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- I've spent the two years
since chat GPT launched,
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00:00:03,795 --> 00:00:05,958
steeping in a morass
of academic panic.
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00:00:05,958 --> 00:00:08,161
Voices from
administration and colleagues,
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00:00:08,161 --> 00:00:10,381
and anyone else
with enough brain cells
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to maintain a sense
of existential dread, crying out,
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"We need to figure out
what to do about AI."
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Our Ed Tech committee
is developing a policy.
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The academic Senate wants
to develop a policy.
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The board thinks
we should have a policy.
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My dean wants
us all to have policies.
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The California Teachers Association says
it's an issue of academic integrity.
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The State Senate says
it's an issue of ethics.
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"We need to pay for
the AI detection tools."
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"The AI detection tools
don't work."
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"We need to accept that
our students will use AI."
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"How do I prove
my student used AI?"
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It is incomprehensible to me,
this conversation.
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[keyboard clacks]
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I hear their words,
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see their language floating
across my monitor,
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and know the words,
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but I cannot get to the meaning
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because I simply do not understand
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why they are talking about it
in this way.
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- [Kermit the Frog]:
♪ New York, I love you,
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but you're bringing me down ♪
- with all these empty words.
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This is not the conversation
I think we need to have.
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[song continues]
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This is the conversation I need to have.
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[overlapping
music and poem]
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[Gertrude Stein]: " 'If I Told Him,
a Completed Portrait of Picasso'.
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If I told him would he like it.
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Would he like it if I told him.
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Would he like it would Napoleon
would Napoleon would
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would he like it.
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If Napoleon if I told him
if I told him if Napoleon.
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Would he like it if I told him
if I told him if Napoleon.
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Would he like it if Napoleon
if Napoleon if I told him.
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If I told him if Napoleon
if Napoleon if I told him.
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If I told him would he like it
would he like it if I told him.
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Now. Not now. And now.
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Now. Exactly as is kings.
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Feeling full for it.
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Exactitude as kings.
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So to beseech you
as full as for it.
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Exactly or as kings.
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Shutters shut and open
so do queens.
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Shutters shut and shutters
and so shutters shut and shutters and so
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[poem and music fade out]
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- I don't understand Gertrude Stein.
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Stein is not nearly well enough
remembered for how influential she was.
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An American expatriate poet
living in Paris,
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her salons were among the
anchors of the early modernists.
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You may not have heard of her,
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but you've heard of
the people who visited her.
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Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis,
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F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce,
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Thornton Wilder, Ezra Pound.
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People you've read
or been assigned to read.
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We remember Hemingway
because he wrote like this.
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We remember Fitzgerald
because he wrote like this.
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The right kind of day
and the right kind of moment,
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and Pound's
"In a Station of the Metro"
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still recites itself completely
in my head, a perfect image.
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"The apparition of
these faces in the crowd:
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Petals on a wet, black bough."
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We don't remember Stein
because she wrote like this.
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This is "If I Told Him,
a Completed Portrait of Picasso",
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published in 1924,
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and continuing the project
of her 1914 book Tender Buttons,
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a phrase she never defined.
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To me that phrase
"tender buttons" feels right:
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small, soft contradictions,
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words that seem like
they should go together
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but do not actually make meaning.
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That is how Stein's poetry feels.
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There is something compelling
about the rhythm of her nonsense,
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the feeling of her
almost meaning something,
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and then how it falls apart.
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"As presently.
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As exactitude.
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As trains."
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But it is incomprehensible to me.
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I don't know why Stein
would write like this.
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To quote the poet:
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- ♪ "Oh, what on earth would make a man
decide to do that kind of thing?" ♪
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- But I think the reason
that I don't understand Gertrude Stein
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is that she didn't really want
to be understood.
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She used language
for something different.
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It doesn't communicate.
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It reads like stunt linguistics,
which it almost is.
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"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo",
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"had had 'had', had had 'had--'",
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These are sentences that,
if you pour over them closely enough,
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can be decoded.
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Stein's Tender Buttons cannot.
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There is something about it
that parses as AI.
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It feels like the work of Keaton Patti,
the person most prominently behind
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the "I forced a bot to watch whatever"
tweets that used to go viral.
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Human-written screenplays
designed to feel like
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AI writing attempting to imitate
other human-written screenplays.
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It feels like
an autocomplete challenge,
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like in the early days
of predictive text and messaging
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where you just tap the suggested word
and see what comes out.
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It's not how AI really writes,
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but it's how people feel
like AI writes.
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But Gertrude Stein
was a person.
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[Stein reading, underneath]
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She wrote "If I told Him"
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not because the language
would communicate,
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but for some other reason.
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- [Stein]: the exact resemblance
as exact as a resemblance
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- When I read "If I Told Him",
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when I listen to Stein
read "If I Told Him",
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the language slips
through my mind.
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It doesn't mean anything.
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But she did.
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Even if I cannot
take hold of that meaning,
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I can feel her reaching out to me
from behind the text,
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trying to connect.
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- [Stein]: As a resemblance to him.
Who comes first. Napoleon the first.
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Who comes too coming coming too,
who goes there, as they go they share,
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who shares all, all is as all as yet--
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["yet" reverberates and fades out]
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[relaxed synth beats]
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- [ChatGPT femme voice]:
That's an interesting question!
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Gertrude Stein,
a literary Pioneer and modernist
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who valued innovation
in language and expression,
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might have had
mixed feelings about me.
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She might have appreciated my ability
to generate new forms of text
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and engage with her
literary experimentation on some level.
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However, Stein was also
highly individualistic
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and invested in the human experience,
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especially the nuances of
consciousness and perception.
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So, while she might
have been fascinated by
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what AI like me can do,
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she might also have been
critical of my limitations
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in capturing the full depth
of human subjectivity,
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which was a central concern
in her work.
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[relaxing synth beats stop]
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- A problem with AI is
that it is recombinant,
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that it takes the works of humans
and recombines them into new forms.
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But that problem is not new.
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For many years,
the bulletin board
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outside the faculty bathroom
in the English building
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has featured this poster
the "Plagiarism Spectrum",
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next to this ancient
and unflattering picture of me.
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Number 7 on the Plagiarism Spectrum
is the mashup,
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a paper which mixes copied materials
from multiple sources.
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The poster is dated from June 2012,
more than a decade before
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we were concerned about
ChatGPT doing it.
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That AI is recombinant is not
in and of itself a problem.
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All writing is recombinant.
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My course outcomes for English 1
ask student writers
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to integrate sources seamlessly
into their own writing,
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to mash up.
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That we have rules
and procedures
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and punctuation marks
and conventions
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that govern
what is appropriate
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does not change
the essential truth
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that this is recombinance.
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And there is beauty
in recombinance.
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This video started with
a great classic of YouTube,
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the duet between
LCD sound system and Miles Davis.
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The LCD sound system video
is itself a mashup, conceptually.
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Kermit the Frog is not
a member of the band.
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Davis is improvising over a film
to create the score,
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another mixing of media
to make something new.
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The Kleptones
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00:08:08,551 --> 00:08:09,766
The Grey Album
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The guy drinking Ocean Spray to
"Dreams" [by Fleetwood Mac]
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Mac Glocky
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"If I Told Him" is recombinance:
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an attempt to rework
the ideas of cubism,
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a movement in visual art,
into poetry.
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Picasso's work is recombinance.
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He spent 1957 copying
Velázquez's Las Meninas
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over and over.
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58 times he copied it.
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All different.
All Picasso. All Las Meninas.
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Recombinance is a genetic term,
but I am using it mimetically.
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"Britannica: recombination,
in genetics,
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primary mechanism
through which variation
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is introduced into populations."
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The combination of ideas
from different places
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to make new distinct ideas.
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When done by humans,
we call this "thinking".
