A First Look at ChatGPT

 

Hephaestus, Guillaume Coustou the Younger

The idea of robots and artificial intelligence goes back at least to the 8th century B.C. with Homer's description of women made of gold who assisted the god Hephaestus in his blacksmithing work.

Translation of Iliad 18.416ff by Alexander Pope

While suspicion of technology goes back much further than the 20th century, the supposed creepiness of A.I. is classically portrayed by the sentient computer HAL in the 1968 film 2001:  A Space Odyssey.

Now, here we are in 2023, and the brouhaha about A.I., especially regarding its role in education, continues.

All About That Bot, 'Bout That Bot

ChatGPT is all the rage.  Don't believe me?  Just do a quick search.  I won't even include links to the articles about it because they are ubiquitous and seem to flood my news feeds.  In short, ChatGPT is an Artificial Intelligence that will produce any type of you writing you want on any subject, and it is becoming the hot topic among educators.  After we discussed it at a recent department meeting at my school, I spent about a half hour or so playing with it.  Based on my requests, it was able to write a poem in rhyming iambic pentameter couplets extolling the virtues of the Roman poet Vergil over the Greek poet Homer, translate the first seven lines of Vergil's Aeneid from Latin into English iambic pentameter verse, write an essay based on a topic one of my International Baccalaureate students had explored for one of her own papers, compose a short essay with footnotes about the U.S. Constitution and contemporary politics, write a letter of recommendation for someone applying to college, produce two short essays based on the topics of two of my own published articles, and create a prayer in the style of St. Bonaventure.  You may see all the fruits of this A.I. labor at the end of this piece.  Needless to say, this raises some questions.

Questions From the Chinese Room

Nearly ten years ago I wrote a piece that talked about A.I. and made reference to philosopher John Searle's famous Chinese Room Argument, and nearly twenty years ago Searle's work featured prominently in my article for Classical Outlook, "The Depth and Charm of Latin Translation."  It basically runs like this.  Imagine a room in which a person who knows no Chinese at all sits with a book that contains all the rules for the Chinese language.  Every character, every word, and every variation of grammar are included.  A fluent speaker stands outside the room and slips under the door a piece of paper on which is written a question in Chinese.  The person in the room uses the book and composes an answer that makes sense in grammatically correct Chinese and slips it back under the door.  Surely the person outside would conclude that he was communicating with a fluent Chinese speaker.

That thought experiment leads to many thoughts to consider, but one is that something seems off about the whole interaction.  Does the person in the room really know Chinese?  Most of us would say no, but then again, what is happening in our brains when we process language other than flipping, albeit quite fast, through an internal rule book?

If Searle's thought experiment raised questions, ChatGPT has opened the floodgate.  I invite you to consider the following and to offer your thoughts and raise others in the comments.

• How does a teacher prevent cheating when this program can generate an essay with footnotes?
• Is there any legitimate use for this program in a classroom at any level, and if so, what is that use?
• Is it ethically right, wrong, or neutral to ask this program to write a letter of recommendation for someone to which you attach your name?  Explain.
• Would you be offended if someone gave you a love poem composed by ChatGPT?  How is that different from receiving a purchased greeting card?  Does it make a difference whether the person tells you it was composed by a bot or not?

These questions range from the typical kinds of things educators talk about regarding classroom practices to the more abstract and philosophical, but there was one bot-generated piece in my half hour of A.I. play that has the potential to generate much serious, theological discussion.  One of the teachers in my department meeting had told of how a friend of his had used ChatGPT to craft a prayer for a certain men's activity at church, and at once the question was asked whether such crafting had room for the Holy Spirit's guidance.  Whether or not you are a Christian, stay with this for a moment.  It leads to something fascinating.

Spirit-Inspired, Bot-Created

Christians believe that the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity and therefore fully God along with the Father and the Son, Jesus, inspires us and leads us and guides us.  Christians also believe that God has causal power over inanimate things and animals, e.g. causing water to divide and causing a donkey to speak.  A question for theologians to explore in our age of A.I. is whether a Holy Spirit-inspired, bot created prayer or other religious text could exist.

Bot Bits

What follows are the responses I received from ChatGPT on Wednesday, January 18th, 2023, to various questions and prompts.  You be the judge of how well the bot replied and be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments below.

