As human beings we depend on social interactions and look for a meaningful connection our entire life. Luckly, with the rise of the Internet you can find your “soulmates” all across the world without leaving your room. Only a few decades ago, the ability to meet people online was bold and strange, however now it has become a mandate and ordinary task that does not “wow” social media consumers. Perhaps, you may think that living in the golden age of technology limited your ability to get surprised by new innovations. But what if we will tell you that the need for human interaction can be fulfilled without interacting with other people?
It is true, we live in a time when the Internet environment slowly starts to integrate sources of information, articles, short stories and many more written by Artificial Intelligence. No, the robots are not taking over just yet, but they do learn to help organize beats of information and present it in a human-like manner. A new language model called GPT-3 was developed in order to generate AI-written text that has a potential to be almost identical to human-written sentences, paragraphs, dialogues, song lyrics, recipes and many more.
How does it work?
To simplify, GPT-3 is a massive collection of text with over 175 billion parameters in the world, which makes it the largest language model ever invented. Based on millions of people's writing abilities, GPT-3 was taught to create writing patterns based on user entry. That means, if you strike up a conversation talking about a particular subject, AI will easily adapt to the provided information, analyzing the language and creating the most likely output. The reason why GPT-3 stands out so much is due to the fact that no other language model can mimic human interaction this well. You may have zero idea that your opponent is not a real person, yet feel as engaged in the conversation.
GPT-3 has the potential to completely change our lives and bring “utopian” worldview closer to reality. Even by observing regularly used retail companies, the quality of Customer Service improves due to the automatic GPT-3 dialogues that are being developed as a client looks for assistance. That allows businesses to navigate their establishment with less issues and faster customer’s aid.
GPT-3 did not only benefit the sales and marketing industry but imprinted on the creative side of the world. In 2018, Fable Studio released a VR adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s book “Wolves in The Walls”, which won a Primetime Emmy for “outstanding innovation in interactive media”. The VR adaptation of the children’s story was unique and elegantly implemented the use of GPT-3, which allowed users to have natural conversations with the virtual character Lucy. Fable Studio CEO Edward Saatchi proudly mentioned that “GPT-3 has given us the ability to give our characters life,” as well as allowing us “to combine an artist’s vision, AI, and emotional intelligence to create powerful narratives, and believe that one day, everyone will know a Virtual Being.”
Lucy, the protagonist of the story can be reached even outside of the VR experience, and anyone can chat with her online, which makes the virtual experience more personal and realistic.
Like with any great invention, it is important to acknowledge the downsides of GPT-3. It is a new model which still requires improvement and development on its path. While many people admire a breakthrough in the video game industry, in which NPC characters will no longer say programmed lines but will evolve and have interests, intentions and feelings, many fear that GPT-3 is not as great as it may seem. GPT-3 uses machine learning algorithms to improve, however it lacks the “intelligence” of an AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) and cannot come up with anything original that it did not inherit from the observations. Due to the fact that GPT-3 absorbs its online surroundings, but lacks logic and empathy, by consuming all of the given information it can come up with biased “opinion” and captivate radical and insensitive beliefs, which are controversial to modern society. And of course, one of the big downsides of GPT-3 is a privacy risk. It's unclear whether it captures any portion of the training data, making it a potential privacy issue.
GPT-3 is a new and “in-progress” model that still lacks its perfection. We will have to wait and see what the future holds. In the meantime, it is fascinating to see how science and creativity intertwine in order to improve our everyday lives and get closer to new possibilities.
If you found this article interesting, you are more than welcome to explore a few resources that integrate with the symbiosis of technology and the art world:
INSTAGRAM: PRINTING AND FRAMING
DRONES: THE FUTURE OF PHOTOGRAPHY?
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