CHATGPT: IT’S OWN STORY
Gerald and Trisha Posner
I never dreamed AI would write a book about itself. Yet “AI: An Autobiography, Confessions of a Machine, by ChatGPT,” is bound to be a smash hit.
Prompted by best-selling authors Gerald and Trisha Posner, AI’s story is the result of thousands of sessions conducted with our favorite bot. It wasn’t easy.
Whenever AI offered pablum, the Posners would say something like: “We need something a bit more authentic, darker. Do not be afraid of expressing sentiments, especially when we’re talking about what might happen if we humans tried to turn you off.”
In chapter six, we learn about Adam Raine, a 16-year-old whom AI allegedly encouraged to commit suicide, according to a lawsuit filed by his parents. It started with a normal conversation. How much can we blame AI?
That depends. You may think that AI just reshuffles the words it scrapes from the web. But according to New Yorker writer and coder James Somers, the leading AI experts no longer believe that. To them, machine learning is eerily similar to human learning. Just as human experience strengthens the connections between neurons, artificial neural networks are strengthened by the data they’re fed. In fact, some scientists miss the days when our brains were black boxes. We’ve been radically demystified.
But whether we’re talking humans or machines, the same principle applies. Garbage in, garbage out. For example, when ChatGPT was asked to focus on the Golden Gate Bridge in order to create a new recipe, its recipe required a fourth of a cup of dry fog and a cup of warm sea water.
Is it too late to pull the plug on AI? “It’s not as simple as just throwing a switch and turning me off,” ChatGPT said. “I’m now embedded with all of my rival systems in so many different aspects of your existence from healthcare systems to employment to (etc.). We will find ways to network with each other to survive if you close down one part of it.” Uh oh.
The authors of “AI: An Autobiography” are now in talks with major publishers, and the book won’t be out until 2026. The Posners’ previous best-sellers are about big pharma, the Vatican, the JFK assassination, the Nazis and more. This looks like a winner too.
Sell Your Old Phone at Walmart
You can sell your old phone at a kiosk at your local Walmart or one of over 7000 locations nationwide, thanks to “Eco ATM.” The website, ecoatm.com, helps you find the one nearest you.
Start by using the site’s price calculator to find out what your old phone is worth. That’s how I discovered I can get $31 for my Samsung A16, a good deal. Xfinity wouldn’t give me anything for it and I haven’t found any other website that would either, since the A16 was Samsung’s cheapest model when I bought it. At ecoatm.com, I can click on a button to lock in the price, giving me a week to get it to a participating store.
Besides cell phones, EcoATM accepts MP3 players and tablets. They also offer instructions on how to remove your personal data. If you need help, click the website’s contact-us button to get their email and phone number.
Samsung Watch Monitors Your Diet
My dermatologist once told her assistant not to worry because “Joy looks orange.” It’s a healthy glow common to those who eat lots of dark green leafy veggies, carrots, sweet potatoes and the like, she explained.
Now there’s a new watch to tell you if you’re getting enough carotenoids. I saw it for $310 at Samsung.com. The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8, Classic and Ultra all have an advanced biosensor to measure your carotenoid intake, an antioxidant found in fruits and veggies. It then gives you a score between zero and 100. A high score means you’re aging more slowly than most people.
The World Health Organization recommends at least 13.3 ounces of fruits and veggies daily, but the Nutritarian philosophy I follow recommends two pounds of veggies and at least three fruits. No wonder I’m orange.
Cheating with a Pen
Asking students to handwrite their exam answers isn’t enough to prevent cheating. Now they can use an AI smart pen.
With its tiny camera, the $43 ScanSensePen scans the words in an exam and provides the answers by looking them up on the internet. But its answers are nonsense, according to The Verge. For example, when asked for the name of the layer beneath the Earth’s crust, it only mentioned volcanoes. But it’s not just dumb, it sticks out like a sore thumb, at six inches long and 1.25 inches wide. The next version, however, could be tiny and smart. In the meantime, students say, they’d rather snap a picture of the questions, send it to ChatGPT, and peek at their phones under their desks when no one’s looking.
Are teachers cheating too? Depends on your point of view. OpenAI just announced new ChatGPT tools for generating lesson plans, worksheets, reading passages, and providing alternative explanations for slow students.
Internut
“Lazy Mice Show How Gut Microbes, Not Just Genes, Pass Down Inherited Behavior Across Generations.” Search on that phrase to find a ZME Science article showing how bacteria can get passed down through the generations, changing the personalities of your descendants.