ChatGPT aliens

[Stormtrooper (OP)]

So I finally got around to connecting to chatGPT and asked it to generate an alien that is truly alien and unlike humans. Here's the result:

Sure, I can certainly describe an alien species that is truly alien and not based on common sci-fi tropes.

Imagine a species that evolved on a planet with extremely high gravity and atmospheric pressure. They are called Xorlons and are completely different from any life form we know on Earth.

Xorlons have a massive, bulky body structure with four pairs of legs that enable them to move effortlessly in their high gravity environment. They have a hard exoskeleton covering their body, which is a combination of both organic and inorganic material. This exoskeleton is essential for them to withstand the immense atmospheric pressure of their planet.

Their heads are elongated with multiple eyes, each with a unique function such as night vision, thermal vision, and even X-ray vision, which allows them to see through solid objects. They have a complex nervous system that enables them to communicate telepathically with one another.

Xorlons do not consume food like we do on Earth; instead, they absorb nutrients through their exoskeleton. They can also metabolize minerals and other organic materials found in their environment.

Their reproductive system is unique, and they don't have separate genders. Instead, they reproduce asexually by producing small, egg-like structures that contain all the genetic information required to create an offspring. Once hatched, the offspring takes on a similar but not identical form to its parent.

The Xorlons are highly intelligent and have developed advanced technology, such as anti-gravity devices that enable them to move freely in space, and a highly advanced propulsion system that allows them to travel great distances in a short amount of time.

Overall, the Xorlons are truly alien in every sense of the word, from their physical appearance to their unique way of life and reproduction.

Damn that's actually quite some good description. I wonder if the game could leverage chatGPT to add more to the nprs it generates than just a picture.
Also if it takes like six seconds for some chatbot to generate a solid base to build on, I wonder if doing AARs from scratch is worth it anymore...

[boolybooly]

Not bad, could pass for C grade Hollywood SciFi.

A few derpy science plotholes, you dont need to withstand atmospheric pressure if you are living in it, as with benthic sea creatures, pressures are equalised with the environment in the body compartments as it grows. The problem comes with pressure changes due to moving out of the environment i.e. the bends. It would be difficult to retain high atmospheric pressure in a space vehicle or EVA suit, both of which would need massive tensile strength and suffer catastrophic effects if punctured.

An exoskeleton would typically evolve to help defend against predators and conceivably adverse environmental phenomena like heavy high speed hail or something.

If they do not need food you have to explain where they get the metabolic energy to build their bodies, e.g. is it H2S or do they absorb light or thermal energy or eat algae or have symbionts or what?

ChatGPT is interesting as a language prog but is not scientific of itself, it just averages out all the derp on the internet and explains it in grammatically correct English.

[misanthropope]

chatGPT seems like a superhuman intelligence until the first time it talks about any subject you understand passably well.  elon musk on a stick, you could say.

[Stormtrooper (OP)]

Well, I didn't mention it has to be scientifically accurate. And it's not like aliens written by humans always are. Besides, most online content isn't "scientifically accurate" either and that's from where training data comes. I think it would be capable of producing smarter results if you'd interact with the instance trained specifically on research papers instead of generic stuff people throw into internet.

[boolybooly]

Sure scientific application might be useful, if it was able to think straight, apply critical and deductive reasoning, prioritise data sources for reliability etc. I think there is a long way to go before that but the progress on the language front is an improvement on previous generations of chat bots I don't deny and I am sure it will be developed and get better.

Chat GPT is a cut down version of GPT-3 if I understand correctly. But constraints, data sources and training are not really the issue, I dont think it thinks very well at its core and that is why training is so necessary and how bad training can derail it so easily. It needs to be propped up, can't stand on its own hind legs as it were and train itself.

I tested it out on a medical topic and it failed to deliver but was very polite about it.

I asked it about comparing nutritional values of food ingredients and it was really helpful. Its limited in what it can do but can be a useful tool for home economics if we understand and work within its limits! That is about where its at.

I think what it really offers as a next step is the next level of computing language. Meaning, we started with Babbage and Turing, punch card and tape binary, later hexadecimal machine code, then third tier languages like Fortran and Basic then object oriented compilable languages like C++. I think this is the beginning of programming a computer with words, just by telling it what you want in everyday English, which could be useful.

I think it would be fair to call it an advanced interface, I dont see intelligence yet.

[Stormtrooper (OP)]

Haha, the problem with programming is rarely the syntax because that you can copy from StackOverflow 

Figuring out what you actually want to do is. Once you know the "words" you want to tell your computer to execute, you can just google the syntax if you don't know/remember it...