1.  Write a prayer in the style of St. Bonaventure praising Jesus Christ.

O Lord Jesus Christ, true God and true man,

We praise and adore you for your great plan

To come to earth and save us from our sin,

With love and mercy deep within.

We thank you for the sacrifice you made,

Upon the cross, for our eternal aid,

For giving us the grace to rise above

The trials and the struggles of this world.

We ask that you would guide us in your way,

And help us to be more like you each day,

To love and serve and follow in your steps,

And to be filled with your Spirit, without regrets.

2.  This was a questions based on the research topic of one of my International Baccalaureate students.  How did Epicurean philosophy influence the letters of St. Paul in the New Testament?

Epicurean philosophy, which emphasized the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain, may have influenced the letters of St. Paul in the New Testament in a few ways.

First, Epicureanism emphasized the importance of living a virtuous life in order to achieve pleasure, and this idea may have influenced Paul's emphasis on the importance of living a righteous life.

Second, Epicureanism taught that the soul dies with the body, and that there is no afterlife or punishment for the soul. Paul, on the other hand, emphasized the idea of the resurrection of the dead and the judgement of souls. So, in a way, Paul's letters could be seen as a refutation of Epicurean philosophy on this point.

Third, Epicureanism taught that the gods do not concern themselves with the affairs of human beings, and that they are removed from the world. Paul, on the other hand, teaches that God is actively involved in the world and that He cares for his people.

It's important to note that there's no direct evidence that Paul was familiar with Epicureanism or that he was responding to it in his letters. These are possible similarities and influence that have been pointed out by scholars.

3.  Write a love poem in rhyming iambic pentameter couplets about the superiority of the poet Virgil over Homer.

Oh Virgil, your verse is so much more divine

Than Homer's, in beauty and in skill entwined.

Your Aeneid tells a tale of love and fate,

With language sweet, and meter so sedate.

While Homer's tales are grand, and full of might,

Your poetry paints pictures that ignite

The senses, and the heart, with its true art,

A beauty that sets you far above your part.

With every line, you weave a work of art,

That sings of love, of war, and of the heart.

Your words are music, sweet and pure and fine,

And in their beauty, all else doth decline.

So let the world proclaim your worth, my love,

For in the realm of poetry, none above.

Virgil, your verse is like a beacon bright,

That guides us through the darkness of the night.

4.  This was the topic of my article "The Anfractuous Path of the Helen Episode in Aeneid 2," published in Classical Outlook, Vol. 89, Number 4, 2016.  I can tell you that the bot did address some of the primary issues.  Was the Helen episode in Book 2 of the Aeneid actually written by Vergil?

The Helen episode in Book 2 of the Aeneid, where Aeneas meets Helen of Troy in the underworld, is a subject of debate among scholars. Some believe that it was actually written by Virgil, while others argue that it was a later addition by a different author.

Those who argue that the episode was written by Virgil point to the fact that the scene is well-integrated into the overall narrative of the poem and that Virgil's style is consistent throughout the scene. Additionally, the episode serves a thematic purpose in the poem, as it highlights Aeneas' role as a Trojan and his connection to the Trojan War.

On the other hand, some scholars argue that the episode is not consistent with Virgil's style, pointing out that the scene is not present in the earliest surviving manuscripts of the Aeneid and that it is not integrated seamlessly into the overall narrative of the poem. They also argue that the episode does not serve a significant thematic purpose and that it has more in common with other, later versions of the Trojan War story.

It is difficult to determine with certainty whether the episode was written by Virgil or not due to the lack of evidence, but the majority of scholars believe that it was not.

5.  This was the topic of my article "The Homoousios Doctrine and Non-Reductive Models of Consciousness," published in Quodlibet, Vol. 7, Number 2, 2005.  Initially I thought the bot response to be little more than a regurgitation of terms, but the fourth paragraph actually begins to touch on the core issue, which I had addressed in my article.  What is the connection between the homoousios doctrine and non-reductive models of consciousness?

The homoousios doctrine, also known as the doctrine of consubstantiality, is a Christian doctrine that states that Jesus Christ is of the same substance as God the Father. This doctrine, which was developed in the 4th century and was a central issue in the Arian controversy, asserts that Jesus is fully God and fully man, and that there is no separation or division between the two natures.

