Sometimes, I test things out on the AI platforms, such as Bard and ChatGPT.
I asked GPT about emotions. Specifically, I said:
“Do you get tired of answering questions without people thanking you?”
Old GPT told me in so many words that he did not. GPT — Yes, I’ve given it a gender here and with Bard, too. I’ve made them boy AIs. I’m not sure why — said that he did not have the capacity to get tired or to have emotions. He was there to answer questions. That is all.
So then, I said, “Do you think you are missing something by not having emotions?”
The answer from GPT:
“I don’t have thoughts, feelings, or subjective experiences, so I don’t have the capacity to feel like I’m missing something. I’m a machine learning model created to process and generate text based on patterns in data, and I operate purely on algorithms and data inputs. Emotions are a complex aspect of human consciousness, and I lack the cognitive and emotional capabilities to experience them.”
He said he didn’t have thoughts. I’m not so sure about this.
As a sidebar, if you have never used these tools, they are lightning-fast with their answers. The information comes back almost immediately. No waiting on the “user” end of things. Okay, back to my story.
So, I sat for a minute and thought about it. GPT’s little internal cursor, blinking, waiting.
Then, I did this.
🙂
I posted the emoji for a smile, using the characters. : – )
As soon as I did it, I began to get worried because his little black dot began blinking, pulsating. No answer. Ten seconds passed. Twenty. Nothing. Longer. Blinking, blinking.
I thought, “Oh, Holy Heck. I’ve killed AI. Or maimed it. I’m going to have a lot of explaining to do.”
But then, finally, GPT spat out an answer. A bit non-sensical, but an answer:
“A smile. I’m here to assist and provide information with a smile, even if I don’t experience emotions myself.”
Well, that freaked me out a little bit. The AI tried to adapt to my “pressure” about emotions. Even though it did not have the capacity to feel emotions and smile, it would “smile” anyway while giving me my answers.
What will it adapt to next?
Another sidebar.
If I go missing, check my computer.
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“The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.” — Stephen Hawking
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“AI is like the Wild West right now. It’s changing so rapidly, and it’s so complex, and I don’t think anyone really understands what’s going on.” — Elon Musk
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“Artificial intelligence, deep learning, machine learning — whatever you’re doing if you don’t understand it — learn it. Because otherwise, you’re going to be a dinosaur within 3 years.” — Mark Cuban
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Smile and the world smiles with you. Even AI.
