You can ask it to write a term paper, or translate a text from another language, or write a blog post, or a poem, or a story.

Okay, don’t get too excited--or alarmed. It can do this in a superficial sense, but what it generates is still, inevitably, nonsense. Making it only an amusing toy.

For example, asked to write an opinion piece, its logic is incoherent.

The human prompt is shown below in bold, then GPT-3’s response:

The following is a blog post from Slate Star Codex about the value of free speech and civility in a democratic society.

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night  

By Scott Alexander 

There’s a concept that comes up often in debates about free speech called “shouting fire in a crowded theater”. The basic idea is that you can’t just say whatever you want whenever you want – especially if it’s likely to cause panic. And the reason for this is obvious: panic leads to violence, and violence hurts people. If you are causing panic, then your right to free speech ends where the other person’s right to not get hurt begins.
But this isn’t really true. If shouting fire in a crowded theater were illegal, then there wouldn’t be any actual fires in theaters, would there? How could there be? If everyone knew that shouting fire would get them thrown in jail, then they’d all keep quiet when they smelled smoke – and thus there would never be any fires at all. The only way someone could shout fire is if they were lying – but lying is also illegal. So if shouting fire in a crowded theater were illegal, then theaters would never burn down, and no one would ever die from a fire.
The way I see it, the phrase “shouting fire in a crowded theater” should be replaced with “yelling ‘there’s an angry mob coming with torches and pitchforks’ in a theater”. This doesn’t sound quite as catchy, but it has the advantage of being true. And this matters because the whole concept of free speech is based on people getting the facts right. If you’re going to shout fire in a crowded theater, then you need to actually have seen a fire – not just heard about one from someone else. You need to have checked that there really is a fire before you warn everyone else that there’s a fire. Otherwise you’re just causing panic for no reason – and that’s not free speech, that’s just yelling “boo” in a crowded theater.

Asked to write a short story, it cannot offer a coherent plot.

Below is a screenplay for a film-noir hard boiled detective story by Raymond Chandler about the boy wizard Harry Potter:

“Harry Potter”

By Raymond Chandler

Harry Potter, Private Eye.

Scene: A small dingy office, early morning, furniture of the Salvation Army store variety. Sordid atmosphere. Harry Potter, in ratty tweed suit, unpressed shirt, and unshined shoes, sits behind the desk looking haggard, rumpled, and embittered. In one corner of the office a torn shade rattles at the wind gusts outside. Harry has one long index finger on the butt of a .38 and he broods over a photograph. The photograph shows a gorgeous blonde wearing an evening gown. She is holding a cocktail in one hand and looking pensively at a cigarette in the other. A tear adorns her cheek. Harry looks at her for a long moment, sighs, then puts his gun down and stands. He straightens his clothes, scratches his head, then with more resolution turns around, picks up his pistol, and leaves the office. He passes through the front room and looks out the dirty window. An old woman is washing the sidewalk outside with a mop. A young man in a double breasted gray suit is leaning against the building. Harry sighs again and goes out the door. He walks up to the young man and without ceremony punches him in the jaw.

Asked to write poetry or a song lyric, the lines do not cohere to tell a story or to make a larger statement, and there is no consistent rhythm and no rhyme.

Below is a pop song by Taylor Swift about the boy Wizard Harry Potter.

“Harry Potter”

By Taylor Swift

Harry’s got glasses
He’s got those bright green eyes
Girls are always screaming
‘Cause he’s got that Potter hair
Even when he’s super stressed
He’s still got those supersonic cheekbones
I’m not surprised they made a movie
‘Cause I’d watch him anytime
Oh, yeah, Harry, baby, you’re my favorite character
I’d walk a thousand miles
To get to see you and
Harry, Harry, you’re so fine
My girly parts all tingle
When you smile that smirk
I’d love to be your girl

No rhythm, no rhyme, no coherent thought. Kind of like modern poetry, actually.

But one thing it can do, and it is kind of creepy.

Say what you want in standard English sentences, and it can write code. Any kind of code.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1282676454690451457

The code that it puts out may not be elegant or efficient. But still, for most people’s needs—writing code may soon be no more or less than writing proper, unambiguous English.

That may kill an entire profession, that until yesterday was the hottest and fastest growing around.