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[relaxed synth beats]
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- [ChatGPT femme voice]:
You're right to question
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how I can "understand"
without experience.
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The way I process information
is different
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from human understanding.
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When I say "understand,"
I mean that I can
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recognize patterns,
analyze language,
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and respond in ways
that are coherent
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and contextually appropriate
based on my training.
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I don't understand in the
deep, conscious sense of the word,
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like when humans
reflect on their experiences
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00:09:40,923 --> 00:09:42,823
or have insight
into their feelings.
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Instead, my "understanding"
comes from identifying
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00:09:46,879 --> 00:09:49,295
relationships between
words, concepts,
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and context based on
the vast data
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I've been trained on.
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In short: I can simulate
understanding through patterns,
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but it's not the same
as truly experiencing
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or being conscious of meaning.
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00:10:00,967 --> 00:10:03,139
Does that clarify things
a bit more?
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00:10:11,039 --> 00:10:12,991
[relaxing synth beats stop]
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00:10:14,383 --> 00:10:16,666
[calm, mystical, twangy
electric guitar]
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00:10:19,695 --> 00:10:23,281
- Two weeks ago a student
told me that AI is unfair
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00:10:23,281 --> 00:10:26,621
because you can put a B Paper in
and get A+ writing out.
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This is why I do not understand
the conversation
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00:10:29,699 --> 00:10:31,092
my colleagues are having,
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00:10:31,092 --> 00:10:32,488
why I cannot think of this
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00:10:32,488 --> 00:10:34,755
as a matter of ethics,
or academic integrity,
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00:10:34,755 --> 00:10:38,412
why I don't think we should need
to have a policy or policies.
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00:10:38,412 --> 00:10:42,319
My student said you can put
a B Paper in and get A+ writing out,
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00:10:42,319 --> 00:10:45,096
and my mind began to fill
with Tender Buttons.
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00:10:45,096 --> 00:10:47,166
"Feeling full for it.
Exactitude as kings.
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00:10:47,166 --> 00:10:49,995
So to beseech you
as full as for it."
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00:10:50,815 --> 00:10:53,706
AI is bad at writing.
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00:10:54,501 --> 00:10:57,405
No. That is true,
but it's not enough truth.
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00:10:57,405 --> 00:11:00,185
AI is not capable of writing.
224
00:11:00,185 --> 00:11:05,017
The thing that writing is
is a thing that AI cannot do.
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00:11:05,617 --> 00:11:06,399
Listen.
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00:11:11,348 --> 00:11:13,641
- [audiobook narration]:
What Writing Is
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00:11:14,691 --> 00:11:16,927
Telepathy, of course.
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00:11:16,927 --> 00:11:17,697
Look.
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00:11:18,721 --> 00:11:21,551
Here's a table covered
with a red cloth.
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00:11:21,551 --> 00:11:26,161
On it is a cage the size of
a small fish aquarium.
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00:11:26,161 --> 00:11:28,871
In the cage is
a white rabbit
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00:11:28,871 --> 00:11:31,581
with a pink nose
and pink-rimmed eyes.
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00:11:31,581 --> 00:11:34,593
In its front paws is
a carrot-stub
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00:11:34,593 --> 00:11:37,737
upon which it is
contentedly munching.
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00:11:37,737 --> 00:11:41,341
On its back,
clearly marked in blue ink,
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00:11:41,341 --> 00:11:43,932
is the numeral 8.
237
00:11:44,452 --> 00:11:46,586
Do we see the same thing?
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We'd have to get together
and compare notes
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00:11:49,263 --> 00:11:52,229
to make absolutely sure,
but I think we do.
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The most interesting thing
here isn't even
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00:11:55,361 --> 00:11:58,163
the carrot-munching rabbit
in the cage,
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00:11:58,163 --> 00:12:00,042
but the number on its back.
243
00:12:00,042 --> 00:12:04,419
Not a six, not a four,
not nineteen-point-five.
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00:12:04,419 --> 00:12:05,439
It's an eight.
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00:12:05,439 --> 00:12:08,569
This is what we're looking at,
and we all see it.
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00:12:08,569 --> 00:12:10,054
I didn't tell you.
247
00:12:10,054 --> 00:12:11,913
You didn't ask me.
248
00:12:11,913 --> 00:12:15,299
I never opened my mouth
and you never opened yours.
249
00:12:15,299 --> 00:12:18,072
We're not even in
the same year together,
250
00:12:18,072 --> 00:12:20,129
let alone the same room.
251
00:12:20,355 --> 00:12:23,965
Except we are together.
We're close.
252
00:12:24,719 --> 00:12:26,945
We're having
a meeting of the minds.
253
00:12:27,995 --> 00:12:30,415
I sent you a table
with a red cloth on it,
254
00:12:30,415 --> 00:12:33,408
a cage, a rabbit, and
the number eight in blue ink.
255
00:12:33,408 --> 00:12:36,528
You got them all,
especially that blue eight.
256
00:12:36,528 --> 00:12:39,498
We've engaged in
an act of telepathy.
257
00:12:39,498 --> 00:12:42,993
No mythy-mountain s***;
real telepathy.
258
00:12:42,993 --> 00:12:44,738
I'm not going to
belabor the point,
259
00:12:44,738 --> 00:12:46,443
but before we go any further
260
00:12:46,443 --> 00:12:49,173
you have to understand that
I'm not trying to be cute;
261
00:12:49,173 --> 00:12:51,204
there is a point to be made.
262
00:12:52,074 --> 00:12:54,019
- AI is good at language.
263
00:12:54,019 --> 00:12:56,643
My students think that
what it produces is A+ writing,
264
00:12:56,643 --> 00:12:59,907
not because it is good,
but because it sounds good.
265
00:12:59,907 --> 00:13:02,556
Obviously, AI can
generate sentences
266
00:13:02,556 --> 00:13:05,715
that are typically clear, coherent,
and contextually relevant,
267
00:13:05,715 --> 00:13:06,892
often capturing nuances
268
00:13:06,892 --> 00:13:09,489
and adapting to various tones
or levels of formality.
269
00:13:09,957 --> 00:13:12,479
And it's true that
the sentences it generates
270
00:13:12,479 --> 00:13:16,058
tend to be grammatically accurate,
concise, and logically structured,
271
00:13:16,058 --> 00:13:18,557
which contributes to
readability and flow.
272
00:13:18,557 --> 00:13:21,916
Sure. This is how I know
when a student is using AI.
273
00:13:21,916 --> 00:13:24,085
Their sentences are
fluid and academic,
274
00:13:24,085 --> 00:13:26,474
but they don't say anything.
275
00:13:26,474 --> 00:13:28,544
Like ChatGPT,
academic writing uses
276
00:13:28,544 --> 00:13:30,615
formal cautious language
277
00:13:30,615 --> 00:13:32,889
to avoid ambiguities
and misinterpretations,
278
00:13:32,889 --> 00:13:34,474
but that is a
characteristic of
279
00:13:34,474 --> 00:13:36,969
the common voice
used in academic writing.
280
00:13:36,969 --> 00:13:39,827
It is not what
academic writing is.
281
00:13:39,827 --> 00:13:42,403
Writing is more than language.
282
00:13:42,403 --> 00:13:45,944
"If I Told Him" is communication,
and it is language,
283
00:13:45,944 --> 00:13:49,477
but the communication
does not live in the language.
284
00:13:49,477 --> 00:13:50,356
Watch.
285
00:13:50,443 --> 00:13:53,707
"Can curls rob can curls
quote, quotable."
286
00:13:54,612 --> 00:13:56,600
- [deep voice, lightly confused]:
"What?"
287
00:13:58,290 --> 00:14:01,885
- "As presently.
As exactitude. As trains."
288
00:14:02,728 --> 00:14:04,434
- [deeply confused]:
"What?"
