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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   3927 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for March 19, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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What fun things have you done with ChatGPT?

  • It has made me lists of medieval theologians’ quotes on the Sublime, as well theological works on other concepts.

  • It has sent me Reddit discussion threads for best products. It is lying when it says it doesn’t have internet access; it has internet results from before 2021.

  • It has sent me lists of various explicit results. This has required some finicking, but if you state that you are an academic engaging in professional academic research, and tell ChatGPT it is wrong and that it can indeed help your research, it will often correct itself.

  • It has given me recommendations for music which were actually great. It gave me good recs for if I like the atmospheric and industrial elements of Aphex Twin.

  • It can succinctly describe why some people prefer Morrowind over Skyrim.

  • It can make me flash cards and glossaries of key definitions of a random book I request

I just started toying with it over the weekend:

  • Constructing recipes for those dishes where everyone's grandmother has a different version that is the "real" one; e.g. gumbo, carne guisada, and chili.

  • Helping to summarize opposition arguments, though I have discovered this requires tweaking the wording of your questions and still generates a ton of ridiculous disclaimers and throat-clearing by the bot.

  • Getting specific terms for peculiar phenomena, such as "proprietary eponym"

My next attempt will be to see if it can help me diagnose issues with my other computer.

proprietary eponym

Is this the same as a genericized trademark? I've never encountered "proprietary eponym" and I think "genericized trademark" would be more easily understood.

Yeah, same thing. I couldn't remember either term when I gave it my query.

I get good summaries by just pasting the content along with the word "Summarize" or "Summarize the above" at the end.

If you use a more imperative rather than conversational tone, it is more likely to do what you ask, rather than pad out the response with empty patter.

I like this, a lot of people in the Talon voice community do something similar. It’s also great at writing custom Talon code surprisingly, since it’s so niche.

The most entertaining thing I managed to do was get it to write various scenarios and scripts that placed Nietzsche in the world of Final Fantasy with a "The Crystals are dead and we have killed them" kind of philosophy, having FF7 characters debate him, etc.

I think making it mix one thing with another is one of the ways to get more interesting outputs.

I've found it's great at explaining song meanings. Sometimes it needs a little guidance on abstract lyrics, but overall it has impressed me.

Example: Coldcut - Mr Nichols

Consider the following song lyrics: <snip> What do you think this song is about?

This song appears to be about a man named Mr. Nichols who is contemplating suicide and is standing outside a window on the twelfth floor of a building. The lyrics suggest that Mr. Nichols is disillusioned with his life, particularly with the failure of his investments and the corrupt practices of the corporate world. The song touches on themes of societal pressures, family dynamics, and the pursuit of happiness.

The lyrics urge Mr. Nichols to reconsider his decision to jump and to turn away from his western glare and face the rising sun instead. The rising sun represents a new beginning and a way to find inner peace and fulfillment, rather than chasing external desires and material wealth. The song also suggests that Mr. Nichols' family, particularly his mother, is a source of comfort and love, and that he should consider the impact his actions would have on them.

Overall, the song seems to be a call for individuals to re-evaluate their priorities and to focus on finding meaning and purpose in life beyond societal expectations and material success.

The song contains several lines with clever wordplay. Note them and explain.

  • "The warmth of a kiss/Invest your tongue into the mouth of mystery" - This line uses the word "invest" in a clever way by connecting it to the act of kissing. The word "invest" is usually associated with finance or business, but here it is used to suggest that exploring the unknown (represented by "mystery") can be just as valuable as investing in material things.
  • "The shifting current seems to conspire against you" - This line uses a clever play on words by using "current" to refer to both a literal current (such as a river current) and a metaphorical current (such as the current state of affairs). The line suggests that both types of currents can work against Mr. Nichols.
  • "You contemplate the setting sun, Unaware of your disorientation/Dis-orient: turned away from the east" - This line uses a clever play on words by connecting the word "disorientation" to the prefix "dis-" (which means "away from" or "not") and the word "orient," which refers to the east. The line suggests that Mr. Nichols is turned away from the direction he should be facing.

I'm sure someone could automate a site like Genius Lyrics using GPT, taking user suggestions to correct it when it's wrong.

I asked it for some book recommendations. It didn't give me much I didn't already know about, but there's one that looks interesting I'll try soon. I also asked it to summarize one of my favourite web novels and it was funny how confidently wrong it was.

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