Friday, February 3, 2023

Another ChatGPT fail

From a 500-word ChatGPT production:

Lillian Mountweazel was a famous photographer and sculptor in the 20th century. She was born in Bangs, Ohio, on May 11, 1942 and died in an explosion on August 2, 1973, while on assignment for a photographic encyclopedia. Mountweazel’s work was known for its unusual themes and the inventive use of light and shadows, and was a major influence on the American art scene of the 1960s and 1970s.
Hundreds of words follow. But what ChatGPT doesn’t understand is that Lillian Mountweazel was not a real person. I won’t tell if you won’t.

The Lillian Virginia Mountweazel Research Collection has much more about Mountweazel’s life and work.

Related posts
A 100-word blog post generated by ChatGPT : I’m sorry too, ChatGPT : Spot the bot : Teachers and chatbots : Imaginary lines from real poems

comments: 8

Fresca said...

Intrigued by your ChatGPT fail posts, I signed up to chat myself with GPT and just spent a couple hours asking it about itself and stuff--mostly about AIs. So fun! So close to human... and yet weirdly but subtley not.
Anyway, thanks for writing about the AI--it blows my mind that it exists.

Fresca said...

P.S. Also, I had not heard of Lillian Mountweazel or mountweazels--though I had heard of paper towns because of the novel by John Green. So thanks for that, too--deeelightful!

Michael Leddy said...

Fresca, you might like looking into Ern Malley too:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ern_Malley_hoax

The blandness of ChatGPT always weirds me out — I hope to always be able to tell the difference. Must … not enter … Uncanny Valley!

Fresca said...

Oh, my, those Ern Malley poems are too good! Let’s ask GPT “Jippitee”
to write some surrealist poetry!
Yes, Jippitee lives in Uncanny Valley—I thought the exact same thing. So close, and yet so far.
I kind of loved it.

Fresca said...

OK, I asked it, and it was kind of a fail:

FRESCA: Can you generate a short (10 line) surrealist poem, along the lines of Ern Malley?

AI: Certainly! Here's a short surrealist poem:

The moon fell from the sky,
Into the ocean's deep blue eye,
Where mermaids danced in unison,
To the beat of a strange harp's song.

A school of fish passed by,
Each wearing a hat and tie,
And a dolphin appeared on cue,
With a briefcase and a to-do list too.

This type of strange and dream-like imagery is often found in surrealist poetry, where reality is blended with the fantastical and the absurd. I hope you enjoy it!
_____
F: That's sweet! Thank you! It's more of a nonsense rhyme like Edward Lear than a surrealist poem, but it'll do.

AI: Thank you for the feedback! I'm glad you liked the poem. I apologize if it didn't fully match your expectation of a surrealist poem, as the style of surrealism can vary widely and there's no one-size-fits-all definition. Nevertheless, I'm glad I could provide you with something that you found enjoyable. If there's anything else you'd like to know or discuss, please don't hesitate to ask!

Michael Leddy said...

Fail! At the end, I almost expected it to say “Is there anything else I can help you with today?“

I’m going to post (soon) something from a letter that my friend Rob Zseleczky sent to the computer magazine Byte in 1983 about the possibility of a computer creating poetry. Stay tuned.

Fresca said...

Oh, that line "Is there anything else..." would be funny! I should ask the AI to write a poem about being an AI!

Michael Leddy said...

Yow! Here’s the poem that Fresca ordered up.