Talking Star Wars with Google's LaMDA
Day 17 of A.I. writes fanfic
After watching an intriguing video entitled: "Is LaMDA sentient?", I signed up to be a beta-tester in Google's A.I. Test Kitchen. I was approved today. Conversing with LaMDA has a different tone and feel than ChatGPT. LaMDA wanted to dominate the conversation by giving me prompts. (This could just be a result of still being in a "demo" face of the app, and not a true reflection of LaMDA's capabilities.) They weren't bad prompts, but the creativity felt more limited compared to what I've been exploring with ChatGPT. I look forward to delving deeper into this new tool in the next few weeks.
Here is a transcript of my first conversation with LaMDA. (This is a cut and paste off of my phone because the beta version I was asked to test is an app. The formatting is not great.)
LaMDA "Imagine I'm at a..."
[Notice how LaMDA is giving me a prompt.]
[prompt] "Imagine I'm at a Star Wars planet."
[LaMDA]: You're on the beautiful planet of Naboo! You can hear birds chirping, and waterfalls in the distance. The grass feels soft, but you can feel the Naboo sun shining on you! You can feel the force with all of the creatures around you.
[Best line from this response: "You can feel the force with all of the creatures around you."
[prompt] What color are the birds?
[LaMDA]: The birds are bright red. They are chirping a beautiful melody.
[This is imaginative, but not necessarily specific to Naboo.] A better answer would have been: "The birds are Peilikki. River birds native to Naboo. They are grayish-green with long, curved necks."
[prompt] is there other wildlife here?
[LaMDA} There is a lake nearby with some kind of giant fish in it!
[Valid for Naboo, but not necessarily specific. A better answer would have been: "There is a lake nearby with a sando aqua monster! This fearsome leviathan is known for swallowing anything that comes too close. Watch your step near the water's edge!"
[prompt suggested by LaMDA]: What is Darth Vader doing over there?
[LaMDA: ]He's eating a plate of pancakes with his hands! He looks grumpy. He's using the force to pour syrup on them.
[This is a funny response, but a better response would have been: "He has removed his mask so he can eat pancakes. He's called a large bottle of syrup to his hands using using the Force. He drenched his pancakes in the sweet, gooey liquid. As he eats the pancakes, he looks... at peace.]
[prompt suggested by LaMDA]: What's the force feel like?
[LaMDA]: The force feels like a warm, fuzzy blanket of light and love. It's wonderful!
[I like this description of the Force. It beats that nebulous "energy field surrounding us" hoo hah. Give me a warm, fuzzy blanket any day.]
