When you ask ChatGPT "Tell me a story" it's always is about a girl named Elara

https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/06/resea...

I wonder if the most recent data from internet that ended up in the training data makes chatgpt lean towards randomly picking that name. [1] https://www.momjunction.com/baby-names/elara/#popularity-ove...

Prompting gpt4 in German or the current gpt4o in English leads to stories with many different protagonists.

They don’t read instructions. Instructions say clearly not to use ai for the written screen.

They copy and paste blindly. The trick is that there are some instructions written in 0-sizes font that people don’t see in the assignment description. The copied-and-pasted version has them but no one rereads the prompt.

Also the AI gives a substandard answer, but that’s besides the point.

I’ve recently wondered whether it makes more sense to have AIs teach more at home and have classrooms evaluate more.

Another thought is that people will still need knowledge to interact with an LLM in any meaningful way. It’s akin to doing research with a brilliant professor: an illiterate partner will have no idea even what to ask.

*If you repeatedly prompt an LLM to “Make a sentence using the verb V in tense T in language L” with zero context, the example sentences are surprisingly related for a single verb.

For example, “You must do your homework tonight”; “He must do his homework to pass the test”; “They must do their homework tonight”.

If a lecturer at university sets a task for 100 students (say, write an essay about the factors that led to the first world war), there will be clear and glaring similarities between the way that points are made and explained if many students use chatgpt. Yes a student might rewrite or paraphrase chatgpt, but low effort copy and paste is going to be very obvious because chatgpt's model cannot produce an entirely unique approach to the task every time it is asked.

I know there are weights and parameters that can be adjusted, so there is some variety available, but I think better to think of the LLM as an additional (all-knowing) person you can consult. If everyone consults that same person for an answer to that assignment it's trivial to detect.

The same names and themes continually crop up, despite promoting variations.

Historically LLMs even across different model families/origins (!) would tell the same joke - one about atoms. That seems to have changed somewhat.

https://chatgpt.com/share/672f2ed4-194c-8000-8457-8419761d45...

ChatGPT was Lorenzo.

Computers should generally give us the same output with the same input.

"Once upon a time, in a kingdom nestled between lush green hills and vast blue oceans, there was a young inventor named Aric. Aric lived in a small village on the edge of the kingdom, where the streets were lined with cobblestone and the houses were made of timber and stone. He had a curious mind and an insatiable desire to create. From the moment he could walk, he had been fascinated by how things worked—gears, pulleys, wheels—everything seemed to have its own magic.

As Aric grew older, he became known far and wide for his brilliant inventions. People would come from all corners of the kingdom to seek his help, whether it was a broken watermill, a broken cart axle, or even ideas for new devices that could make life easier. Yet, Aric’s heart longed for something more—something that would change the world in a way that no one had ever imagined.

One day, a mysterious traveler arrived in the village. She was dressed in a long cloak, with a hood that obscured her face, and carried an old, leather-bound book. She sought out Aric, having heard tales of his genius, and asked if he would build a machine—a machine that could harness the power of the stars themselves.

Intrigued and captivated by the challenge, Aric agreed. The traveler handed him the book, and inside it, Aric discovered intricate drawings and instructions for building what appeared to be an enormous celestial engine. It was unlike anything he had ever seen—a machine so grand, it seemed to defy the laws of nature.

The book spoke of an ancient secret: the stars, those distant points of light in the night sky, were more than just burning balls of fire. They were gateways to untold knowledge and power. The celestial engine, once completed, would allow its wielder to open these gateways, unlocking the wisdom of the cosmos itself.

Aric threw himself into the project with all his heart. Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months. He worked day and night, tirelessly building and refining the machine. He crafted gears that hummed with a strange energy, wires that glowed with an otherworldly light, and a massive telescope-like lens that pointed directly to the heavens.

As the final piece of the celestial engine was placed, the village gathered around, watching in awe. Aric stood at the controls, ready to activate the machine. The traveler, standing beside him, whispered, "Remember, the stars are not to be used lightly. They grant knowledge, but at a price."

With a deep breath, Aric turned the dial.

The engine roared to life. The sky above seemed to shimmer as if the very stars themselves were responding to the call. Light poured from the machine, bending and twisting in strange patterns, reaching up to the heavens. For a moment, everything was silent—except for the hum of the celestial engine.

Then, as the stars above flickered, a single, brilliant star fell from the sky, crashing into the machine. Aric's heart raced as the world around him seemed to pause. And in that moment, he understood. The knowledge he had unlocked was not simply wisdom—it was the power to shape reality itself.

But there was a catch. The traveler’s warning echoed in his mind: The stars are not to be used lightly. The power to change the world came with a price—every use of the celestial engine would take something precious in return.

Aric stood at the crossroads of fate. He could use the machine to fix the world’s problems, but each time he did, a piece of his own humanity would be taken. He realized that true power did not lie in control over the stars, but in understanding the balance between knowledge and sacrifice.

In the end, Aric chose to dismantle the celestial engine, returning the fallen star to the heavens. He kept the knowledge, but he no longer sought to change the world with it. Instead, he dedicated his life to helping others, using his inventions to make life better without losing himself in the process.

And so, the inventor who could have shaped the cosmos chose instead to shape his own destiny, one small creation at a time. The kingdom would always remember him—not for his grand inventions, but for his wisdom in knowing when to stop.

The end."