Podcast

Thursday, November 24, 2022

Can a Computer Do My Job? Finale: Structure in the 4th Quarter and Conclusions

Okay, time for the grand finale, folks! Let’s wrap up this series by posing the AI questions about…

The 4th Quarter: Does the challenge climax in the fourth quarter?

Starting with…

Does the hero adopt a corrected philosophy after the spiritual crisis ¾ of the way into the story?
  • Back to the Future: NO, he retreats to his previous personality flaw.
  • 2001: A Space Odyssey: YES. “We’ll blow it the fuck out into space. We have to stick together.”
That’s Alien! Not all sci fi movies are the same!
  • CODA: YES. “I’d love to live someplace like this…That’s all you need, isn’t it?”
That’s “An Education”! Not all coming of age movies are the same!
  • Harold and Maude: NO, he retreats to his previous personality flaw.
  • Under the Skin: NO, she retreats to her previous personality flaw.
  • Roger and Me: YES. He must bring the workers and townspeople together.
That’s Blazing Saddles! Not all movies about rich men trying to ruin towns are the same!

After the spiritual crisis ¾ of the way into a story, does the hero finally commit to pursuing a corrected goal, which still seems far away?
  • Back to the Future: NO. He tries to get his parents back together, but that doesn't work out, so he just goes back to the future.
Ha! And fades out into nothingness, presumably?
  • 2001: A Space Odyssey: YES. He decides to go to Jupiter to find out what the monolith is.
Sure, good answer.
  • CODA: YES. The goal is to get back to the real world and he finally decides to go through with the surgery.
???
  • Harold and Maude: NO. Harold's goal is to commit suicide, but he decides not to after meeting Maude.
Sure.
  • Under the Skin: YES. The goal is to get back to the spaceship, but it seems far away.
  • Roger and Me: NO. The goal is to get GM to reopen the plant, but it seems far away.
So shouldn’t that be YES?

Before the final quarter of the story begins, (if not long before) has your hero switched to being proactive, instead of reactive?
  • Back to the Future: Yes, the hero generally switches to being proactive before the final quarter of the story begins.
  • 2001: A Space Odyssey: Yes, the hero generally switches to being proactive before the final quarter of the story begins.
  • CODA: Yes, the hero generally switches to being proactive before the final quarter of the story begins.
  • Harold and Maude: Yes, the hero generally switches to being proactive before the final quarter of the story begins.
  • Under the Skin: Yes, the hero generally switches to being proactive before the final quarter of the story begins.
  • Roger and Me: Yes, the hero generally switches to being proactive before the final quarter of the story begins.
You didn’t even try. See me after class.

Despite these proactive steps, is the timeline unexpectedly moved up, forcing the hero to improvise for the finale?
  • Back to the Future: Yes, the timeline is unexpectedly moved up, forcing the hero to improvise for the finale.
  • 2001: A Space Odyssey: No, the timeline does not unexpectedly move up, and the hero does not have to improvise for the finale.
  • CODA: Yes, in many cases the hero is forced to improvise for the finale due to an unexpectedly moved up timeline.
  • CODA the movie: Yes.
  • Harold and Maude: No, the timeline does not unexpectedly move up, and the hero does not have to improvise for the finale.
It certainly is and he certainly does!
  • Under the Skin: Yes, the timeline is unexpectedly moved up, forcing the hero to improvise for the finale.
  • Roger and Me: No, the timeline does not unexpectedly move up, and the hero does not have to improvise for the finale.
The AI is tired. It just wants to be done and go to bed. I’m cruelly frog-marching it through questions it can’t answer.

