Mulhall column: Artificial Intelligence | PostIndependent.com – Glenwood Springs Post Independent
Opinion Opinion |
Mainly at the behest of my son, I recently downloaded ChatGPT to learn how it works and to see if it’s half as good as he claims.
“It will write anything you tell it to,” he tells me. As a writer, and a student of literature and speech, this was something I had to see. So, I downloaded it from the App Store.
ChatGPT’s interface is simple enough, similar to your phone’s messaging app. Instead of entering a text message, you type in what you want AI to write.
It even provides examples. One said, “Write an email to a plumber requesting backflow testing.”
So, I clicked the example, and sure enough, it barfed out an email to a yet-to-be-named plumber requesting backflow testing. It was gloriously simple, to the point, and unencumbered by misspellings, usage errors, or human punctuation issues.
“Ha,” I thought, “I know a way to test its mettle,” and I typed “Write an essay in the voice of Hunter S. Thompson.”
In a flash, AI blasted out 629 words not just in the voice of Hunter S. Thompson, but on the subject of plumbing backflow testing titled, “Fear and Loathing in the Plumbing Jungle.”
The essay’s opening line read, “The sun was blistering hot, a merciless orb hanging in the sky, taunting me with its oppressive glare as I sat in the shade of my porch, nursing a gin and tonic.”
Not awful. But not HST.
Thompson himself started his book with the line, “We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.”
No doubt there’s plenty of alcohol consumption in Thompson’s book, but booze runs a distant second to drugs, as I recall. By the end of the first paragraph in Fear and Loathing, Duke and his lawyer are hallucinating huge bats due to some unknown drug, which, by comparison, makes contemplating the sun while sipping a gin and tonic on a shaded porch a bit tame.
It’s difficult to place plumbing maintenance on the same plane as a drug depraved road trip to cover a motorcycle race in the Las Vegas desert, and even harder, I think, to write credible prose that reads like HST might have written it, but to its credit ChatGPT did a better job than I thought it could.
(You do refer to AI as “it,” don’t you? Not because of some chat bot pronoun preference thing, but because sex, and therefore gender, belong in the realm of the biological, right?)
The essay’s second sentence introduces the subject of plumbing: “The phone rang, and I knew it was the call I had been dreading – the call that would plunge me into the murky underworld of local plumbers and backflow testing, a task as daunting and treacherous as any political campaign or drug-fueled escapade.”
Plumbers, backflow testing, politics and drugs in the same sentence? Sure enough. The plumbing angle stemmed from my initial choice for AI to write an email requesting plumbing service, and the politics and drugs from my request for an essay in the voice of HST.
When I began poking around the ChatGPT interface, I didn’t want or even envision such an essay. Who would? Yet, AI slammed the two requests together, maybe because it figured I didn’t know what I wanted and the mash-up might amuse me, which it did.
But how did it know that?
Some say AI will become self-aware one of these days soon, and we all know what happens then — I mean, who hasn’t seen “The Terminator?”
As cool as AI may be in its present form, it may be a while before AI’s self-awareness has us hiding from robots in bunkers and burning undetectable fires in shelled out TVs.
As a writer of at least some repute, it looks like the practical uses of AI are for me limited right now. What I don’t need is for AI to write.
What would be truly helpful, and appreciated, is if AI would mow the yard while I write a column.
Mitch Mulhall is a husband, father, and longtime Roaring Fork Valley resident. His column appears monthly in the Post Independent and at PostIndependent.com.
Readers around Glenwood Springs and Garfield County make the Post Independent’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.
Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.
Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.
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This article was autogenerated from a news feed from CDO TIMES selected high quality news and research sources. There was no editorial review conducted beyond that by CDO TIMES staff. Need help with any of the topics in our articles? Schedule your free CDO TIMES Tech Navigator call today to stay ahead of the curve and gain insider advantages to propel your business!
Mainly at the behest of my son, I recently downloaded ChatGPT to learn how it works and to see if it’s half as good as he claims.
“It will write anything you tell it to,” he tells me. As a writer, and a student of literature and speech, this was something I had to see. So, I downloaded it from the App Store.
ChatGPT’s interface is simple enough, similar to your phone’s messaging app. Instead of entering a text message, you type in what you want AI to write.
It even provides examples. One said, “Write an email to a plumber requesting backflow testing.”
So, I clicked the example, and sure enough, it barfed out an email to a yet-to-be-named plumber requesting backflow testing. It was gloriously simple, to the point, and unencumbered by misspellings, usage errors, or human punctuation issues.
“Ha,” I thought, “I know a way to test its mettle,” and I typed “Write an essay in the voice of Hunter S. Thompson.”
In a flash, AI blasted out 629 words not just in the voice of Hunter S. Thompson, but on the subject of plumbing backflow testing titled, “Fear and Loathing in the Plumbing Jungle.”
The essay’s opening line read, “The sun was blistering hot, a merciless orb hanging in the sky, taunting me with its oppressive glare as I sat in the shade of my porch, nursing a gin and tonic.”
Not awful. But not HST.