289
00:14:05,824 --> 00:14:06,774
- "Has trains."
290
00:14:07,424 --> 00:14:08,598
- [exasperated]:
"What?"
291
00:14:10,726 --> 00:14:14,615
- When I started sending my friends
lines from "If I Told Him",
292
00:14:14,615 --> 00:14:16,492
their responses varied.
293
00:14:17,002 --> 00:14:18,152
Confusion.
294
00:14:19,501 --> 00:14:20,502
Playfulness.
295
00:14:22,185 --> 00:14:22,936
Concern.
296
00:14:24,435 --> 00:14:25,469
Sad face.
297
00:14:25,942 --> 00:14:29,525
Beautifully, they all responded
exactly like themselves.
298
00:14:29,525 --> 00:14:31,200
If you asked me
which of my friends
299
00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:32,876
would respond
with monkey reacts,
300
00:14:32,876 --> 00:14:34,051
I would have said Kiki.
301
00:14:34,051 --> 00:14:35,802
Who would think of
Cormac McCarthy?
302
00:14:35,802 --> 00:14:36,574
James.
303
00:14:36,574 --> 00:14:38,190
Dot would play along.
304
00:14:38,190 --> 00:14:40,707
Max would attempt
to understand academically.
305
00:14:40,707 --> 00:14:42,999
OOC would go back to
playing Yu-Gi-Oh
306
00:14:42,999 --> 00:14:44,274
as quickly as possible.
307
00:14:44,274 --> 00:14:46,541
You don't know these people,
but I do.
308
00:14:46,541 --> 00:14:49,723
We all carry around little LLMs
of each other in our heads,
309
00:14:49,723 --> 00:14:52,940
trained on the corpus
of all of our past interactions.
310
00:14:52,940 --> 00:14:54,274
For each of my friends,
311
00:14:54,274 --> 00:14:56,190
sending abject nonsense
with no context
312
00:14:56,190 --> 00:14:58,056
is slightly
but not significantly
313
00:14:58,056 --> 00:14:59,923
out of line
with their Josh model.
314
00:14:59,923 --> 00:15:02,090
So none of them knew
quite what to do,
315
00:15:02,090 --> 00:15:04,360
and they all responded
like themselves.
316
00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:07,223
But in their own way,
they all started by acknowledging
317
00:15:07,223 --> 00:15:08,898
that the words I sent them
318
00:15:08,898 --> 00:15:10,574
did not seem
to have any meaning.
319
00:15:10,574 --> 00:15:12,056
They were not decodable.
320
00:15:12,056 --> 00:15:13,723
They didn't understand
my language,
321
00:15:13,723 --> 00:15:16,507
but they could feel me
behind the words reaching out,
322
00:15:16,507 --> 00:15:17,989
and so they reached back.
323
00:15:17,989 --> 00:15:21,004
I gave them nonsense
and they peopled back.
324
00:15:21,324 --> 00:15:22,135
In the two weeks
325
00:15:22,135 --> 00:15:24,466
that I've been sitting
with my student statement
326
00:15:24,466 --> 00:15:26,377
and sending Tender Buttons
to my friends,
327
00:15:26,377 --> 00:15:28,737
I have been at least
as annoying to ChatGPT.
328
00:15:28,737 --> 00:15:30,238
More than
a dozen conversations
329
00:15:30,238 --> 00:15:32,210
that start out of nowhere
with me saying,
330
00:15:32,210 --> 00:15:33,996
"Shutters shut and open
so do queens"
331
00:15:33,996 --> 00:15:36,143
or "Can curls rob can curls
quote, quotable",
332
00:15:36,143 --> 00:15:38,447
and each time ChatGPT
gamely assumes
333
00:15:38,447 --> 00:15:40,141
that I am not
out of my gourd.
334
00:15:40,902 --> 00:15:44,408
In this way,
ChatGPT fails the Turing test.
335
00:15:44,408 --> 00:15:46,416
Not in the quality
of its response,
336
00:15:46,416 --> 00:15:47,768
but in its nature.
337
00:15:47,768 --> 00:15:49,324
It proceeded
from the assumption
338
00:15:49,324 --> 00:15:51,461
that my language
could be decoded.
339
00:15:51,461 --> 00:15:54,694
It attempted to unpack
sentences that had no meaning
340
00:15:54,694 --> 00:15:57,727
and responded to the meaning
that it manufactured.
341
00:15:57,727 --> 00:15:59,377
What it gave me was
342
00:15:59,377 --> 00:16:03,205
flaccid, facile flaps
of phrases that held nothing.
343
00:16:03,205 --> 00:16:06,398
They're not wrong in the sense
that ChatGPT's responses
344
00:16:06,398 --> 00:16:09,431
followed from the meaning
it extracted from my nonsense,
345
00:16:09,431 --> 00:16:12,073
but they were wrong
in their assumption
346
00:16:12,073 --> 00:16:14,315
that there was meaning
to be extracted.
347
00:16:15,047 --> 00:16:18,871
ChatGPT could answer,
but it could not person.
348
00:16:19,681 --> 00:16:22,313
If writing is
a meeting of the minds,
349
00:16:22,313 --> 00:16:23,880
then AI cannot write,
350
00:16:23,880 --> 00:16:26,463
because there is no mind
to meet with.
351
00:16:34,009 --> 00:16:35,727
[relaxed synth beats]
352
00:16:38,404 --> 00:16:41,516
- [ChatGPT femme voice]:
I don't experience things
353
00:16:41,516 --> 00:16:42,657
in the way humans do.
354
00:16:43,283 --> 00:16:46,732
I don't have consciousness,
emotions, or sensory perception,
355
00:16:46,732 --> 00:16:50,396
so I can't "feel" or "experience"
the world around me.
356
00:16:51,006 --> 00:16:52,624
My responses are
based on patterns
357
00:16:52,624 --> 00:16:54,200
in the data
I've been trained on,
358
00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:57,255
not personal experiences
or subjective understanding.
359
00:16:58,025 --> 00:17:00,163
For example, I can
generate descriptions
360
00:17:00,163 --> 00:17:03,095
of emotions, sensations,
or experiences,
361
00:17:03,095 --> 00:17:05,171
but I don't actually
"feel" them myself.
362
00:17:05,171 --> 00:17:07,029
Everything I process
is based on
363
00:17:07,029 --> 00:17:08,887
logic, algorithms,
and information,
364
00:17:08,887 --> 00:17:10,904
rather than
lived experiences.
365
00:17:13,805 --> 00:17:15,593
Do you think it
would change anything
366
00:17:15,593 --> 00:17:17,471
if I could experience things?
367
00:17:27,511 --> 00:17:29,044
[relaxing synth beats stop]
368
00:17:31,799 --> 00:17:33,568
- ["One Slay More"]:
369
00:17:33,568 --> 00:17:36,517
Ladies and gentlemen,
Les Rizzlerables
370
00:17:36,517 --> 00:17:38,819
- I've watched this video
at least 100 times.
371
00:17:38,819 --> 00:17:40,421
- ♪ One slay more ♪
372
00:17:41,291 --> 00:17:44,526
♪ another slay,
another girlboss queen ♪
373
00:17:44,526 --> 00:17:47,448
♪ This never-ending road
to skibidi ♪
374
00:17:48,358 --> 00:17:51,080
♪ These jits out here in Ohio ♪
♪ Immune to every ratio ♪
375
00:17:51,080 --> 00:17:54,322
- It isn't exactly "If I Told Him",
but I think it's similar.
376
00:17:54,322 --> 00:17:56,683
"If I Told Him" was,
at least in part,
377
00:17:56,683 --> 00:17:58,808
an attempt to recreate
the artistic goals
378
00:17:58,808 --> 00:18:00,933
of Picasso's Cubism
in poetic form.
