I would like to preface this by telling I’m not the most pro-AI person. I try to avoid news about any new development like a disease, partly because all the news relating makes me feel like we are entering a dystopian novel, which I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling. I didn’t understand what ChatGPT was about until I found a writer at the economics magazine at my college who writes articles using it. So, I decided to check it out.
The following was the result when I asked it to write a song about making instant noodles in the style of Taylor Swift.
Verse 1:I was feeling kinda lonely, Nothing to do on a Friday night, Decided to hit the kitchen, To make something warm and bright.
Chorus: Instant noodles, oh how I love thee, You bring me comfort, you make everything okay. With just a few ingredients, You satisfy my cravings in every way.
Verse 2: I boil some water, add the noodles, Watch as they start to cook, Adding the flavor packet, And giving it a good stir and look.
Chorus: Instant noodles, oh how I love thee, You bring me comfort, you make everything okay. With just a few ingredients, You satisfy my cravings in every way.
Bridge: Sometimes I add some veggies, Or an egg, just for fun. But you don’t need much, To make my taste buds run.
Chorus: Instant noodles, oh how I love thee, You bring me comfort, you make everything okay. With just a few ingredients, You satisfy my cravings in every way.
Outro: Instant noodles, you’ll always be, A part of my heart, and a staple of my kitchen. No matter what comes and goes, You’ll always be my go-to for a quick fixin’.
In November 2022, ChatGPT, a chatbot developed by OpenAI was launched. Although the awe and fear it inspired in many made it feel like something alien had just landed on earth, it was a result of years of research and development, and was a long time coming. What made ChatGPT different from previous iterations of chatbots was that, according to its creators, it can answer follow-up questions, admit mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests. It can create jokes, ad copies, and computer code.
The launch led to obvious questions about how AI would affect jobs, with many saying that it might end up replacing many white-collar jobs leading to mass unemployment. There was a cry from school and college teachers about the death of essays and homework, with many saying that it writes better than students today, writing a solid at least B grade assignment. There is an added fear of what happens when a tool that is fed human-created data also replicates their biases. There have been cases of the chatbot giving out racist and sexist answers after which the developers had to work on it to filter those out.
One of the biggest conversations has been surrounding the creative industry, with many believing that AI might kill creativity. Although, it is important to note that whatever it creates is based on the information available on the internet, writing things that have average literary merit. I doubt that the next Great American Novel will be written by ChatGPT.
In my college mate’s defence, using a tool that could complete your work in 10 seconds, which would have otherwise taken at least 6 hours is something that a lot of us would choose to do, especially in system where you’re trying to juggle everything. However, as good as it feels to have your work published, the reason most people are in it is because of the process, whether it is the writing itself or the research part of it. I could’ve very well written this article using it, but I didn’t (although I will say I was at times tempted). Neither did the many other writers who have written think pieces on it. I think it is unwise to underestimate the human want to create things.
I might be a bit naïve though, for all the talk about it being what the future will look like, ChatGPT is just a taste of what is happening with GPT-4, in my AI-illiterate terms, a better version(?!) rumored to be released later this year. I, personally, don’t know if I am ready for it yet.