Do all strands of the story and most of the characters come together for the climactic confrontation?
  • Back to the Future: NO.
  • 2001: A Space Odyssey: NO.
  • CODA: NO
  • Harold and Maude: NO
  • Under the Skin: NO
  • Roger and Me: NO
Oh, come on. But just when I’m ready to give up…

Does the hero’s inner struggle climax shortly after (or possibly at the same time as) his or her outer struggle?
  • Back to the Future: Yes, the hero's inner struggle does climax shortly after the outer struggle. When Marty returns to the present, he is finally able to make peace with his father and they reconcile.
  • 2001: A Space Odyssey: Yes, the hero's inner struggle does climax shortly after the outer struggle. When Bowman finally comes face to face with the monolith, he has a moment of clarity and understanding.
  • CODA: Yes, the hero's inner struggle does climax shortly after the outer struggle. After the hero has resolved the main conflict, they are still left with the question of what to do with their life. They eventually choose to pursue their passion, which brings them inner peace.
  • Harold and Maude: Yes, the hero's inner struggle does climax shortly after the outer struggle. When Harold finally allows himself to experience love and connection, he is able to let go of his obsession with death.
All good answers!
  • Under the Skin: Yes, the hero's inner struggle does climax shortly after the outer struggle. When the hero finally comes to understand the human experience, she is able to let go of her previous way of life and find peace.
Okay!
  • Roger and Me: Yes, the hero's inner struggle does climax shortly after the outer struggle. When Roger finally agrees to meet with Michael, it shows that he has been able to let go of his anger and resentment.
Ha! Hardly.
 
Is there an epilogue/ aftermath/ denouement in which the challenge is finally resolved (or succumbed to), and we see how much the hero has changed (possibly through reversible behavior)?
  • Back to the Future: Yes, he returns to his own time, and we see that he has changed in that he is now more assertive and confident.
Good answer!
  • 2001: A Space Odyssey: Yes, the challenge is resolved and the hero has changed in that he is now more aware and has gained a deeper understanding.
Suspiciously generic.
  • CODA: Yes
  • Harold and Maude: Yes, Harold has changed in that he is now more open to new experiences and has found love.
  • Under the Skin: Yes, the challenge is resolved and the hero has changed in that she is now more human and has found compassion.
  • Roger and Me: Yes, the challenge is resolved and the hero has changed in that he is now more aware of the plight of the unemployed and has found a new sense of purpose.
Sure, I’ll accept these.

So can a computer do my job? No. A ton of answers were wrong, gibberish, or lazy. But a few hundred answers were excellent, which is really creepy. It’s amazing how well the AI did, and I suspect that in a few years, if I did this again, it would ace the test. Jump ahead ten years and AI will have transformed everything.

9 comments:

Nels said...

@Matt - were there any logs or anything to explain why the AI seemed to be so consistently wrong about CODA (even "CODA the movie")? Or any thoughts (besides the "keyword" itself) why it struggled so much with that one?

Matt Bird said...

Most obviously, CODA is the newest movie on the list, and was not a box office hit, despite winning Best Picture, so it's probably had the least written about it of any of these movies. I made no attempt to make the AI watch these movies so it's just doing what any lazy kid would do, skimming the wikipedia entry. I haven't actually checked out the wikipedia entry for CODA, but maybe the misinformation came from there? Certainly, the AI seems to have said, "Crap, this user is asking about CODA, I don't know much about CODA, I will take the little I know and confidently bluff my way through this." So it just assumed that CODA was about a boy who learns to sign, not a girl who's been signing for years.

Friday said...

Oh wow, I have been EXTREMELY busy lately and haven't checked in much since you went to work for Meta, but was prompted to after starting to dabble in OpenAI over the last few days, and *of course* you're having a ball playing in it!

Have you played with it specifically exploring ironies?

Matt Bird said...

Welcome back! As you'll see as you go over the recent posts, the AI frequently struggled with irony questions. At times, it seems to not really grasp the concept, then it'll suddenly pull out a great answer and identify a real irony.

Friday said...

I just sent you an email. A friend of mine is working on something that I have a feeling is going to be very exciting to you, so please check your spam folder if you don't see the email.

Matt Bird said...

Thanks so much! I have responded. Let me know if you don't get my response.

Paul Worthington said...

I worry that all-too-soon the answer to this will instead be a resounding Yes, and will apply to all writers.
(And, sorry to say, you really helped train our replacements with your work at Meta.)

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Easy E said...

Have you considered retrying this with ChatGPT 4? It's a LOT better than GPT 3.5