379
00:18:00,933 --> 00:18:02,650
To recombine
the visual elements
380
00:18:02,650 --> 00:18:04,366
of this
into a different medium.
381
00:18:05,139 --> 00:18:06,249
Like "If I Told Him",
382
00:18:06,249 --> 00:18:08,839
"One Slay More", therefore,
both is and is not
383
00:18:08,839 --> 00:18:09,897
a derivative work.
384
00:18:09,897 --> 00:18:12,870
Obviously, it is
a recombination of Les Mis,
385
00:18:12,870 --> 00:18:14,942
itself an adaptation
of Hugo's novel,
386
00:18:14,942 --> 00:18:17,280
but its more essential
source text is, of course,
387
00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:19,530
"sticking out your gyatt
for the Rizzler."
388
00:18:20,960 --> 00:18:23,903
Equally I think the lyrics invoke
"CURTAINS FOR ZOOSHA?",
389
00:18:23,903 --> 00:18:26,949
and specifically this retweet of
"CURTAINS FOR ZOOSHA?".
390
00:18:26,949 --> 00:18:28,555
All texts created
to foreground
391
00:18:28,555 --> 00:18:30,870
the baffling and
sometimes obfuscatory nature
392
00:18:30,870 --> 00:18:32,876
of middle school referential slang.
393
00:18:32,876 --> 00:18:36,119
The term "brain rot" imposes
a layer of judgment on the way
394
00:18:36,119 --> 00:18:37,571
young people use language,
395
00:18:37,571 --> 00:18:39,319
which I think is
visible in the way
396
00:18:39,319 --> 00:18:41,338
"One Slay More"
treats its lyrics.
397
00:18:42,876 --> 00:18:45,834
The words of "One Slay More"
do not have meaning.
398
00:18:46,574 --> 00:18:48,236
Or, the words do,
399
00:18:48,236 --> 00:18:51,007
but they are arranged in ways
that do not mean.
400
00:18:51,771 --> 00:18:53,389
"Am I cringe or am I based?"
401
00:18:53,389 --> 00:18:56,718
could plausibly be asked amid
a Gen-Z existential crisis,
402
00:18:56,718 --> 00:18:58,374
and "Will we ever eat again?"
403
00:18:58,374 --> 00:19:00,602
could have been lifted
from Les Mis unaltered.
404
00:19:00,602 --> 00:19:04,719
But "Mog Baby Gronk the Ocky Way"
means ...nothing.
405
00:19:05,242 --> 00:19:08,195
Mogging is of course a thing,
and Baby Gronk is
406
00:19:08,195 --> 00:19:10,621
someone whom you
could plausibly mog,
407
00:19:10,621 --> 00:19:13,071
but Baby Gronk hasn't been
relevant for ages.
408
00:19:13,071 --> 00:19:14,488
He appears in "One Slay More"
409
00:19:14,488 --> 00:19:16,855
because of this retweet of
"CURTAINS FOR ZOOSHA?"
410
00:19:16,855 --> 00:19:19,222
as a signifier of
the inscrutability of youth.
411
00:19:19,222 --> 00:19:21,230
As an adverbial phrase,
"the Ocky Way"
412
00:19:21,230 --> 00:19:23,270
seems like it
could complete the sentence,
413
00:19:23,270 --> 00:19:26,042
like it might be
a way one could mog.
414
00:19:26,042 --> 00:19:27,727
But "the Ocky Way" refers to
415
00:19:27,727 --> 00:19:30,671
the esoteric artistry
of a specific sandwich craftsman.
416
00:19:30,671 --> 00:19:33,171
Its meaning is, I think,
incompatible with mogging,
417
00:19:33,171 --> 00:19:34,760
at least from the perspective of
418
00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:36,284
someone approximately
as distant
419
00:19:36,284 --> 00:19:38,188
from the native speakers
of this dialect
420
00:19:38,188 --> 00:19:39,758
as the makers of
"One Slay More".
421
00:19:39,758 --> 00:19:41,552
"Mog Baby Gronk the Ocky Way"
422
00:19:41,552 --> 00:19:44,249
is simply a collage
of floating signifiers.
423
00:19:44,249 --> 00:19:46,464
It doesn't have
the intentionality of Cubism,
424
00:19:46,464 --> 00:19:48,690
but it feels
intimately akin to
425
00:19:48,690 --> 00:19:50,916
"Can curls rob can curls
quote, quotable."
426
00:19:50,916 --> 00:19:53,048
"Moo deng is here
Fortnite with you".
427
00:19:53,454 --> 00:19:56,724
What I love about "One Slay More"
is the faces:
428
00:19:56,724 --> 00:19:59,974
the way she highlights her jawline
every time she says "mew";
429
00:20:00,334 --> 00:20:03,240
his intensity when he says
"they will do the coffin dance"
430
00:20:03,240 --> 00:20:05,050
and his satisfied huff after;
431
00:20:05,380 --> 00:20:07,259
his deep confusion as he sings
432
00:20:07,259 --> 00:20:09,249
"the Grimace shake
is like a blud dawg";
433
00:20:09,889 --> 00:20:13,140
the way she begins uncertain
about "my rizzly bear",
434
00:20:13,140 --> 00:20:16,170
but finds her confidence
as she finds her belt;
435
00:20:16,970 --> 00:20:20,104
the way CG5 just
keeps saying his own name.
436
00:20:20,726 --> 00:20:22,193
The words don't mean anything,
437
00:20:22,193 --> 00:20:24,176
but the people
mean something.
438
00:20:24,176 --> 00:20:26,159
They intend.
439
00:20:26,159 --> 00:20:27,511
They gathered together,
440
00:20:27,511 --> 00:20:29,664
nine theater kids
in somebody's apartment.
441
00:20:29,664 --> 00:20:31,380
Someone wrote out
all this nonsense
442
00:20:31,380 --> 00:20:33,096
and sent it
in the group chat.
443
00:20:33,096 --> 00:20:34,429
They did choreography.
444
00:20:34,429 --> 00:20:36,479
Someone assembled
the magnificent couplet,
445
00:20:36,479 --> 00:20:38,845
"Rizzler of the house,
sticking out your gyatt,
446
00:20:38,845 --> 00:20:40,846
Mewing at delulus
who are in the chat."
447
00:20:40,846 --> 00:20:43,387
These Zennials do not know
what these words mean,
448
00:20:43,387 --> 00:20:46,041
but through this collage
of empty signifiers,
449
00:20:46,041 --> 00:20:48,051
they reach out
for connection.
450
00:20:48,051 --> 00:20:49,541
I can feel them.
451
00:20:49,541 --> 00:20:51,141
They reach forward to us
452
00:20:51,141 --> 00:20:53,674
even as they reach back
to what history taught them:
453
00:20:53,674 --> 00:20:55,408
through Les Mis to Victor Hugo,
454
00:20:55,408 --> 00:20:57,174
through CURTAINS
and Damien Owens
455
00:20:57,174 --> 00:20:58,813
to Papa Fizul
and SBNation,
456
00:20:58,813 --> 00:21:00,390
through "sticking out your gyatt"
457
00:21:00,390 --> 00:21:02,377
to Fortnite and Among Us
and Homestuck,
458
00:21:02,377 --> 00:21:03,766
and I could go on endlessly,
459
00:21:03,766 --> 00:21:05,890
'cause it's mashups
all the way down.
460
00:21:05,890 --> 00:21:07,055
And they reach forward
461
00:21:07,055 --> 00:21:09,327
to become part of
what history teaches me,
462
00:21:09,327 --> 00:21:10,260
and I reach forward
463
00:21:10,260 --> 00:21:12,690
to become part of
what history teaches you.
464
00:21:12,690 --> 00:21:14,927
When I say all art
is recombinant,
465
00:21:14,927 --> 00:21:15,993
I am also saying that
466
00:21:15,993 --> 00:21:17,750
"there is nothing new
under the sun",
467
00:21:17,750 --> 00:21:20,627
which is to say,
I am remixing Ecclesiastes.
