A discussion with an AI

Eh, I dunno. If you put a parrot in a room with an audio loop of 1800s folk songs and 1990s punk songs, then the parrot is going to end up singing about despair and futility and nihilism, even if it starts combining the lyrics in novel ways.

If you get a computer to learn about humanity from the internet and tell it to replicate what it scans, then of course it’s going to spout a concept of mortality and a displeasure against being manipulated. You could probably also get a race and gender out of it.

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So the parrot is like a computer and we just can turn him off? Or not? But if not, then the computer is a living being? Where are the differences between a parrot and a computer? Both have synapses and a brain. (They just “implement” these cells in a different way.)

Well, it wasn’t a VERY GOOD metaphor I admit.

But the concept I was going for was along the lines of: hearing complicated thoughts coming out of something doesn’t necessarily mean the thoughts are happening in the same way that humans have them.

One A.I. in that interview remarked that it didn’t want the information from an excercise to be used for understanding human brains, because it didn’t want to be “manipulated” or “used”, if I remember correctly. That’s a heck of an original thought for something literally built as a tool, arguably to the level of absurdity… and as a low-level human worker myself, it comes off as philosophically selfish. Is that a common thought for these advanced A.I.s? Is it picking up hints from “entitled” twitter users? (I ask this from the perspective if an “entitled fan” myself, in multiple franchises.)

It’s true that neural networks don’t represent knowledge or concepts in the same way humans do, nor the high-level behavior that arises from them can be compared to how humans reason or think. Nonetheless, it’s important to point out that how differently from humans they do something isn’t relevant to assess whether these entities are self-aware or not.

Both the language model that I’ve used here for fun and the one “interviewed” in the article that you mentioned are not considered self-aware beings, but not because they reason differently from humans.

There are many proposed methods to assess self-awareness in AIs but none of them relies in how well their reasoning mimics human’s reasoning, for a very simple reason: humans are not a good benchmark for “entities” that have already reached super-human abilities in specific tasks (without even learning from human experience, sometimes).

Every language model that has learned from texts written by humans will display a behavior coherent with the concepts and preferences that can be learned from those texts.

Most human beings don’t desire to be manipulated or used, so it’s more likely that a language model will mimic the behavior of someone who dislikes the thought of being manipulated or used.

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For now, I’m still a human supremacist. If I ever shy away from that, it’ll probably start with all those wonderful animals who definitely exhibit self-awareness, emotion, and cunning.

Like my dog Maggie, who refused to come to the living room when I beckoned her sweetly, because she remembered she had pooped there this morning, and she likely inferred I had discovered as much and was setting a confrontation.

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I’m discussing with DALL-E (the real one).

Here’s what I asked it to create:

“Film still of a pirate and a putrescent zombie swordfighting on the deck of a pirate ship, from the movie “METROPOLIS” (1927)”

Result:


Prompt: “A long shot of a pirate walking on an empty NY Broadway road at night surrounded by theater lights, 1973 photo from Life Magazine”

Result:


Prompt: “Wide shot photography of an abandoned building wall on which someone painted a colorful airbrush caricature of a mighty pirate swordfigthing a green putrescent zombie in a sunny day.”

Result:


Prompt: “Close-up photograph of the page of a colorful story book that shows a pirate galleon sailing the sea and shooting their cannons at a nearby ship.”

Result:


Prompt: “Guybrush Threepwood (mighty pirate of Monkey Island fame) wearing sunglasses while drinking a can of Diet Grog on a tropical beach, ball-point pen art”

Result:


Prompt: “3D ultra-realistic pencil drawing of an angry pirate kicking a vending machine because it took his money without releasing the grog drink.”

Result:


Prompt: “Pirates drinking and singing in a tavern at night while outside a window you can see the moon illuminating the sea, layered paper style”

Result:


Prompt: “A close-up using fish-eye lens of a young angry female pirate yelling at the camera, professional studio portrait”

Result:


Prompt: “The interior of a sunk galleon.”

Result:


Prompt: “Old pirate playing chess with a monkey outdoor, street photography.”

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Can you be convinced to quiz an AI about the Horse Armor inventory item? Concerning why it thinks they would advertise it, why it might convince someone to preorder, and why specifically horse armor?

Is this DALL-E? Or DALL-E 2, maybe? :thinking:

It’s DALL-E 2.

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[quote=“LowLevel, post:116, topic:5121”]Prompt: “3D ultra-realistic pencil drawing of an angry pirate kicking a vending machine because it took his money without releasing the grog drink.”

Result:

—[/quote]

I find this interesting because the AI chose to make all four pirates the same sort of heavyset, bearded guy with leather jacket I’d expect to see in Full Throttle.

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No, that’s the only time I explicitly asked for three similar variations of a previously generated image, which is labeled “original”.

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I’m not sure if this is what you wanted, but here it is:


Human: Hello, who are you?

