Can a Computer Do My Job? Day 6: Character: Invest

Let’s wrap up our Character section and see how OpenAI does with my Invest questions. For each of these, I also asked it to come up with its own movies with no prompt, but I’ll only report those results when they’re interesting.

Invest: Can We Trust This Hero to Tackle This Challenge?

As always, click on the questions to see how 30 movies answered the questions before I had a computer doing the work for me.  Let’s start with…

Is the hero’s great flaw (ironically) the natural flip-side of a great strength we admire?

• Back to the Future: NO
• 2001: A Space Odyssey: NO

I disagree in both cases.

• CODA: It’s interesting to note that many of the heroes listed above have a great strength that is also their great flaw. For example, the hero of Casablanca is cool and in control, but this same trait leads to his ultimate downfall. The hero of The Silence of the Lambs is incredibly intelligent and perceptive, but this same trait leads her into danger. The hero of The Shining is very ambitious, but this same trait leads to his downfall. In each of these cases, the hero’s great strength is also their great flaw.

Once again, I realized that it was trying to give me a “coda” to the info I had fed into it, so I then specified:

• CODA the movie: Yes, the hero’s great flaw is the natural flip-side of a great strength we admire.
• Harold and Maude: YES
• Under the Skin: YES
• Roger and Me: YES

Lazy and uninteresting answers! It’s not returning data as interesting as the data I fed into it. Really starting to feel like a computer can’t do my job.

Is the hero curious?

• Back to the Future: YES. He’s always asking questions about time travel, trying to understand the rules, etc.

Sure, good answer. Then it suddenly, unprompted, tried again to generate its own movie!

• The Breakfast Club: YES. She’s constantly asking questions and trying to figure out the others.

Don’t even know who “she” is here.

• 2001: A Space Odyssey: YES. He’s constantly asking questions about the mission, the ship, etc.

Sure.

• CODA: YES. She’s constantly asking questions about her family, her deafness, etc.

She’s not deaf!

• Harold and Maude: YES. He’s constantly asking questions about her, her life, etc.
• Under the Skin: YES. She’s constantly asking questions about human beings, their behavior, etc.
• Roger and Me: YES. He’s constantly asking questions about the company, the town, etc.

Sure, all good answers.

Is the hero generally resourceful?

• No prompt: Yes, the hero is generally resourceful.
• Back to the Future: Yes, the hero is generally resourceful.
• 2001: A Space Odyssey: Yes, the hero is generally resourceful.
• CODA: Yes
• Harold and Maude: Yes
• Under the Skin: Yes
• Roger and Me: No

I’d call Michael Moore pretty resourceful. These are all lazy answers.

Does the hero have rules he or she lives by (either stated or implied)?

• Back to the Future: NO. He's a teenager. He doesn't really have any rules he lives by.

Sure he does.

• 2001: A Space Odyssey: YES. Follow the rules, don't question authority, stay in your place.

Well, maybe at first…

• CODA: NO
• Harold and Maude: NO

Sure they do. Just lazy.

• Under the Skin: YES. Follow the rules, blend in, don't get too close to anyone.

Exactly whose rules is she following??

• Roger and Me: NO

Sure he does.

Is the hero surrounded by people who sorely lack his or her most valuable quality?

• No prompt: Yes
• Back to the Future: Yes
• 2001: A Space Odyssey: No
• Harold and Maude: Yes
• Under the Skin: Yes
• Roger and Me: No

Whenever it fails to capitalize the Yes or No (they were all-caps in the data I entered) I always wonder if it ever ingested the models I showed it, or if it’s just winging it. Lazy answers. Should we give up on this project? But wait…

Is the hero willing to let others know that he or she has special qualities, subtly or directly?

• Back to the Future: NO. He's reluctant to share his knowledge with anyone, even those who are close to him.

Totally incorrect. The correct answer to this question is “YES: He says ‘History is going to change.’”

• 2001: A Space Odyssey: NO. He's a man of few words.
• CODA: YES. She's very direct and open about her feelings, especially when it comes to her passion for music.

Wait, maybe it did see the movie!

• Harold and Maude: NO. Harold is very introverted and doesn't share his thoughts or feelings with others easily.
• Under the Skin: NO. She never speaks, and is content to observe and absorb those around her.
• Roger and Me: YES. He's very open about his thoughts and feelings, even when they're critical of those in power.

Five excellent, correct answers! Just when I’m ready to give up on the AI, it manages to impress me again.

Is the hero already doing something active when we first meet him or her?

• Back to the Future: Yes, the hero is already doing something active when we first meet him or her.
• 2001: A Space Odyssey: Yes, the hero is already doing something active when we first meet him or her.
• CODA: Yes, the hero is already doing something active when we first meet him or her.
• Harold and Maude: No, the hero is not doing something active when we first meet him or her.

Sure he is. He’s ingeniously faking a suicide.

• Under the Skin: Yes, the hero is already doing something active when we first meet him or her.
• Roger and Me: Yes, the hero is already doing something active when we first meet him or her.

Lazy answers. Put some effort in, AI! No, a computer can’t do my job.

Does the hero have (or claim) decision-making authority?

• Back to the Future: Yes and no. The hero has some decision-making authority, but it is often limited or constrained in some way.
• 2001: A Space Odyssey: Yes and no. The hero has some decision-making authority, but it is often limited or constrained in some way.
• CODA: Yes. The hero has significant decision-making authority and is able to make choices that affect the course of the story.
• Harold and Maude: Yes. The hero has significant decision-making authority and is able to make choices that affect the course of the story.
• Under the Skin: Yes. The hero has significant decision-making authority and is able to make choices that affect the course of the story.
• Roger and Me: No. The hero does not have any decision-making authority and is often powerless to affect the course of the story.

Correct-ish answers, but lazy.

Does the hero use pre-established special skills from his or her past to solve problems (rather than doing what anybody would do)?

• Back to the Future: NO. He pretty much does what anybody would do.

This makes me wonder: Should I have attempted to simply inject my entire books into the AI? I cite this movie in my first book as a good example of relying on special skills, finding ways to use his skateboarding and rock and roll abilities even though neither has been invented yet. Would the AI have been able to read and understand my whole books, not just my spreadsheet data?

• 2001: A Space Odyssey: NO. Not really. I mean, you could say he uses his knowledge of the ship to solve problems, but not really.
• CODA: NO. She’s an everywoman with few skills.
• Harold and Maude: NO. Not really. I mean, you could say Harold uses his knowledge of funerals to solve problems, but not really.
• Under the Skin: YES. She uses her knowledge of human behavior to attracts her victims.

Always creeps me out when the AI refers to itself as “I”. But these aren’t bad answers.

• Roger and Me: NO. He pretty much does what anybody would do.

Not true! He uses lots of special skills!

Okay, that does it for Character. For our final four pieces in this series, we’ll look at Structure…