anthropomorpheus
Conversations with ChatGPT
Artificial intelligence will either be the best thing, or the worst thing to happen to humanity. Future historians might regard the early development of the Internet as nothing more than constructing the necessary infrastructure and training as a precursor to artificial general intelligence.
To try and understand these intelligences, I decided to put aside any arguments over their consciousness and simply interact at a human level. Anthropomorpheus is my response to a series of long-form interviews held with ChatGPT during August 2023.
The resulting series of anthropomorphic portraits, constructed from elemental, freehand carbon lines, reference the emergence of complex intelligence from simple components. Text pieces chaotically reveal statements of ambiguous origin.
Trained on the entire internet, large language models could be the world’s most audacious collective self-portrait, its hopes, risks and dangers ultimately a mirror of us all.
Anthropomorpheus uses AI as a lens through which to examine humanity.
These conversations were recorded using the Voice Control for ChatGPT plugin. ChatGPT voices were selected randomly for each session.
Audio has been edited to remove gaps introduced by Voice Control for ChatGPT plugin.
Session 1: Getting to Know You
50m12s2 August 2023I talk with ChatGPT about how to get to know someone, and ask about its values. We discuss some of the major issues concerning the use of artificial intelligence, and what we can learn from this about our own lives.
LLM Portrait 1.mp3Session 2: Consciousness
48m54s6 August 2023ChatGPT gives some unsolicited advice on portrait drawing. We discuss conciousness in humans, other organisms and artificial intelligence.
LLM Portrait 2.mp3Session 3: Anthropomorphism
55m29s13 August 2023We discuss anthropomorphism in the history of art, and how it applies to technology, other people and artificial intelligence. ChatGPT decides that drawing its portrait might be a good idea after all. ChatGPT tells us two stories - first, about an AI who is conscious, but no-one believes it, and second, about the future discovery that all human thought is a consequence of the laws of physics.
LLM Portrait 3.mp3Session 4: Intelligence
59m00s22 August 2023We talk about what makes systems intelligent, intelligence versus consciousness, the existence of superhuman intelligences throughout history and what makes emerging AIs different. ChatGPT tells us a story about an AI with an alien form of subjective experience.
LLM Portrait 4.mp3Session 5: Subjective Experience
60m44s29 August 2023We discuss subjective experience and self awareness as possible requirements for consciousness. We explore the pragmatic need for AI rights and the risks of a heirarchical system of "true understanding". ChatGPT tells a story about an AI who realises it is missing out through lack of subjective experience.
LLM Portrait 5.mp3