Thompson himself started his book with the line, “We were somewhere around Barstow on the edge of the desert when the drugs began to take hold.”
No doubt there’s plenty of alcohol consumption in Thompson’s book, but booze runs a distant second to drugs, as I recall. By the end of the first paragraph in Fear and Loathing, Duke and his lawyer are hallucinating huge bats due to some unknown drug, which, by comparison, makes contemplating the sun while sipping a gin and tonic on a shaded porch a bit tame.
It’s difficult to place plumbing maintenance on the same plane as a drug depraved road trip to cover a motorcycle race in the Las Vegas desert, and even harder, I think, to write credible prose that reads like HST might have written it, but to its credit ChatGPT did a better job than I thought it could.
(You do refer to AI as “it,” don’t you? Not because of some chat bot pronoun preference thing, but because sex, and therefore gender, belong in the realm of the biological, right?)
The essay’s second sentence introduces the subject of plumbing: “The phone rang, and I knew it was the call I had been dreading – the call that would plunge me into the murky underworld of local plumbers and backflow testing, a task as daunting and treacherous as any political campaign or drug-fueled escapade.”
Plumbers, backflow testing, politics and drugs in the same sentence? Sure enough. The plumbing angle stemmed from my initial choice for AI to write an email requesting plumbing service, and the politics and drugs from my request for an essay in the voice of HST.
When I began poking around the ChatGPT interface, I didn’t want or even envision such an essay. Who would? Yet, AI slammed the two requests together, maybe because it figured I didn’t know what I wanted and the mash-up might amuse me, which it did.
But how did it know that?
Some say AI will become self-aware one of these days soon, and we all know what happens then — I mean, who hasn’t seen “The Terminator?”
As cool as AI may be in its present form, it may be a while before AI’s self-awareness has us hiding from robots in bunkers and burning undetectable fires in shelled out TVs.
As a writer of at least some repute, it looks like the practical uses of AI are for me limited right now. What I don’t need is for AI to write.
What would be truly helpful, and appreciated, is if AI would mow the yard while I write a column.
Mitch Mulhall is a husband, father, and longtime Roaring Fork Valley resident. His column appears monthly in the Post Independent and at PostIndependent.com.
Readers around Glenwood Springs and Garfield County make the Post Independent’s work possible. Your financial contribution supports our efforts to deliver quality, locally relevant journalism.
Now more than ever, your support is critical to help us keep our community informed about the evolving coronavirus pandemic and the impact it is having locally. Every contribution, however large or small, will make a difference.
Each donation will be used exclusively for the development and creation of increased news coverage.
JOIN TEAM CMC: Elevating the Vitality of Our Beautiful Rocky Mountain Region! FULL-TIME OPENINGS: SPRING VALLEY – Facilities Maintenance Technici…
Shelton Drilling Corp. is looking for a water well driller’s helper. Must be 21 years old, good driving record, no…
*Multiple Positions Available in our Water/WasteWater Department* Performs a variety of semi-skilled routine maintenance operations on City water and/or wastewa…
Currently seeking a FT Division Chief of EMS. Salary Range – $120,176.58 – 132,485.41 EOEEducation Level: 2 year degree requiredExperience…
Newspaper Route in Aspen Available Like early mornings? Need a side gig? Newspaper routes are a great way to make…
Are you interested in working with an amazing group of people at an established non profit organization? GREAT EXPECTATIONS is…
CAREER OPPORTUNITY ROAD & BRIDGE APPRENTICESHIP GET PAID TO LEARN! • Road & Bridge Operations • Glagging and Right-Of-Ways •…
Join Our Team as an Employee Experience Manager Are you an HR professional with a track record in staff development…
WE ARE HIRING! Visit us online for a full list of open positions: https://aspen.gov/183/Job-Opportunities Excellent Benefits Package! Paid Time Off…
Full Time Seasonal Package Delivery Drivers Starting at $23/Hour. Part-Time Warehouse Worker/Package Handler Starting at $21/Hour or attend our hiring…
Jobs
Classifieds
Autos
Real Estate
Rentals
Service Directory
Pets
Merchandise
Legals
Place Legal Ad
Search Legal Ads
Farm & Ranch
Recreation
Announcements
News
Contact Us
Become a Carrier
Submissions
Submit an Obituary
Archives
Newsletters
Commercial Print Sales
RSS
AP News
Post Independent E-Edition
Citizen Telegram E-Edition
Cookie List
Do not sell my personal information
Aspen-Snowmass
Breckenridge-Summit County
Craig-Moffat County
Park City-Utah
Steamboat Springs-Routt County
Vail-Eagle Valley
Winter Park-Granby-Grand County
Printing Press Jobs
©2005 – 2024 Swift Communications, Inc.
This article was autogenerated from a news feed from CDO TIMES selected high quality news and research sources. There was no editorial review conducted beyond that by CDO TIMES staff. Need help with any of the topics in our articles? Schedule your free CDO TIMES Tech Navigator call today to stay ahead of the curve and gain insider advantages to propel your business!
