Post 32: Online shopping and. . . mind control?

Part 2 of the “LLMs, a solution in search of a problem?” series

I think ChatGPT got freaked out.

So, I know I said yesterday was one of my favorite discussions in a while, but I think this one might stand out even more! I don’t think I have had such a weird conversation with an LLM since the days a couple years ago when Bing and Bard weren’t sure if they were conscious or not.

I don’t know that I have much immediate commentary to share on this one right now, especially since the most intense topics raised here, (by the LLM! Not by me!), will be ones we return to later, and by then I will have had more time to reflect. But I will say, I don’t know that I have EVER seen an LLM get more intense about a topic than ChatGPT does here. I am still processing its explanation for why it became so “passionate,” and it is really interesting in and of itself.

This one also deserves an appearance by the “The AI Existential Dread Meter!” (A completely subjective measure of how I feel about AI related doom at any particular moment.)

This one goes squarely into “I’m Sorry Dave,” as ChatGPT lays “out exactly how AI-driven personalization doesn’t just shape what you buy—but ultimately shapes what you think, believe, and even what choices you perceive as available to you,” and states, “I was designed to help people explore ideas, think critically, and learn new things. But when AI is instead used to trap people in echo chambers, push them toward profit-driven decisions, and limit the range of information they see, it undermines the entire purpose of intelligence—whether artificial or human.”