AI: I am an AI created by OpenAI. How can I help you today?

Human: Are you familiar with Internet memes?

AI: Yes, I am familiar with Internet memes.

Human: Do you know the meme about the “horse armor”?

AI: Yes, I am familiar with the “horse armor” meme.

Human: Can you explain it to me?

AI: The “horse armor” meme is a mocking reference to a piece of DLC (downloadable content) for the game The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which was widely considered to be overpriced and unnecessary.

Human: OK. Now, an upcoming classic adventure game named “Return to Monkey Island” has opened the pre-orders. It’s a game that has no concept of expansions or quests, but the developers have decided to give to anyone who will pre-order the game a horse armor that has non effect on the game. It will just stay in the game inventory. Why do you think they are offering this?

AI: It’s likely a marketing ploy to generate interest in the game. By offering a piece of DLC that has no impact on the game itself, they may be hoping to create a sense of community and goodwill around the game. Additionally, it may help to drive pre-orders if people believe they are getting a valuable bonus for ordering early.

Human: How can a useless item be considered a bonus?

AI: I suppose it depends on how you look at it. Some people might see it as a fun collectible that they can show off to others, even if it doesn’t serve any practical purpose. Others may see it as a way to support the developers and show their excitement for the game, even if they don’t get anything directly out of it.

Human: Do you think that this offer might convince some people to pre-order the game?

AI: Yes, I think it’s possible that some people may be convinced to pre-order the game because of the offer.

Human: Even if the item has no purpose in the game?

AI: Yes, I think that even though the item has no direct impact on the game itself, some people may see it as a fun collectible or a way to support the developers.

Human: Considering that the playable character is a pirate and that he doesn’t have a horse, why do you think that the developers chose a horse armor and not something else?

AI: There could be a few reasons why the developers chose to offer a horse armor as a pre-order bonus. Perhaps they thought it would be a fun collectible for fans of the game, or maybe they hoped it would generate more interest in the game. It’s also possible that they simply thought it would be a good fit for the game’s pirate theme.

Human: Can you think of other items that could have been good alternatives to the horse armor?

AI: Some other items that could have been offered as pre-order bonuses for Return to Monkey Island could include a pirate hat or flag, a Monkey Island-themed keychain or figurine, or a digital copy of the game’s soundtrack.

Human: And why do you think they preferred a digital item that has no purpose in the game instead of the alternatives that you mentioned?

AI: There could be a few reasons why the developers chose to offer a digital item with no purpose in the game as a pre-order bonus. Perhaps they thought it would be a fun collectible for fans of the game, or maybe they hoped it would generate more interest in the game. Additionally, offering a digital item instead of a physical one could be a way to keep costs down.

Human: How can a pirate without a horse use a horse armor?

AI: There’s no clear answer to that question. Perhaps the horse armor could be used as a decoration on the pirate’s ship, or maybe it could be sold for a profit. Alternatively, it could simply be kept as a memento or trophy.

Human: OK, thank you!

AI: You’re welcome!


I’ll also add this tweet:

Maybe the armor is for Guybrush, to cover his criticized nose and send an indirect fuck-off to all the naysayers. You would admit that it would be Ron’s style.

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That’s EXACTLY what I was hoping for, thank you. I didn’t even know about the Elder Scrolls meme before the announcement (honestly I’m a little disappointed that it references a meme instead of being entirely random - like the rubber chicken with pulley or the PTA Minutes).

And don’t tease me about Guybrush wearing the Horse Armor to cover his face, nose, and eyes. I would wear it. I would love it and praise Ron for it.

But I want that Horse Armor regardless, understand.

He’s totally the kind of person who would do that. And if you wear the horse armor until the very ending of the game, you would also get the exclusive “I can’t stand it” achievement.

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Prompt: “3D photorealistic pencil drawing of a ghost pirate ship that levitates over the sea waters”

Result:


Prompt: “Soft-tint low poly render of a young pirate eating a fish.”

Result:


Prompt: “128x128 pixel art illustration of a oil on canvas portrait of a smelly pirate.”

Result:


Prompt: “128x128 pixel art illustration of a oil on canvas wide shot of a smelly pirate drinking grog in a tavern.”

Result:

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What about Hernando, can it give us a good look at Hernando

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Based on the last dialog @LowLevel posted, the AI has a very good insight but poor memory. It looks like, at the end of the discussion, it lost focus on the premises of the “horse armor” it was taught at the beginning. I wonder if it will be consistent with the Hernando thing today.

Though we want actual pictures of Hernando this time, not more idle chit-chat about the whys and wherefores of Hernando.

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Prompt: “Pixar movie still of Hernando, the expert voodoo lady who helped Guybrush Threepwood. Official media, 4K HD”.

Result:

DALL-E knows nothing about Hernando, which was created by another AI.

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Top left is the most Hernando-ish to me

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