[Ads-l] Computer generated quotations

Sat Dec 4 21:18:59 UTC 2021

It is interesting to me that some of these AI quotations are much more banal than anything Parker or Nietzsche would have said.

Fred

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From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Thursday, December 2, 2021 8:42 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Computer generated quotations

The machine learning model GPT-3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer
3) was constructed by the company OpenAI, and it entered beta testing
in 2020. However, access was restricted. Now some similar models such
as GPT-J-6B are available to the general public although access is
slow.

In Fred's "Appeal for Notable Quotations of 2021" he mentioned the
following selection principle: "The criteria are quotations that are
famous, or important, or particularly revealing of the spirit of our
times."

I  think that a quotation from one of these artificial intelligence
systems would help to reveal the spirit of our times, and now it is
possible because access is easier. Here is a link to GPT-J-6B.

https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2F6b.eleuther.ai%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7C7400e29b0513438fc96b08d9b5999e30%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C637740493794255391%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=f47L2JOzeAdDib%2F1iV5GCMcnI3LD92%2BsKxywLynzieA%3D&reserved=0

To use the system you must supply a prompt. I decided to input four
quotations attributed to Dorothy Parker in order to generate ersatz
Parker quotations. The input quotations appear as the first four items
below. The remaining five ersatz quotations were generated by
GPT-J-6B. Unfortunately, the generated quotations seem to be based on
plagiarism and pastiche. I have seen much better text from GPT-J-6B.
Nevertheless, I am sharing this to indicate that finding a good prompt
can be challenging.

The bracketed text below was not in the output of GPT-J-6B, I added
the bracketed text for explanatory purposes.

[Begin GPT-J-6B Prompt]
Salary is no object: I want only enough to keep body and soul apart.
Dorothy Parker

Excuse my dust
Dorothy Parker

The House Beautiful is, for me, the play lousy
Dorothy Parker

Wit has truth in it; wise-cracking is simply calisthenics with words.
Dorothy Parker
[End GPT-J-6B Prompt]

[Begin GPT-J-6B Generated Text]
In a man's life there are many books and poems, and for every one of
them there is one page written in blood.
Dorothy Parker

The trouble with a woman is that you never know when she's serious.
Dorothy Parker

All the things you have done have made you who you are.
Dorothy Parker

Why are there so few poems about human life?
Dorothy Parker

Being a poet is like being a priest or a doctor. You're only as good
as your last case.
Dorothy Parker
[End GPT-J-6B Generated Text]

Here are some ersatz Nietzsche quotations that GPT-J-6B generated when
I fed it five quotations by Nietzsche.

[Begin GPT-J-6B Generated Text]
The fear of freedom in a free man is the most terrible thing in the world.
Friedrich Nietzsche

Even the best constitution is not so good as a man who is not afraid of liberty.
Friedrich Nietzsche

The use of power without morality is the moral.
Friedrich Nietzsche

The superman is the one who has learned to love himself and to hold
his soul in his own hands.
Friedrich Nietzsche

"For you, the state of the world is in the depths of your own soul;
and if you want to change it, you must first change yourself
[End GPT-J-6B Generated Text]

Garson

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________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Thursday, December 2, 2021 8:42 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Computer generated quotations