ChatGPT

A 0 to 1 invention

Dec 04, 2022

0 to 1

Five days ago OpenAI announced the release of ChatGPT. A shiny new toy for the world to play with. ChatGPT is a chat bot like no other I (or you, dear reader) have ever experienced. It is a 0 to 1 invention, one that could fundamentally change the way humans interact with computers.

Sound a little bit sensational? Well, maybe. Let’s get a small primer by asking it about itself.

I am a large language model trained by OpenAI. I am a computer program that has been trained on a massive amount of text data in order to generate natural-sounding responses to questions and provide information on a wide range of topics. I work by using machine learning algorithms to analyze the text input I receive and generate appropriate responses based on what I have learned from the data. I do not have access to the internet or external sources of information, so I can only provide answers based on the information I have been trained on. I am not able to browse the web, access files, or perform other tasks like a typical computer program. My main function is to assist with answering questions and providing information.

Okay. But what kind of things can it do?

Not bad. This gives us a good starting point to start to explore. But is there more?

Okay, let’s get more specific. And also I think we can skip the intro paragraph, we get the point.

Wait. It can provide examples related to software development. Does that mean code samples?

Yep. It does. And not only does it produce code samples, it explains what it generated.

Okay, that’s pretty wild. How about one more fun example?

There you have it, ChatGPT produced a contract granting the rights of the output of a language model such as itself to the user of the model! Of course, the contract would need to be signed by the OpenAI team to be binding.

Let’s end our primer on that example, and a disclaimer: I want to make it very clear that I am not claiming ownership of any output produced by ChatGPT! The goal of this Newsletter is the exploration of what ChatGPT can do and the implications it may have for humanity.

Are you flabbergasted yet?

If you aren’t, just wait until the next post, where we will have a conversation with ChatGPT about ownership.

Conversations with a Chat Bot

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