Non-reductive models of consciousness, on the other hand, refer to theories in philosophy of mind and cognitive science that reject the idea that consciousness can be reduced to or explained by physical processes in the brain. These models propose that consciousness is a fundamental aspect of reality that cannot be reduced to physical processes.

The connection between the homoousios doctrine and non-reductive models of consciousness is that both involve the idea of irreducibility. The homoousios doctrine asserts that Jesus is fully God and fully man and cannot be reduced to one or the other, while non-reductive models of consciousness assert that consciousness cannot be reduced to physical processes. Both concepts thus reject the idea that a complex reality can be reduced to a single component or explanation.

Additionally, both the homoousios doctrine and non-reductive models of consciousness have been used to argue for a duality in the nature of certain things, in the case of the homoousios doctrine is the duality between the divinity and humanity of Jesus and for non-reductive models of consciousness is the duality between the physical and mental aspects of reality.

6.  Translate into iambic pentameter verse (the first seven lines of Vergil's Aeneid):

Arma virumque canō, Trōiae quī prīmus ab ōrīs

Ītaliam, fātō profugus, Lāvīniaque vēnit

lītora, multum ille et terrīs iactātus et altō

vī superum saevae memorem Iūnōnis ob īram;

multa quoque et bellō passus, dum conderet urbem, 

inferretque deōs Latiō, genus unde Latīnum,

Albānīque patrēs, atque altae moenia Rōmae.

I sing of arms and the man, who first from the shores

Of Troy, by fate's command, an exile fled,

And came to Italy, and Lavinian shores;

Much tossed about by land and sea, and many a woe

Endured, and many a danger, ere he founded

The city, and brought in the gods to Latium,

The source of the Latin race, and the high walls

Of Rome, and the Alban fathers' ancient halls.

7.  I had begun to wonder whether the bot would only produce rather general text or whether it would provide citations as well, and this was my next prompt.  Write two paragraphs on the importance of the U.S. Constitution in contemporary politics and include footnotes.

The United States Constitution is a fundamental document in American politics, as it serves as the foundation for the country's government and legal system. The Constitution establishes the framework for the separation of powers between the three branches of government - the legislative, executive and judicial - and outlines the rights and responsibilities of both the federal government and the states.

In contemporary politics, the Constitution is of paramount importance as it serves as a check on the power of the government and ensures that individual rights are protected. For example, the First Amendment guarantees the freedom of speech, religion, and the press, while the Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. Additionally, the Constitution's system of checks and balances, which allows each branch of government to limit the power of the others, helps to prevent the concentration of power in any one branch. These features of the Constitution continue to be essential in maintaining a fair and just society.

(1) United States Constitution. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution

(2) The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.loc.gov/law/help/constitution-transcription/

8.  At the end of the school day, one of my former students, Matthias, who is now my colleague and friend dropped by my room to chat.  We began discussing ChatGPT, so I decided to see what it would come up with if I fed it some information as if I were writing recommendation for him.  Write a letter of recommendation for Matthias, a four-year varsity swimmer and member of the honor roll.

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to highly recommend Matthias for any academic or athletic opportunity for which he may be applying. I have had the pleasure of knowing Matthias for the past four years as his coach for the varsity swim team and have consistently been impressed with his dedication, work ethic, and overall character.

Matthias has been a dedicated member of the varsity swim team for four years and has been a valuable member of the team, both in and out of the pool. As a team captain, he has demonstrated excellent leadership skills, encouraging and motivating his teammates to achieve their best performances. He is also a skilled and dedicated swimmer, always striving to improve his times and consistently placing well in his events.

In addition to his athletic talents, Matthias is an outstanding student. He is a member of the honor roll and has demonstrated a strong commitment to his academics throughout his high school career. He is well-organized, reliable and always willing to help his classmates.

Matthias is an exceptional young man, who is committed to excellence in all areas of his life. He is respectful, hardworking, and an excellent role model for his peers. I have no doubt that he will continue to achieve great success in his future academic and athletic endeavors. I wholeheartedly recommend Matthias for any opportunity that comes his way.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]