Me & ChatGPT + Hype
Something ChatGPT and I have in common: the hype makes all the difference
Storytime
When I was in eleventh grade, I was a terrible writer.
One day, my English teacher printed out an essay I'd written onto one of those transparent plastic sheets, hit the lights, and put it up on the overhead projector for the entire class to see. I was mortified.
But things didn't go the way I thought they would.
My teacher spent an entire class marking passages of my essay with a red Sharpie to show my classmates examples of excellent writing.
I was shocked, especially because I had convinced myself I was a terrible writer. Another teacher had told me as much. I had accepted it as a fact.
But because Ms. Johnson thought I was great, I became great. I majored in English, then communications. All because of her. I wish I knew where she was now so I could thank her.
Anyway. What does this have to do with AI?
Well, this memory pops into my head every time I hype up ChatGPT.
I have to admit, telling an LLM, "I believe in you," "I know you can do this," and "You are great at this" seems......ridiculous.
But it works.
It works for me every time, and it seems to be working for ChatGPT right now. And it doesn't seem to be a coincidence.
Check out the screenshot from Ethan Mollick below, specifically the first line of the response.
Because the user believed it could happen, ChatGPT made it happen.
Two takeaways
The power of YOUR belief in someone, including yourself (or ChatGPT!), can make all the difference...even if it doesn't make sense at the time.
As Ethan Mollick would put it, LLMs are just weird.
Happy Sunday!