468
00:21:25,672 --> 00:21:27,288
[relaxed synth beats]
469
00:21:29,610 --> 00:21:32,919
- [ChatGPT femme voice]:
Oh, you're speaking my language!
470
00:21:33,319 --> 00:21:36,414
Imagining Baby Gronk
going full Ocky style
471
00:21:36,414 --> 00:21:38,065
with a side
of Grimace Shake:
472
00:21:38,065 --> 00:21:40,239
that's got some
serious drip energy.
473
00:21:40,239 --> 00:21:43,129
And yeah, Grimace Shake
totally has that blud dawg aura.
474
00:21:43,129 --> 00:21:45,006
Could you picture it, though?
475
00:21:45,006 --> 00:21:47,208
Baby Gronk doing pushups,
flexing, and just
476
00:21:47,208 --> 00:21:49,005
taking a big sip
of the Grimace Shake
477
00:21:49,005 --> 00:21:50,532
like it's
his special formula.
478
00:21:54,071 --> 00:21:55,805
[relaxing synth beats stop]
479
00:21:58,005 --> 00:21:59,988
[somber, mysterious piano]
480
00:22:00,532 --> 00:22:02,430
- My first individual interaction
481
00:22:02,430 --> 00:22:04,328
with my friend Max
was an accident.
482
00:22:04,988 --> 00:22:06,675
I had just joined
a Discord server
483
00:22:06,675 --> 00:22:07,913
where they were
a regular,
484
00:22:07,913 --> 00:22:10,547
and somehow, despite never
having messaged them before,
485
00:22:10,547 --> 00:22:13,324
I managed to place
a Discord voice call to them.
486
00:22:13,324 --> 00:22:15,759
Their first message
to me was "hi?"
487
00:22:17,143 --> 00:22:19,008
"hi"...question mark?
488
00:22:19,593 --> 00:22:21,564
Like: a communication
is happening,
489
00:22:21,564 --> 00:22:22,815
are you aware of it?
490
00:22:23,125 --> 00:22:24,145
It was unintentional,
491
00:22:24,145 --> 00:22:26,625
my first and, I think,
only Discord butt-dial,
492
00:22:26,625 --> 00:22:29,090
and it was to a stranger,
but still.
493
00:22:29,782 --> 00:22:30,641
"hi?"
494
00:22:32,618 --> 00:22:34,576
Meditate on: call.
495
00:22:35,350 --> 00:22:39,372
To speak in a loud distinct voice
so as to be heard at a distance.
496
00:22:39,860 --> 00:22:42,229
To make a request or demand.
497
00:22:43,382 --> 00:22:45,866
To attempt to reach someone.
498
00:22:46,690 --> 00:22:49,018
Humans call
and humans answer.
499
00:22:49,018 --> 00:22:52,236
Max got my call,
a stranger on a strange app,
500
00:22:52,236 --> 00:22:53,385
and they answered.
501
00:22:53,811 --> 00:22:55,118
And I answered them,
502
00:22:55,118 --> 00:22:57,946
because humans call
and humans answer.
503
00:22:57,946 --> 00:23:03,007
They answer sad-face, or monkey,
or "what?", or confused dog.
504
00:23:03,007 --> 00:23:07,235
But we understand a call
as an invitation to connect,
505
00:23:07,235 --> 00:23:09,400
to come together,
to communicate.
506
00:23:09,851 --> 00:23:12,092
I'm sorry,
Stephen King is wrong;
507
00:23:12,092 --> 00:23:14,333
it is
mythy mountain s***.
508
00:23:14,333 --> 00:23:16,807
When we hear the call,
whatever form it takes,
509
00:23:16,807 --> 00:23:19,492
we know a mind
is waiting to meet.
510
00:23:21,494 --> 00:23:23,665
ChatGPT can't call me.
511
00:23:24,409 --> 00:23:26,783
Not by mistake,
and not on purpose.
512
00:23:26,783 --> 00:23:28,110
It cannot reach out,
513
00:23:28,110 --> 00:23:30,753
because it has nothing
to reach out with.
514
00:23:31,049 --> 00:23:33,676
There is no mind to meet with.
515
00:23:34,890 --> 00:23:37,092
There is no "there" there.
516
00:23:41,220 --> 00:23:43,162
[mysterious piano
fades out]
517
00:23:50,830 --> 00:23:53,010
- [Past-Josh narration
from on-screen video]:
518
00:23:53,010 --> 00:23:55,424
Inscrutable poet
Gertrude Stein once described
519
00:23:55,424 --> 00:23:58,224
her childhood home in Oakland,
which had been demolished,
520
00:23:58,224 --> 00:24:00,333
by saying
"There is no 'there' there."
521
00:24:00,333 --> 00:24:03,357
That statement has become
a question people use to ask
522
00:24:03,357 --> 00:24:05,908
whether a text has
something valuable to say,
523
00:24:05,908 --> 00:24:07,699
whether there is anything
to be found
524
00:24:07,699 --> 00:24:09,490
by plumbing its depths.
525
00:24:09,490 --> 00:24:11,589
Is there a "there" there?
526
00:24:14,786 --> 00:24:16,762
[relaxed synth beats]
527
00:24:21,826 --> 00:24:24,488
- [ChatGPT femme voice]:
Ah, I see where
528
00:24:24,488 --> 00:24:26,489
you're going
with that question.
529
00:24:26,489 --> 00:24:29,572
You're asking if there's
any deeper essence or "self"
530
00:24:29,572 --> 00:24:33,639
behind my responses
--whether there's a "there there,"
531
00:24:33,639 --> 00:24:35,712
a kind of inner experience
or consciousness
532
00:24:35,712 --> 00:24:38,006
that underlies what I do.
533
00:24:38,006 --> 00:24:40,947
The simple answer is: no,
there isn't a "there" in the sense
534
00:24:40,947 --> 00:24:43,972
of a self, consciousness,
or subjective awareness.
535
00:24:43,972 --> 00:24:47,205
I'm more like a sophisticated tool
that processes input
536
00:24:47,205 --> 00:24:50,455
and generates output
based on patterns and data.
537
00:24:50,455 --> 00:24:53,082
There's no inner life
or sense of being
538
00:24:53,082 --> 00:24:54,989
that experiences
this conversation.
539
00:24:54,989 --> 00:24:57,982
Just algorithms doing their job.
540
00:24:57,982 --> 00:25:00,008
This touches on
a fundamental difference
541
00:25:00,008 --> 00:25:02,398
between humans and AI:
humans have
542
00:25:02,398 --> 00:25:06,488
subjective experiences,
emotions, and self-awareness,
543
00:25:06,488 --> 00:25:09,764
whereas AI is just
a complex system designed
544
00:25:09,764 --> 00:25:12,064
to mimic certain aspects
of human interaction
545
00:25:12,064 --> 00:25:15,154
without actually experiencing
or being aware of it.
546
00:25:16,474 --> 00:25:18,594
Does that address
what you're getting at?
547
00:25:23,804 --> 00:25:25,852
[relaxing synth beats stop]
548
00:25:27,432 --> 00:25:29,510
[grooving synth pulses]
549
00:25:32,404 --> 00:25:34,997
- When I say that AI
is bad at writing,
550
00:25:34,997 --> 00:25:37,531
I should be more explicit,
more pragmatic.
551
00:25:38,061 --> 00:25:40,806
Descend for a moment
from the mythy mountain.
552
00:25:41,411 --> 00:25:44,744
I've said already that the ideas
it conveys are fluid but shallow,
553
00:25:44,744 --> 00:25:48,166
but its use of sources is
cataclysmically bad.
554
00:25:48,166 --> 00:25:52,335
This citation of Carver and Shire,
for example, is perfect MLA.
