Next stop, the future

I’m continuing to play around with ChatGPT. I love how people have become convinced that the model can do things that it actually can’t. Like cite references.

If you ask ChatGPT to list sources it will let you know that it can’t connect to the internet and isn’t able to cite references. This is true. But people claim that they have then tricked the AI into generating references. Actually, they are tricking themselves. The sources and links are made up.

This is going to be a limitation of the model. It doesn’t actually save any of the data it is trained on. Much like the AI image models, they don’t contain any of the images they were trained on. The data shapes the model but isn’t stored there.

It’s a giant pachinko machine.

It’s a shame because it’s a huge limitation for the model to not be able to cite real sources. But it can still do some pretty amazing things.

Changing Tense

I almost ran into the streets crying out in joy when I realized that it can change the perspective and tense of a story. Writers spend so much time switching their stories back and forth from past tense to present, first person to third person, and then back again when it doesn’t work. And it’s so easy to mess up partway through a story and start writing in the wrong tense or perspective.

When this happens it is a huge pain to recast everything in the correct tense. But now I can just tell it to rephrase the opening sentence of A Tale of Two Cities in present tense.

It is the best of times, it is the worst of times, it is the age of wisdom, it is the age of foolishness, it is the epoch of belief, it is the epoch of incredulity, it is the season of Light, it is the season of Darkness, it is the spring of hope, it is the winter of despair.

Game Design

I had a conversation with ChatGPT about an idea I had… actually, let me just have ChatGPT summarize our conversation as some tweets.

Just had a great conversation with @ChatGPT about creating a game using pathetic dot theory and isekai themes! #isekai #gamedesign

I was impressed by @ChatGPT’s ability to provide detailed suggestions for game mechanics, cards, and titles for my isekai game idea! #gamedesign #isekai"

Working with @ChatGPT was like having my own personal game design assistant! #gamedesign #isekai

So, yes, I worked with it to explore some game mechanics for a card game and I got about 10 times further along than I would have staring at a blank screen. Without ChatGPT I would probably have just left the idea in a notebook, but I’m actually considering using ChatGPT to help me design a game.

I’ve always been better at ideas than execution. I’m excited to see if I can actually get this done… I even asked ChatGPT to provide a project timeline for me and it thinks I can get it done in 6 to 12 weeks.

Editorial work

I spent some time yesterday talking with ChatGPT about the editorial checklist I’m working on. It’s rather astounding to have a high-level conversation with an AI that is a better listener than most humans.

No matter how complex my requests are, it responds with something that is very thought-provoking and complete.

I kept thinking, most other humans would have no idea what I’m asking. And if they did, they would probably only have one or two things to say in response. I barely have anything to say in response to my own questions. This AI, however, will generate a nine-point definition list.

Language Learning

I’ve only just started to play around with this idea, and the site is getting overwhelmed with too many requests, but I’m really interested in using ChatGPT as a language tutor.

Conversation is one of the best ways to learn a language, but it costs money to hire someone to chat in real time. With ChatGPT I can explore a language by following my own interests.

This morning I asked ChatGPT to put together a lesson plan for me today to learn some Japanese words and phrases I would need to travel by train, and it gave me a five-point list. If the dang thing weren’t overwhelmed I could probably ask it to create some scripts and quizzes based on the material it suggested.

Imagine then, after learning the words, I ask it to take the part of a Japanese ticket seller as I try to ask it for a ticket to Tokyo. I really wish I could test this, but I’ll have to wait a bit longer.

This really feels like I’ve arrived in the future.