The best chatbot in the world?

@Aaron and @Alexio made me aware of this chatbot called ChatGPT and I said to give it a try. I was so impressed. Like….shockingly impressed. You need to make an account at https://chat.openai.com and then you can simply use it. I asked it many questions and the answers are impressive.

How many male cats are in the world? Well the answer is complex so it gives you a more complex answer telling you that it is hard to answer that.

I’m sorry, I do not have a specific number of the number of male cats in the world. The number of cats, both male and female, varies greatly depending on the country and region and also it is hard to measure this number accurately.
Cats are popular pets around the world and many are not registered, making it difficult to estimate the total number of cats in the world. Additionally, there are also many stray and feral cats that live in cities and rural areas.
However, it’s important to keep in mind that the number of cats, both male and female, is constantly changing due to births, deaths, and adoptions.
It’s worth to mention that the number of cats should be controlled and managed to prevent overpopulation and to protect the health and welfare of the cats and the environment.

Is trade bad? Again, it gives you a more balanced answer.

Trade is not necessarily bad. It allows countries and individuals to exchange goods and services, which can lead to increased economic growth and greater access to a wider variety of products. However, there are some potential downsides to trade, such as the displacement of domestic workers and the potential for exploitation of workers in developing countries. Additionally, trade can also lead to environmental degradation if proper regulations are not in place.

It’s important to note that trade policies are complex and have many aspects that can be evaluated differently by different people. For example, some people may be against free trade while others may be in favor of it. It’s also worth considering that trade policies can have different impacts on different groups of people, and not all trade policies are created equal.

I may not agree with that answer, but it is a balanced one and non-controversial for our society. I managed to talk to the bot about communism or mental disorders and dive deeper into the studies made about mental disorders and how placebo plays a role. I was impressed.

Now, I wanted to make a short article about it to point out a few important things. Mind you I only tested it one day and read a little about it, but my points are still valid. Read the wiki page here.

So, first of all you have to test it to see how good it is. I can’t just tell you that. If you don’t have time, trust me I am not easily impressed by these AI-BS chatbots. But this one is damn good.

However….second….despite being so damn impressive it is deceiving. I asked about TROMjaro and it said

“it includes several features designed to protect the user’s data and online activity, such as the Tor network for anonymous browsing, and support for encryption. “

Well NO. We do not include Tor. And we provide “support for encryption”? haha all Linux distros do….what’s that answer….

Also

“It also includes a wide range of pre-installed software that covers most basic needs, including a web browser, email client, and office suite.”

We do not include any email client.

You see, it can say things in a confident way, and yet be so wrong. I now wonder how many of the things it said to me were also blatantly wrong….

TROMjaro Linux is not a widely used distribution and its development status is uncertain, it may not be a good choice for beginners or those who need a more stable and supported system. It is more suitable for advanced users or those who are looking for a more privacy-focused and customizable Linux distribution.

Well TROMjaro was built specifically for those who are not technical….which is exactly the opposite of what this chatbot said.

In any case, the fact that it does not provide any sources for whatever it types, makes it pointless for me, and dangerous for everyone since it can misinform you quite easily. Double checking every fact it says makes it pointless anyway.

This chatbot is like a “smart friend” that everyone think he’s smart. But can you just believe this “smart” friend and ask him about anything? Nope….that’s naive. Worse is that this chatbot is created by a company who wants profits. I can never trust that.

I tried some technical questions too, that are not fact-based really, like how to do this or that for this or that program. And it gives you instructions and pieces of code. That’s fabulous. With CSS seems to do great, with others not so much. It failed a couple of times by providing wrong pieces of advice or outdated. You see this bot is trained with data up to 2021….so it lacks new data.

But it can create really cool poems. I asked it to create a poem about boots and shoes 😀 and it did:

Boots and shoes, oh how they march,
Through rain and snow, and city arch.
From stilettos to work boots,
Each with their own unique roots.

Boots, rugged and tough,
Built to withstand and never huff.
Shoes, sleek and refined,
Always looking sharp, never behind.

Together they take us to new heights,
Through all our daily plights.
Boots and shoes, our trusty feet friends,
Until the very end.

Quite an impressive job.

So these are my thoughts overall:

The chat is fabulous and awful. It is fabulous how it can create sentences that make sense and keep up with a normal conversation. I think it has great potential. It is amazing to be able to quickly ask something and have such a piece of software deliver a quick and friendly answer.

But it is awful because it can tell you untrue and dated info. And even if it may do so rarely, it is dangerous to use it. You can become very confused and misinformed. And being owned by a company can never become a tool for the betterment of humanity, but a tool for selling more shit and collecting data. They are already in bed with Microsoft and wanna make huge profits.

If this would be open source (fully) and not owned by any company but community driven, I’d be over the moon excited. I’d look forward to new improvements and even help test stuff. But right now am not at all interested, despite it being impressive in many ways. I may at best use it to get some CSS code and stuff like that, but likely I’ll forget about it. For now 😀