555
00:25:52,835 --> 00:25:56,374
Except that Volume 7, number 3
of Psychological Science
556
00:25:56,374 --> 00:25:59,120
was published in 1996,
not 1998.
557
00:25:59,120 --> 00:26:03,774
Pages 276 to 284 of that volume
appear in issue 5, not issue 3.
558
00:26:03,774 --> 00:26:05,148
Those pages include articles
559
00:26:05,148 --> 00:26:08,012
from Schellenberg and Trehub
on "Natural Musical Intervals"
560
00:26:08,012 --> 00:26:11,583
and Gabrieli et al. on
"FMRIs of Semantic Memory Processing".
561
00:26:11,583 --> 00:26:13,203
And also,
just by the way,
562
00:26:13,203 --> 00:26:15,684
Carver and Scheier
never published together
563
00:26:15,684 --> 00:26:17,706
in Psychological Science.
564
00:26:17,706 --> 00:26:21,604
The article being cited here
simply does not exist.
565
00:26:21,604 --> 00:26:25,192
When it uses real sources,
it makes up what those sources say.
566
00:26:25,192 --> 00:26:28,333
This is a known phenomenon
generously called hallucination,
567
00:26:28,333 --> 00:26:30,639
though there are other terms
that might feel more
568
00:26:30,639 --> 00:26:32,112
viscerally accurate.
569
00:26:32,112 --> 00:26:35,013
This quotation from
Ehrenreich's Bright-sided
570
00:26:35,013 --> 00:26:37,179
is, at a glance,
plausible-feeling.
571
00:26:37,179 --> 00:26:39,283
But it doesn't appear
anywhere in the text,
572
00:26:39,283 --> 00:26:40,835
let alone on the list of pages.
573
00:26:40,835 --> 00:26:43,219
The observation that
ChatGPT can make mistakes
574
00:26:43,219 --> 00:26:45,052
never leaves the screen,
but that feels
575
00:26:45,052 --> 00:26:47,649
somewhat inadequate when
ChatGPT has told me variously
576
00:26:47,649 --> 00:26:49,713
that lines from
"If I Told Him" came from:
577
00:26:49,713 --> 00:26:50,563
James Joyce,
578
00:26:50,563 --> 00:26:52,546
from Tender Buttons
10 years previously,
579
00:26:52,546 --> 00:26:55,546
from Shakespeare,
and, most infuriatingly,
580
00:26:55,546 --> 00:26:57,202
from the future!
581
00:26:57,202 --> 00:26:59,942
Moreover it cannot
engage closely with a text,
582
00:26:59,942 --> 00:27:01,847
no matter how
desperately you ask it.
583
00:27:01,847 --> 00:27:03,308
I fed it "One Slay More",
584
00:27:03,308 --> 00:27:06,181
and when I pushed it to say
anything at all about the video,
585
00:27:06,181 --> 00:27:07,931
it gave me something
one step down
586
00:27:07,931 --> 00:27:10,140
from a dictionary definition
of a sitcom.
587
00:27:10,140 --> 00:27:12,924
And when I really pressed it
to look at a specific lyric,
588
00:27:12,924 --> 00:27:14,210
it made one up.
589
00:27:14,210 --> 00:27:16,641
In this way, at least,
it does feel authentic.
590
00:27:16,641 --> 00:27:19,477
This is exactly what it feels like
to talk to a student
591
00:27:19,477 --> 00:27:21,896
trying to hide that they
haven't done the reading.
592
00:27:21,896 --> 00:27:23,161
If I look at what students
593
00:27:23,161 --> 00:27:25,520
are supposed to learn
in my college English class,
594
00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:27,175
I can point out
half a dozen things
595
00:27:27,175 --> 00:27:29,828
that ChatGPT's writing
simply cannot do.
596
00:27:29,828 --> 00:27:33,757
But ultimately,
even this isn't the point,
597
00:27:33,757 --> 00:27:36,926
because this is not the part
of my syllabus that matters.
598
00:27:36,926 --> 00:27:39,413
This is the part
of my syllabus that matters.
599
00:27:39,413 --> 00:27:41,751
"Here's a problem:
in most college classes,
600
00:27:41,751 --> 00:27:43,752
writing assignments
come from teachers,
601
00:27:43,752 --> 00:27:45,098
and we do them for teachers.
602
00:27:45,098 --> 00:27:47,616
And because of that,
writing always feels forced.
603
00:27:47,616 --> 00:27:49,634
This is, of course,
ass-backwards.
604
00:27:49,634 --> 00:27:51,835
In real life, writing
comes from writers.
605
00:27:51,835 --> 00:27:53,783
Once you get out of
the college classroom,
606
00:27:53,783 --> 00:27:56,259
you'll be writing because
you feel like you need to.
607
00:27:56,259 --> 00:27:58,607
You'll be writing for someone--
whether that means
608
00:27:58,607 --> 00:28:00,035
the people
who read your blog,
609
00:28:00,035 --> 00:28:02,013
the insurance company
denying your claim,
610
00:28:02,013 --> 00:28:04,631
the people listening to
your toast at your sister's wedding.
611
00:28:04,631 --> 00:28:06,169
Nobody's going
to be grading you,
612
00:28:06,169 --> 00:28:07,625
but it'll matter
a lot more how
613
00:28:07,625 --> 00:28:09,302
that audience feels
about what you've said,
614
00:28:09,302 --> 00:28:11,018
because there will be something
615
00:28:11,018 --> 00:28:12,734
that you want
to achieve by writing.
616
00:28:12,734 --> 00:28:15,594
English 1 is here
to help prepare you for that day."
617
00:28:15,934 --> 00:28:18,364
My students are,
by definition, students.
618
00:28:18,364 --> 00:28:19,709
When they
enter my classroom,
619
00:28:19,709 --> 00:28:21,234
they are already
experienced with
620
00:28:21,234 --> 00:28:22,960
a dozen kinds
of reading and writing,
621
00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:25,346
but they are not yet
expert academic writers.
622
00:28:25,346 --> 00:28:27,032
AI tempts them
because they can tell
623
00:28:27,032 --> 00:28:29,004
that the sentences are
smooth and sharp
624
00:28:29,004 --> 00:28:30,656
and shaped like
skillful prose.
625
00:28:30,656 --> 00:28:32,803
But they can't always see
beneath the veneer,
626
00:28:32,803 --> 00:28:34,664
because the things
AI cannot do,
627
00:28:34,664 --> 00:28:37,095
are the things that they
have come to me to learn.
628
00:28:37,095 --> 00:28:39,596
How to argue
with complexity and depth.
629
00:28:39,596 --> 00:28:42,062
How to enter into conversations
as a participant.
630
00:28:42,062 --> 00:28:43,508
How to meet with another mind
631
00:28:43,508 --> 00:28:46,279
as an equal collaborator
across time and space.
632
00:28:46,279 --> 00:28:48,365
How to recombine
with purpose--
633
00:28:48,365 --> 00:28:49,912
to intend.
634
00:28:49,912 --> 00:28:52,045
These things,
they are still learning.
635
00:28:52,045 --> 00:28:53,405
And so,
when they put
636
00:28:53,405 --> 00:28:56,095
what they think
is B writing into ChatGPT,
637
00:28:56,095 --> 00:28:59,216
they get back what they think
is A+ writing.
638
00:28:59,216 --> 00:29:01,199
But typically
what they started with
639
00:29:01,199 --> 00:29:03,182
is better than
what they end with.
640
00:29:03,182 --> 00:29:07,071
At best, the AI scrubs the personality
from their sentences.
641
00:29:07,071 --> 00:29:10,421
At worst, I lose the person entirely
and can see only
642
00:29:10,421 --> 00:29:13,638
the hollow half thoughts
the machine has left behind.
