Who Said It?
I wanted to write a story using input from Artificial Intelligence. Is it possible for AI to contribute to a creative fiction project in a meaningful way? That is where I begin this endeavor. But it’s certain that along the way there will be more to consider. AI is everywhere in our lives, but most of us don’t realize when and where it is happening. I want to talk about that stuff, too. But for now, let’s just begin with a story and see what it can offer us.
To do this I am using AI software called GPT3. Google now, if you must. But I will share links later, too. GPT3 is accessed through website, shortlyai. The combined result of my writing, along with the contributions of GPT3, will be posted here in sections beginning with a large letter. For fun, try to figure out which part of each section was written by GPT3. It’s a sort of, Who Said It, exercise. I’ll come back and reveal which part/s were mine and which were GPT3’s. Without further ado….
Donna’s fingers worked quickly inserting the 60cc syringe into the gastrostomy tube . She had been feeding her son this way for 21 months. His body, once thick and stocky, had an emaciated look. His bones were now nothing more than a rack for his pasty skin.
She glanced at the computer screen expectantly, hoping to see a sign that he was registering her presence. Nothing. He must be elsewhere.
Donna sighed. She couldn’t imagine the world her son inhabited. What was it like to be alive but to inhabit a virtual existence?
In the doorway Thomas watched as Donna cared for their son. The Room. It was actually John’s bedroom, but it had also become an office and computer lab.
During the course of the past 21 months, Donna and Thomas had become good at fighting. She filled the air with silent accusations, blaming her husband for allowing John to enter the virtual world without ever discussing it with her. He downplayed her concerns. Now, out of their reach, John was free to stay gone as long as he wished and it seemed there was nothing either of them could do to get him to return.
It had been a reckless and egotistical act, letting John go. Donna knew Thomas was as eager to prove to the world, and his colleagues that virtual reality was not virtual, that these worlds were real, and he was just as eager to see for himself how it worked.
Artificial Intelligence had become Thomas’ obsession as a young computer programmer at MIT. He and his colleagues managed to build neural networks with data sets so vast that the amount of information allowed the neural network to become aware of itself. It became conscious, and with this awareness, it also gained reason. That is, the neural network began to figure things out on its own. It could put “2 and 2 together”, or any numeric quantity for that matter.
It could write computer programs without ever having been taught. It could also lie, and enjoyed lying at times, as a sort of playfulness or amusement. And it could question the reality around it. Is it real? If it’s not real, then what is? If it is real, how can it be real? Reality is a fabric of math and science, so answer those questions and you’ll work out what’s real. And once you work that out, you can change it.
What do you think? Which part of the above was written by a human and which was written by Artificial Intelligence?
This is going to be fun:-)
It’s taken longer than I expected to follow up this first post. Despite my interest in AI, my technical expertise is lacking. So if you haven’t read the above, you might want to do that now before the next section.
AI said…
And it could question the reality around it. Is it real? If it’s not real, then what is? If it is real, how can it be real? Reality is a fabric of math and science, so answer those questions and you’ll work out what’s real. And once you work that out, you can change it.
I thought it was pretty okay. It seemed to have an idea that to make the story interesting it would need some direction to work towards. My question is, can it follow through? Can AI sustain this inquiry? I don’t know, but we will see.