Apparently, chatbots suddenly hit a wall. Went from ‘wunderkinder’ to laughingstock in a few short weeks. Bard and ChatGPT (or the enhanced Bing which suddenly became ‘de-enhanced’) got undressed. No intelligence was found, just a lot of data – and a language model, a very big one. Which explains the output – and (pardon my French) the BS.
Inspiration
How would you know it it’s lying? Most of us wouldn’t. Is that a problem? Only if you (blindly) believe what it’s throwing at you.
Computers need software. Software has bugs. There is no such thing as bug-free software. So how can more software – which means more bugs – improve security? It’s scary actually. Think about it: Just about anything we buy and use and are depending on these days have software. Lightbulbs, batteries,…
Historians and researchers are frantically trying to archive the Internet – including social media. Begging for funding to ‘preserve a rich data set of political discourse and communication trends’. Really? Save 500 million tweets and (say) 200 million Facebook posts per day? Comments, pictures, videos, likes, links, shares, the whole shebang? And that’s just two platforms and one data type. Insane.
They are in the news – every day and all over. Chatbots are doing homework, writing novels and poems, taking exams, solving mysteries, fooling people, sometimes fooling themselves. It’s incredible – but everyone is worried. It doesn’t make sense. Shouldn’t we be celebrating?
Most of us always lock the door. It’s the sane thing to do, it’s a reflex. But why is that window still ajar?
You may remember – or seen pictures of – ancient computers. Screens with text and a keyboard attached. Or even older, a teletype – a 60 lbs typewriter with a big roll of paper, really slow and very noisy. Attached to some computer in a room nearby. A noisy monster guarded by important-looking men (yes, seriously!) in gray lab-coats. Stone age. 50 years ago. That’s where ChatGPT is at today.
After decennia of refusing to accept, even see reality, it has become undeniable. The world is falling apart. And instead of rushing to fix it, we’re looking for someone or something to blame. It didn’t take long, it’s here – in our midst, ubiquitous. The Internet.
The ‘forgetting curve’ is familiar to most of us. Occasionally a blessing, most of the time the opposite – like in the case at hand: Privacy died many years ago, but most of the world forgot. We’re pretending it’s alive if not well, and spend enormous resources trying to change that – to make it well, make it work. Maybe a short trip down memory lane can get us back on track?
You may remember one of the Beatles’ first hits, ‘Can’t buy me love’. There are many reasons why the song lives on. One of them that there is – even these days – a lot if stuff you cannot buy. Like my mother in law observed about her situation at a care facility recently: I need hearts more than hands – and they cannot be bought.