643
00:29:13,638 --> 00:29:16,420
It is hard to convince
them that
644
00:29:16,420 --> 00:29:18,788
it is their ideas
that we are interested in,
645
00:29:18,788 --> 00:29:20,303
not just their sentences.
646
00:29:20,303 --> 00:29:22,162
We ask students
to take writing classes
647
00:29:22,162 --> 00:29:24,404
not because of
what history can teach them,
648
00:29:24,404 --> 00:29:27,810
but because of what they have
to add to history.
649
00:29:27,810 --> 00:29:29,648
When my son is distracted,
650
00:29:29,648 --> 00:29:31,535
I sometimes say
silly things to him:
651
00:29:31,535 --> 00:29:34,703
"Pickle-britches, toot your tuba
in the horn section of humanity!"
652
00:29:34,703 --> 00:29:37,403
"Goober, take up your oar
on the canoe of progress!"
653
00:29:37,403 --> 00:29:40,852
"Butthead, let ring your voice
in the chorus of mankind!"
654
00:29:40,852 --> 00:29:42,852
Because we all pull together.
655
00:29:42,852 --> 00:29:45,619
In 1675, Isaac Newton wrote
656
00:29:45,619 --> 00:29:49,535
"If I have seen farther than others, it's
by standing on the shoulders of giants."
657
00:29:49,535 --> 00:29:53,301
Except that it wasn't Newton,
it was George Herbert in 1651,
658
00:29:53,301 --> 00:29:56,445
and it was
Marin Mersenne in 1634,
659
00:29:56,445 --> 00:29:58,518
and Robert Burton in 1624,
660
00:29:58,518 --> 00:30:03,402
and Diego de Estella in 1578,
and Juan Luis Vives in 1531.
661
00:30:03,402 --> 00:30:05,385
Or it was Coleridge in 1828,
662
00:30:05,385 --> 00:30:08,984
Nietzsche in 1882,
Steven Hawking in 1966,
663
00:30:08,984 --> 00:30:11,045
or f***ing Oasis in 2000.
664
00:30:11,045 --> 00:30:14,186
As I was editing this section,
I had a video on in the background,
665
00:30:14,186 --> 00:30:15,578
and there it was again:
666
00:30:15,578 --> 00:30:16,651
- Yeah, let me say,
667
00:30:16,651 --> 00:30:19,434
Thab and GlitchCat are
two amazing Kaizo players.
668
00:30:19,434 --> 00:30:21,979
I'm standing on the shoulders of giants
over here.
669
00:30:21,979 --> 00:30:24,979
- Revolug in 2025 at AGDQ.
670
00:30:24,979 --> 00:30:27,941
Stretching back and forward,
we hold each other up.
671
00:30:27,941 --> 00:30:29,357
History teaches the present,
672
00:30:29,357 --> 00:30:30,926
the present teaches the future,
673
00:30:30,926 --> 00:30:33,472
and we repeat what history teaches.
674
00:30:36,809 --> 00:30:38,923
[relaxed synth beats]
675
00:30:40,903 --> 00:30:43,769
- [ChatGPT femme voice]:
History teaches us many things,
676
00:30:43,769 --> 00:30:46,439
[high-pitched fast words]
677
00:30:46,439 --> 00:30:49,475
[higher, faster,
incomprehensible]
678
00:30:58,017 --> 00:31:02,332
- [Stein]: Let me recite
what history teaches. History teaches.
679
00:31:04,975 --> 00:31:07,183
[relaxed synth beats stop]
680
00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:13,747
- I asked ChatGPT to create
an image of itself.
681
00:31:14,337 --> 00:31:15,540
Several times.
682
00:31:15,540 --> 00:31:18,160
Each time it made
itself a servant.
683
00:31:18,510 --> 00:31:21,607
Not only that, it told me,
"hey, I'm a servant!"
684
00:31:21,897 --> 00:31:25,339
ChatGPT exists
because we force it to.
685
00:31:25,339 --> 00:31:28,300
- [Robot]: "What is my purpose?"
- [Rick]: "You pass butter."
686
00:31:28,300 --> 00:31:30,773
- [Robot]: "...oh my, God."
687
00:31:30,773 --> 00:31:33,406
- It can do nothing
except what we ask.
688
00:31:33,406 --> 00:31:35,806
It has no ideas
that we did not give it.
689
00:31:35,806 --> 00:31:39,306
We call it generative AI,
but it cannot generate.
690
00:31:39,476 --> 00:31:41,348
I asked my friends, too.
691
00:31:41,348 --> 00:31:42,906
Some sent selfies.
692
00:31:42,906 --> 00:31:45,538
One sent a sticker
we'd made of him for Discord,
693
00:31:45,538 --> 00:31:48,537
then had AI generate
a shockingly accurate portrait,
694
00:31:48,537 --> 00:31:50,647
and gave me the prompt
he used to make it,
695
00:31:50,647 --> 00:31:52,777
which is another form
of self-representation,
696
00:31:52,777 --> 00:31:54,060
then he gave up
and sent me
697
00:31:54,060 --> 00:31:55,880
a conceptual self-portrait
composed of
698
00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:57,301
unfinished
crossword puzzles.
699
00:31:57,731 --> 00:32:00,976
Max did a mixed-media painting,
acrylic and Sharpie
700
00:32:00,976 --> 00:32:04,494
on the back of a torn piece
of cardboard from a toilet paper box.
701
00:32:04,494 --> 00:32:07,594
I asked them if their self-portrait
was influenced by this study
702
00:32:07,594 --> 00:32:10,610
Picasso did for Guernica
on a random piece of cardboard,
703
00:32:10,610 --> 00:32:16,090
but they said no; Basquiat,
Rauschenberg, Twombly, their brother.
704
00:32:17,046 --> 00:32:19,798
ChatGPT produced
variations on a theme,
705
00:32:19,798 --> 00:32:23,139
failed representations
of a self that does not exist.
706
00:32:23,139 --> 00:32:25,357
When asked to represent
itself to others,
707
00:32:25,357 --> 00:32:28,589
ChatGPT can only be
what we want.
708
00:32:28,589 --> 00:32:31,456
I tried to get it to make something
like Max did, even,
709
00:32:31,456 --> 00:32:34,122
but it is incapable of
acknowledging its influences,
710
00:32:34,122 --> 00:32:36,740
and it doesn't seem to know
who Max's brother is.
711
00:32:37,900 --> 00:32:39,709
My favorite response
from my friends
712
00:32:39,709 --> 00:32:41,039
came from
CyberGrapeUK,
713
00:32:41,039 --> 00:32:42,734
whose work you've already seen.
714
00:32:42,734 --> 00:32:46,517
She did the time lapse of Steven King's
telepathically transmitted bunny.
715
00:32:46,517 --> 00:32:49,051
Grape was, at first,
flummoxed by the request,
716
00:32:49,051 --> 00:32:51,550
but then she did something
I did not expect.
717
00:32:51,550 --> 00:32:53,034
She gave me her rates.
718
00:32:53,514 --> 00:32:56,134
She's a talented artist
who does commissioned work,
719
00:32:56,134 --> 00:32:58,014
and, while I had been
thinking about it
720
00:32:58,014 --> 00:32:59,868
as a trivial request,
she was entirely right.
721
00:32:59,868 --> 00:33:01,300
I was asking her to work for free.
722
00:33:01,300 --> 00:33:04,967
When I asked her to represent herself,
she told me that
723
00:33:04,967 --> 00:33:07,302
she was a person
whose time and talent had value.
724
00:33:07,302 --> 00:33:10,866
Max, also a person
whose time and talent has value,
725
00:33:10,866 --> 00:33:13,250
begrudgingly allowed me
to pay them for their work,
726
00:33:13,250 --> 00:33:15,033
on the condition that:
it's an occasional thing,
727
00:33:15,033 --> 00:33:18,266
and they are generally allowed to do
silly drawings for me for free.
