🃏 Can ChatGPT write jokes? Let’s see if AI can | Ep23 OoO

There's something funny about this generative writing tool. We put it to the test to see if it can write an episode of Out of Office.

Feb 02, 2023

🤡 ChatGPT: The Limitless or Brainless Debate
🙄 Testing AI: The Problem with ChatGPT
📝 The Generative Writing Process: A Script
🎢 ChatGPT Again: Comparing Good to Great

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👋 Hey, Welcome Back!

“AI may not be able to create this entire show just yet, but someday it probably will be.”

Remember that? It’s from episode 16.

And this week, I’m going to try and answer that question. It’s been 6 weeks and LinkedIn has become an infinite scroll of opinions on ChatGPT. It’s everyone’s favorite new AI!

But is ChatGPT the winner of the AI lottery? More importantly – can it write this show?

In episode 23, I take steps to find out if the current version of ChatGPT is ready for its comedic debut. Join me as I talk to robots, talk like a robot, and train a robot to talk like me, in this week’s riveting episode.

Let’s dial up –

💩 ChatGPT: Fluent in Miracles and Bullshit

Have you seen the commentary on LinkedIn about ChatGPT?

I’ve seen people using it to write everything from email marketing campaigns to fake song lyrics. Nothing to write home about there.

But last week, one of my best friends used it to apply for five jobs in under an hour, harnessing its magic to write cover letters. That’s an impressive time saver.

People tend to be in two minds about ChatGPT:

· 😇 Promoters: It can do anything!

As @Jonathanvanian writes for CNBC -

“ChatGPT automatically generates text based on written prompts in a fashion that’s much more advanced and creative than the chatbots of Silicon Valley’s past.”

· 👿 Detractors: It’s dumber than you think!

As @IanBogost says for The Atlantic –

“Find comfort in knowing that the bot’s output, while fluent and persuasive as text, is consistently uninteresting as prose. It’s formulaic in structure, style, and content.”

🐮 I think my favorite headline called it ‘fluent bullshit.’

Like the detractors, I figured it was no replacement for high quality human writing.

🌟Until🌟

My friend got two job interviews based on those ChatGPT cover letters. What! That’s when I realized, it was time to do a little experimenting of my own.

🤔 Can AI write an episode of Out of Office?

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🔧 Plan Meet Spanner: The First Roadblock

I quickly realized my plan was full of holes.

👨‍🔧 Turns out ChatGPT doesn’t know anything that happened after 2021. For a recent news show, that’s more than a little problematic.

Luckily, you can feed it information.

Remember at the start of January, I announced I would be tweeting a new name for remote work every day on Twitter? I kept it up, every single day. I had some pretty good ideas like ‘Freelocation.’

🐤 So, I took all of those tweets, and pasted them into ChatGPT.

It was a good place to start.

Initially, ChatGPT spat out a script, with a voiceover and an actor – talking to themselves. It even came up with a new name idea and declared it the best name idea of them all. 🚩

One of the best features of ChatGPT is that you can give it feedback, which will inch it closer to what you’re looking for. I did 10 rounds of feedback to see how close I could get to the tone of this show: upbeat and comedic.

Here’s how it went –

✍🏼 Writing and Revealing the Script

Okay, so round 1 were the tweets.

🦚 Round 2: a little better, but still modestly loving its own idea

🐧 Round 3: the prompt ‘be funnier’ did result in some half-decent jokes. But they didn’t really fly
🦅 Round 4: it swung way in the opposite direction, calling every idea a ‘winner’ or ‘perfect’
🦜 Round 5: it started calling me the ‘remote work name master’ and cutting the script mid-sentence

Finally, after 10 rounds I achieved this astonishing script:

"Hey there, it's me, the remote work name master, and I've been tweeting a new name for remote work every day throughout 2023.
And let me tell you, the world better get ready, because I've got some amazing name ideas coming their way. All of these names were tweeted in January, and some of them are... well, let's just say, they're unique.
Day 1, I tweeted Satellite Work, because, let's be real, who wouldn't want to work from space?
Office-Free on Day 2, because let's face it, who needs a physical office these days?
WIN-Work on Day 3, short for "Where I'm Needed," because, let's be real, who doesn't want to work where they're needed?
Cloud Floor on Day 4, because, who wouldn't want to work on a cloud?
Cordless Work on Day 5, because, let's face it, who wants to be tethered to an office?
Other names include Post-Office on Day 8, because it represents the idea that the traditional office is becoming obsolete. Geovocation on Day 8, a fancy word that represents the idea of working from anywhere in the world. Infinite Office on Day 21 represents the idea of having an office that is accessible from anywhere.
Connected Work on Day 22, represents the idea of working while staying connected to the people and resources you need, and Near-Sited on Day 23, represents the idea of working from somewhere nearby, rather than a traditional office.
Now, I know some of these names are a bit out there, but let's be real, the future of work is going to be wild and unpredictable. Who knows, maybe one of these will be the one that catches on and changes the way we think about remote work. So, follow me on Twitter and stay tuned for more hilarious names in the future."

👾 Let’s Be Real: ChatGPT is No Charles Dickens

I give it a C+. Maybe a C++ 😏.

All in all, ChatGPT is fun to use, but it definitely doesn’t pass the Turing test.

It’s easily the most impressive and human-centric AI tool I’ve ever used. I can’t wait until my Alexa gets this smart!

But right now, it can’t grasp nuances, and it can’t generate fresh ideas.

When your input is based on mashing together millions of inputs that already exist – well. The output by definition is going to be average.

😐 The average of an average is, an average.

That may produce some decent writing.

I’d argue that the X factor, the thing that separates good writing from great writing – is the exact opposite. Who wants to blend in like everyone else? Who wants to write what everyone else is writing?

Unique and interesting ideas that no-one else is talking about, presented in an original voice that sounds nothing like what anyone else is doing. That’s how you stand out.

🤘 In business, if you don’t stand out, you don’t win.

The ‘fluent bullshit’ that ChatGPT produces is entertaining. And it will be used to generate mountains of generic written content that will save people time and money. I’m all for that.

But honestly – the world doesn’t need more generic written content.

I’ll test ChatGPT again when the tech has advanced a bit more. But until then, I’m going to keep writing each and every word of this series myself.

Right now that’s a good thing because ChatGPT just landed itself in hot water, with a Time Magazine exposé on mistreating its workers in Kenya. Like a lot of AI, it opens a Pandora’s box of ethics concerns – all of which I’ll cover next week, in episode 24.

How will you be using ChatGPT, if at all? I want to hear it.

📢 Don’t forget to check out my Twitter feed - andrewallenxo for those remote work names (add some of your own ideas!)

That’s it from me – the remote work name master – reminding you that the future of work is Out of Office.

Andrew

💡 This Week’s Shareable

Wait, can ChatGPT actually write funny jokes? We put it to the test today on episode 23 of Out of Office. Join Andrew as he talks to robots, talks like a robot, and trains a robot to talk like him, in this week’s riveting episode. #ChatGPT #AIwriting #futureofwork

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