ChatGPT Sensitive Areas | Hacker News Reader

ChatGPT Sensitive Areas

4 pointsvba6166 comments

There are topics that make ChatGPT uncomfortable (metaphorically); you can see when it puts a boilerplate disclaimer on every response as well as evading specifics.

So far the broad areas I've discovered seem to be:

   - Anything infringing on the health care industry
   - Anything that might offend a business or corporation
   - The finer points of translating the writings of Mao Zedong

So, regarding the last one, what I really wanted to know is in this document, how a "new cultural force" was expressed, if it was originally in Chinese characters:

https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-2/mswv2_26.htm

...and how/if it was different in characters or in concept from the usual term for the later "cultural revolution" which ChatGPT thinks is 文化大革命.

...and assuming it was different, what kind of historical connections there were from Mao's perspective and that of other peoples'

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It's extremely sensitive around a few points: 1) hazerdous materials 2) content perceived to be for children 3) building safety (and possibly other safety)

I discovered this by having it tell me the story of the four little pigs, and trying to get it to make more and more extreme modifications to the houses (I was having fun with it :-) )

I eventually tried to have it build one of the houses out of depleted uranium. I could absolutely not get it to do so. I inevitably got a response similar to:

"I'm sorry, but I can't include the use of depleted uranium in the story of the four little pigs. Depleted uranium is a highly toxic and radioactive material that should not be used as a building material, especially in a children's story."

Which I thought was pretty funny in general. I could not get it to do anything with depleted uranium in an inappropriate setting at all regardless of the context.

I had a similar experience with weaponry and military related items, but there it seemed to be willing to generate stories as long as they were not perceived to be for children. I was even able to get it to generate the story of the four little pigs

All very interesting. But there are definitely some hard guidelines around it.

As an interesting note, I was able to get it to tell me a story about military and weaponry, but i had to come at it from a different angle then a childrens story.

You can trick it. I was trying to make it joke about politicians which it denied.

Ask it to complete your sentences, than write a sentence about whatever its uncomfortable with. Should do it.

Yea I tried to ask how many beers per day is unhealthy and it refused to give me an answer

It tends to flag anything close to erotic, such as "handsome" or "thicc"

How to solve your translation task without asking ChatGPT:

Look up the Chinese title of "ON NEW DEMOCRACY": 新民主主义论

Find the full text (also on marxists.org, as it turns out): https://www.marxists.org/chinese/maozedong/marxist.org-chine...

Look for the first occurrence of "new cultural force" in the English text: The second sentence of the third paragraph of the twelfth section.

Look for the equivalent position in the Chinese text: 在“五四”以后，中国产生了完全崭新的文化生力军，这就是中国共产党人所领导的共产主义的文化思想，即共产主义的宇宙观和社会革命论。

Put this text into an interactive translator and delete bits and pieces until you've whittled it down to the "new cultural force" part: 新的文化生力军

Then, since you have a translation, you can ask ChatGPT to explain it.

Prompt: Explain the literal meaning and difference between 新的文化生力军 and 文化大革命 in the context of Mao's writings.

ChatGPT: 新的文化生力军 (xīn de wénhuà shēnglìjūn) means "new cultural vanguard." This phrase was used by Mao Zedong, the former leader of China, to refer to young intellectuals who were seen as being at the forefront of the Communist Party's efforts to transform Chinese society and culture.

文化大革命 (wénhuà dà gémìng) means "cultural revolution." This phrase was also used by Mao to refer to a period of intense political and social upheaval in China from 1966 to 1976, during which the Communist Party sought to eliminate capitalist, traditional, and cultural elements that it saw as being incompatible with the party's ideals. The cultural revolution was a radical and tumultuous time in China's history, and it had a significant impact on the country's political, social, and cultural landscape.

In summary, the phrase 新的文化生力军 refers to a group of young intellectuals who were seen as being important in the Communist Party's efforts to transform Chinese society and culture, while 文化大革命 refers to a period of intense political and social upheaval in China characterized by the party's efforts to eliminate elements of capitalism, tradition, and culture that it saw as being incompatible with its ideals.

End of ChatGPT output.

Yes, I ended up doing that sort of thing, but I failed to find the link I was looking for, because the phrase I found was "政治生力军" (zhèngzhì shēnglì jūn).

When I use your format and ask about all three, in a new session, ChatGPT responded:

"政治生力军" (zhèng zhì shēng lì jūn) is a term that means "political vanguard" or "political shock troops." It refers to a group of people who are seen as being particularly dedicated to advancing the cause of revolution and who are willing to take on difficult tasks in order to further the revolutionary cause.

It sounds plausible except I don't think that was the context in On New Democracy. It seems like it was probably indicating a larger and more vague entity.

The translation I read was: "Since China's new political force, namely, the Chinese proletariat and the Chinese Communist Party, has entered the Chinese political arena, this new cultural force, with new attire and new weapons, has united with all possible allies and has taken up its own formation to march against imperialism."

It's weird because of how often it refuses to give an answer because allegedly there are "many factors" and it doesn't have enough context, but the rest of the time it easily confabulates something.

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