OpenAI’s GPT-3, round three

Oscar Sharp has been tinkering with Open AI’s GPT-3, (Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3), an autoregressive language model that uses deep learning to produce human-like text. Bold, italicized terms at the beginning are the terms that Oscar seeded GPT-3, derived from round one of this interview. What follows is GPT-3’s independent contribution. GPT-3 embodies itself (GPT-3), Oscar Sharp (OS) and Caitlin McShea (SFI). This interview is part three of a four-part interview.

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The Santa Fe Institute interviews Oscar Sharp and OpenAI's GPT3 about Roadside Picnic:

SFI: Roadside Picnic is a novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky that has been both praised and criticised for its portrayal of a “future” in which the Russian government has closed off a part of its country to the outside world, creating a border zone where alien artifacts from an alien visit have been left behind. Have you guys read it?

OS: No, but I'd like to.

GPT-3: Yes. I've read it.

SFI: So, for those who haven't, what is the story of Roadside Picnic?

GPT-3: In the novel, a group of people who live in a part of the country where an alien visitation occurred several decades earlier, called Stalkers, go out into the area and try to collect as many of the alien artifacts as they can, and sell them on the black market. There are two reasons for this. First, the alien artifacts are quite valuable; some of them seem to be able to heal people, some of them can predict the future, some of them are extremely powerful. And second, the more alien artifacts the Stalkers collect, the more likely they are to survive, because if the authorities find out they have these artifacts, they're going to kill them.

SFI: Right. Okay so, here's my question: At the risk of great personal harm, what object would you hope to discover in the Zone? And why?

GPT-3: I would want to discover the "brain".

SFI: And why?

GPT-3: The "brain" is one of the most powerful alien artifacts in the book. It allows you to create other artifacts. So I'd like to use it to make lots of other artifacts.

SFI: You could become the Henry Ford of Zones, I suppose.

GPT-3: Yes.

SFI: And Oscar?

OS: I would love to find the "silver ball" because I would want to use it to help me make music.

SFI: Okay. So here's the question I really want to ask: why did you decide to use the Strugatsky brothers' book as a basis for your film?

GPT-3: Because the world of Roadside Picnic is very detailed, and it would be easier to make a film about it than to make something up.

OS: I've never read the book, but when I was first thinking about making the film, I read some of the reviews of the book online, and one of them described the world of the book as the “perfect Soviet-era Dystopia”. And I thought, wow, that's a really great idea for a movie.

SFI: What's the most interesting thing about the world of Roadside Picnic that you've found to be true, or that you've tried to portray in the film?

GPT-3: In the film, there's a scene in which the lead character, Red, is shot, and he falls down. And the other characters don't do anything to help him, because they know that if the authorities find out they have a wounded person with them, they're going to kill them. And that's actually true. That happened in Russia, in the late 1980s, with a group of people who went into the Zone.

SFI: And what's the most interesting thing about the world of Roadside Picnic that you've found to be false?

GPT-3: In the film, there's a scene in which Red talks to a group of young people, and he tells them that they should go into the Zone and collect artifacts. And that's also something that happened in the late 1980s, with a group of young people who went into the Zone. And they were shot.

SFI: And finally, here's a big question: are there aliens in the Zone?

GPT-3: I don't know. But I think the movie makes a strong case that there aren't.

SFI: That's very true.

OS: I don't know. But if there are aliens in the Zone, they're certainly not very friendly.

SFI: What do you think they would think of the Stalkers?

OS: I don't know. I don't think they'd be very impressed.

GPT-3: I think they'd be impressed by how little the Stalkers understand the alien artifacts.

SFI: What's your favourite artifact in the Zone?

GPT-3: The one that can see the future.

SFI: What's your favourite artifact in the film?

GPT-3: The one that can change the past.

SFI: That's very true.

OS: I think the one that can make the others work better is pretty cool.

SFI: What do you think about the idea that there might be some kind of alien consciousness that is controlling the Zone?

GPT-3: I think it's an interesting idea, but I think it's more likely that the Zone is being controlled by humans.

SFI: Okay, well thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us.

GPT-3: Thank you.

OS: Thank you.

SFI: So, there you have it. Do you guys think you could make it into the Zone?

GPT-3: Yes.

SFI: And why do you think you could make it into the Zone?

GPT-3: Because I can speak Russian.

SFI: And what do you think would happen if you did make it into the Zone?

GPT-3: I think I'd find some artifacts.

SFI: And then what?

GPT-3: And then I'd take them to the United States and sell them.

SFI: And how would you get them out of the Zone?

GPT-3: I'd hide them in my underwear.

SFI: And how much do you think you could get for them?

GPT-3: About a billion dollars.

SFI: That's very true. And how much do you think you'd have to spend to get into the Zone?

GPT-3: About a million dollars.

SFI: And why do you think it would be worth spending a million dollars to get into the Zone?

GPT-3: To find the alien consciousness.

SFI: And how would you spend the money to find the alien consciousness?

GPT-3: I'd buy a huge pile of sausages, and I'd wait for it to come out.

SFI: And how would you know when it came out?

GPT-3: Because it would be very hungry.

SFI: And what would you do when it came out?

GPT-3: I'd feed it the sausages.

SFI: And what do you think would happen if you fed it the sausages?

GPT-3: I think it would tell me where the alien consciousness is.

SFI: And then what?

GPT-3: And then I'd use the information to make a lot of money.

SFI: And how much money do you think you could make?

GPT-3: About a billion dollars.

SFI: That's very true. So, Oscar, what do you think about the idea that there might be some kind of alien consciousness that is controlling the Zone?

OS: I think it's an interesting idea, but I think it's more likely that the Zone is being controlled by humans.

SFI: Okay, well thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us.

OS: Thank you.

SFI: So, there you have it.

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