Chat GPT 3: A look at the Artificial intelligence backed chat bot

If you are on Twitter, even as a lurker and not an active user, it is quite likely you have come across Chat GPT 3. The free research preview of it is out now. Chat GPT 3 made quite the impression on Twitter, just like the AI art-generating app Midjourney did.

There were talks about how the GPT 3 will replace Google. Chamath Palihapitiya, a venture capitalist who worked at Facebook during its initial days, talked about how the Chat GPT 3 was much better than Google search. However, there are some problems. For starters - Chat GPT 3's training data ends in the year 2021. As a result, it is completely unaware of anything that will happen in the world after 2021. This means, if we want to search something about the Russia-Ukraine war, then Google will be the go-to destination. 

Initial impressions of Chat GPT 3

"As I just learned that OpenAI had access to Twitter database for training. I put that on pause for now," Musk tweeted, as people posted screenshots of their chat with Chat GPT 3. Chat GPT 3 "was started as open-source and non-profit. Neither are still true," he added. Marc Andreessen of the venture capital firm Andreessen and Horowitz, has complained about bias in the responses of Chat GPT 3. Some users on Twitter have also complained about its inability to do basic linear algebra. 

Chat GPT 3 can do some things that Google can't. For example, Google can't write a play. Chat GPT 3 on the other hand can. If you use it to write multiple plays, a pattern can be detected and the plays start becoming monotonous, but when one commands Chat GPT 3 to write a play for the first time, the result can be interesting, if not perfect. One merely has to give it a few prompts and voila, a play is there. 

An example of Chat GPT 3's work

Consider this prompt - "Write a drama on a horror story set in a British University. Characters - Professor James; post graduate student Emily; Undergrad student Mark; Emily's neighbour William". 

The result of the prompt was this - "

Professor James sat at his desk, surrounded by piles of papers and old books. He was a well-respected scholar of ancient history at the University of Oxford, and he had been working on his latest research project for months.

As he sorted through his notes, there was a knock at the door. "Come in," he called out, not looking up from his work.

The door opened, and a young woman named Emily walked in. She was a postgraduate student, and she had been working with Professor James on his research.

"Hello, Professor," Emily said, taking a seat across from him. "I've been going through some of the old documents you gave me, and I think I've found something interesting."

Professor James looked up, intrigued. "What have you found?" he asked.

"It's a letter from the 18th century," Emily explained. "It's written in Latin, and it mentions a mysterious ritual that was performed at the university. It's supposed to be able to bring the dead back to life."

Professor James raised an eyebrow. "That sounds like a tall tale," he said. "But I suppose it's worth looking into."

As they discussed the letter, there was another knock at the door. It was an undergraduate student named Mark, who had also been working on the research project.

"Come in, Mark," Professor James said.

Mark walked in, looking worried. "Professor, I think I saw something strange in the library," he said. "I was working on some research, and I thought I saw a ghost."

Professor James and Emily exchanged a skeptical glance. "A ghost?" Professor James said. "That's quite a claim, Mark."

But Mark was insistent. "I swear, I saw something. It was a woman, and she looked just like Emily."

Emily's face went pale. "What did she look like?" she asked.

"She had long blonde hair, and she was wearing a white dress," Mark said. "She just appeared out of nowhere, and then vanished."

Emily's eyes widened in horror. "That's my old neighbor, William," she said. "He died in a car accident a few months ago. I always thought he was a little creepy, and I think he was in love with me."

Professor James and Mark looked at each other in shock. Could it be that the ghostly woman was really Emily's old neighbor, William?

As they tried to figure out what to do, they heard a knock at the door. It was Emily's old neighbor, William, standing there in the flesh.

"I'm so sorry to bother you," William said. "But I was just walking by and thought I saw Emily's ghost in the window. I had to come and see if she was okay."

Professor James, Emily, and Mark looked at each other in confusion. If William was alive, then who was the ghost they had seen?

As they tried to piece together the mystery, they realized that the letter from the 18th century had been talking about a real ritual. And somehow, Emily's old neighbor, William, had stumbled upon it and brought Emily's ghost back to life.

But as they tried to reverse the ritual and send Emily's ghost back to the other side, they realized that it was too late. The ghost of Emily was now forever trapped in this world, doomed to haunt the halls of the University of Oxford for all eternity". 

Is Chat GPT3 the only AI-backed chatbot on the market?

Chat GPT 3 is not the only AI-backed chatbot on the market, although it is the only one that is free, which is perhaps why it is grabbing attention. A chat interface backed by AI has been in the market for quite some time, it is called "Replika". Unlike Chat GPT 3, it has a voice to communicate back with you, and admittedly it is much better than Siri or anything else on the market. Replika is also reportedly used by people as a therapist, because it has a specific mode called therapy mode, where one can basically have a voice conversation with the AI-powered chatbot. Replika costs around £5 per month.

Comparison with Google 

Does Chat GPT 3 have access to the amount of data that Google has? Even a Wikipedia page on Google has much more information on a certain topic than Chat GPT 3. Consider typing "Lysenkoism" on Google and Chat GPT 3 and compare the results. When one considers Google Scholar, the result is even more stark.

Google has its own AI-powered chatbot called LaMDA, but Google is not keen to release it to the public anytime soon as it is concerned about the "reputational risk". If Google's Chatbot gives a wrong answer, makes an error in response to a prompt, which Chat GPT 3 does, Google's reputation will be damaged as there are higher expectations from Google. The point Musk made is worth flagging, the data sets Chat GPT 3 got access to, to train itself, were given under the presumption that Chat GPT 3 (Open AI) was not for profit. It is unclear why other Tech giants will give it access to data if it competes with them.