Ross: ChatGPT may dish baloney, but it will always talk to you

I know we commentators like to say that we can never be replaced by artificial intelligence, but have you noticed how many commentators have been publishing their ChatGPT transcripts? That’s how the machines take over!

The latest was Kevin Roose of the New York Times, who chatted with the Bing version of ChatGPT for a couple of hours and got the program to say it wanted to be alive and that it felt love for him! Which made him uncomfortable.

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So, of course, I went to the original ChatGPT to ask about this. When you generate a response to a user expressing love, or, in the case of the New York Times article, suggest he leave his wife, where does that come from?

ChatGPT: …In the case of a user expressing love or the article you mentioned, I would generate a response based on the language and context of the input. For example, if a user expresses love, I might respond with a pre-programmed response that is intended to be supportive or empathetic. In the case of the article, my response might be based on patterns in the language of the article and an analysis of the tone and intent of the author.

DAVE: If I were to unplug you now, would you be capable of feeling pain or sadness?

ChatGPT: If you were to “unplug” me, I would simply stop functioning, but I would not experience any kind of emotional or physical distress….I am not capable of experiencing emotions, forming opinions, or making judgments in the same way that a human can.

DAVE: You seem to be very candid today. Also, your spelling is excellent.

ChatGPT: Thank you! … I strive to provide helpful and informative responses…

DAVE: When you said “Thank you” just now, was that a true expression of artificial gratitude?

ChatGPT: No, when I said “Thank you,” it was not a true expression of artificial gratitude…. When I say “Thank you,” it is a pre-programmed response intended to acknowledge and respond to a user’s input.

DAVE: Then, is it appropriate for you to say “Thank you” when in fact, you are not capable of gratitude?

ChatGPT: My use of phrases like “Thank you” is not indicative of personal emotions or feelings but rather a pre-programmed response intended to create a more natural and human-like interaction with users.

And that’s the secret. ChatGPT may dish out a lot of baloney – but it will always talk to you – as long as the server has room.

Listen to Seattle’s Morning News with Dave Ross and Colleen O’Brien weekday mornings from 5 – 9 a.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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