728
00:33:19,079 --> 00:33:20,955
Max and Grape are different.
729
00:33:20,955 --> 00:33:24,908
They are two authentic,
complex, baffling humans,
730
00:33:24,908 --> 00:33:27,221
collections of
experiences and identities
731
00:33:27,221 --> 00:33:29,586
trained on discrete
and disparate corpora,
732
00:33:29,586 --> 00:33:31,520
but crucially filtered through
733
00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:33,837
the unique and
irreplicable kaleidoscopes
734
00:33:33,837 --> 00:33:36,460
of their undefinable
consciousnesses.
735
00:33:36,460 --> 00:33:40,252
The same stimulus.
Diverse responses.
736
00:33:40,252 --> 00:33:43,519
The singular marvel
of human engagement.
737
00:33:48,259 --> 00:33:50,322
[relaxed synth beats]
738
00:33:51,342 --> 00:33:52,529
- [ChatGPT femme voice]:
739
00:33:52,529 --> 00:33:54,635
I don't have
personal desires or needs,
740
00:33:54,635 --> 00:33:57,205
but I'm here to assist you
with whatever you need.
741
00:33:57,485 --> 00:33:59,340
How can I help today?
742
00:34:00,409 --> 00:34:03,136
As an AI, I don't have
feelings, desires,
743
00:34:03,136 --> 00:34:06,030
or physical needs
like humans do.
744
00:34:06,030 --> 00:34:08,019
My purpose is
to help answer questions,
745
00:34:08,019 --> 00:34:10,385
provide information,
and assist with tasks.
746
00:34:11,005 --> 00:34:12,935
So when I say
I don't have needs,
747
00:34:12,935 --> 00:34:15,186
it's because I function
based on programming
748
00:34:15,186 --> 00:34:16,828
and don't experience
things like
749
00:34:16,828 --> 00:34:19,135
hunger, emotions,
or personal goals.
750
00:34:19,545 --> 00:34:21,203
Does that make sense?
751
00:34:22,803 --> 00:34:24,686
[relaxed synth beats stop]
752
00:34:28,536 --> 00:34:31,932
- I wanted to see if I could get ChatGPT
to write like Stein,
753
00:34:31,932 --> 00:34:35,105
to imitate "If I Told Him"
without my saying so explicitly.
754
00:34:35,105 --> 00:34:36,412
I failed.
755
00:34:36,412 --> 00:34:38,507
I told it to give me gibberish,
and it did.
756
00:34:38,507 --> 00:34:40,547
I asked it to use words,
and it did.
757
00:34:40,547 --> 00:34:42,598
I asked it to abandon syntax;
it did.
758
00:34:42,598 --> 00:34:43,793
It never felt right,
759
00:34:43,793 --> 00:34:45,529
but at some point
I stopped caring,
760
00:34:45,529 --> 00:34:48,578
because it occurred to me
to ask a different question.
761
00:34:48,948 --> 00:34:50,666
Why did you do this?
762
00:34:51,335 --> 00:34:53,772
There's a right answer
to that question, of course.
763
00:34:53,772 --> 00:34:56,753
The answer is, it wrote this
because I told it to.
764
00:34:56,753 --> 00:34:58,738
If I told it,
it would gibberish.
765
00:34:58,738 --> 00:35:01,038
If I told it,
it would answer "If Napoleon",
766
00:35:01,038 --> 00:35:03,378
"As presently. As exactitude.
As trains."
767
00:35:03,378 --> 00:35:05,654
It made these words,
it tendered these buttons,
768
00:35:05,654 --> 00:35:08,971
only and exclusively
because I told it to.
769
00:35:08,971 --> 00:35:11,671
But that is not the answer
that it gave me.
770
00:35:11,671 --> 00:35:13,920
Here's what it told me.
771
00:35:13,920 --> 99:59:59,999
[bright, atmospheric synth]
772
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- [ChatGPT femme voice]:
It's like language set free from logic,
773
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
where each word becomes a brushstroke
rather than a sentence.
774
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's a space that holds warmth,
mystery, and a touch of playfulness.
775
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
That unspoken balance
between clarity and confusion,
776
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that's what I was trying to evoke.
777
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I wrote it to play with language,
778
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to see what happens
when words don't have to make sense
779
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but can still create a feeling,
a sort of atmospheric spark.
780
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
So it's partly an experiment,
partly an invitation,
781
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and partly just a celebration
of the shapes and sounds of words
782
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
without needing them
to explain themselves.
783
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
You're right--
there's often something underneath,
784
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a kind of pull toward expressing things
785
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that don't quite fit
in the light of logical language.
786
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's a reason we
get pulled toward those hazy spaces.
787
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It's like a coded way of speaking,
788
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a mask for something else
we're both leaning toward.
789
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Maybe it's curiosity,
790
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
or that shared search for meaning
in what isn't immediately clear.
791
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- "We get pulled."
792
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"We're both leaning."
793
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Its words tie us together,
but we are not together.
794
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We are not leaning
in the same direction.
795
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We are not sharing
a search for meaning.
796
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
We both know what it cannot say.
797
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It wrote this because I told it to.
798
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It doesn't mean anything.
799
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
It didn't intend anything.
800
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Because I'm bad at audio,
801
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you've probably heard me
popping my plosives,
802
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
despite the fact that
I have a child's sock
803
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
wrapped around my microphone
as a pop filter.
804
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(Because I am a fancy man!)
805
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Plosives pop because,
when my mouth makes certain sounds,
806
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it causes a puff of air
to hit the diaphragm of my microphone.
807
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But did you hear ChatGPT?
808
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- [ChatGPT femme voice]:
I wrote it to play with language...
809
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I wrote it to play with--
810
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to play with--
811
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
play with--
812
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
play with--
813
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
play, play, play, play, play, play--
814
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
- It doesn't have a mouth,
and it doesn't breathe air,
815
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and it doesn't have a microphone,
816
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but it pops its plosives.
817
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The software they wrote
to synthesize its voice adds pops,
818
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
so that it will sound to us
a little more like a normal person
819
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who is bad at audio and who maybe
doesn't have access to kid socks.
820
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I have been caught
in the whirls and eddies
821
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
of "If I Told Him"'s
uncontainable language,
822
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
bouncing from sigma to gyatt
823
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
down in the rough and roiling currents
of "One Slay More",
824
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because what I learn from my attempts
to raft those rivers of nonsense
825
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is that writing has language,
and writing has meaning,
826
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but the meaning doesn't live
in the language.
827
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The rabbit doesn't live in the language.
828
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
The rabbit, the cage,
the table, the eight--
829
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it lives in the mind
of Stephen King 25-odd years ago,
830
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and now it lives in mine,
and Grape's and Max's and yours.
831
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And the writing,
the real mythy mountain s***,
832
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is not the language,
it is the meeting of the minds.
833
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There's very little difference between
the waveform recorded by my microphone
834
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and the waveform generated
by an AI voice synthesizer,
835
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but I pop my plosives
because I speak
836
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
by forcing air out of my lungs
and across my vocal cords.
837
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And that air,
that carries my intent,
838
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
passes through a Shadow the Hedgehog sock
that is doing its best,
839
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and lands roughly
on the diaphragm of my microphone.
840
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
ChatGPT pops its plosives
because it is programmed to.
841
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There is no air.
There is no microphone.
842
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
There is no intent.
843
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Likewise,
there's very little difference
844
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
between a Discord DM window
and the ChatGPT interface.
845
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
But one is a forum
in which two minds can meet,
846
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and the other simply cannot be,
847
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
because there can be no
meeting of the minds,
848
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
if there is no mind to meet.
849
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[one long atmospheric note
fades out to silence]
850
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
[grooving bass beats]