2023 has been the year of chatting with robots. Not in a fun-and-hijinks ‘Short Circuit’ way, but in a less hilarity-inducing ‘lets spend 20 minutes phrasing this perfectly so I actually get something useful’ way. A lot of companies have been working on growing ‘large language models’ for use in AI for a while, but the one that really captured people’s attention in 2023 has been OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
There are many other flavours of AI chatty-Cathy’s out there with colourful names such as Bard, Claude, Grok, LLaMA, Bothan, and Ernie Bot (one of those I made up*), but ChatGPT has become the go-to chatbot for a lot of people, with over 100 million users registered on the service. In the past 12 months, the top 2 fastest-rising search terms on Google from the UK are ‘ChatGPT’ and ‘Chat GPT’.
While there are a lot of uses for ChatGPT and similar AI services, one that has some people worried about its potential impact is its use for creative purposes. The use of AI-generated images and music has raised questions about whether human artists will get shut out of the process if it’s quicker and cheaper to ask a bot to create art, and the recent SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes that took Hollywood to a grinding halt earlier this year was at least in part because of the actors and writer’s unions wanting to ensure there were protections in updated contracts to limit AI’s impact on filmmaking.
While we’re likely at least a few years away from the best original screenplay Academy Award going to ChatBot_182.432.1REV3, ChatGPT can be used as a tool in a lot of ways for narrative storytelling. It certainly can write a full story for you, but it can go off in pretty wild places with some… interesting narrative choices.
With the simple prompt ‘Hey ChatGPT, write me a story’, I got a 450 word tale of a character named Luna who lived in a ‘Blade Runner’-esque neon city worked as a librarian by day, and by night used her supernatural powers to turn the books on her shelves in to magical realms. She proceeds to find a kingdom in peril, talk to a wise old owl and a mischievous sprite, solve puzzles, go through enchanted forests, and save the day using the power of imagination. That’s a lot to cram in to 450 words. You can read the full story here with the password LunasMidnightOdyssey – full story
This is one of the problems with just giving ChatGPT free reign to do what it ‘wants’ when being creative, it doesn’t really understand scale or that just throwing every plot point it can generate in to a list doesn’t really make a story.
ChatGPT’s really power for creating narrative, at least in its current state, is in using it to refine a story, or to help work through ideas. Let’s say I’m trying create a new video for Media Hopper Create about the history of Old College, and want to write a voice over. Here’s a quick draft:
Old College its part of The University of Edinburgh and was mostly built from the late 18th to early 19th century. Originally named ‘New College’, it is a Category A listed building located on South Bridge. The original design was by Robert Adam, with the modern design being completed by William Henry Playfair. The dome was added to the building in 1887, with a gilded statue of Youth by John Hutchinson.
- Original version
I wrote this in about 5 minutes with information culled from Wikipedia, and while perfectly serviceable, it’s possibly a little perfunctory. I asked ChatGPT what it thought of my script, and it decided (unprompted) to re-write it for me to make it more ‘engaging’:
Welcome to Old College, a majestic structure nestled within the heart of The University of Edinburgh. Originally named ‘New College,’ this architectural gem traces its roots back to the late 18th century. Designed by the renowned Robert Adam, its timeless elegance was later completed by William Henry Playfair in the 19th century.
Situated on South Bridge, Old College stands as a Category A listed building, a testament to its historical and architectural significance. In 1887, a crowning touch was added to the structure in the form of a magnificent dome. Adorning the pinnacle is a gilded statue of Youth, a creation by the skilled hands of John Hutchinson.
As you stand in awe of Old College, it’s not just a building; it’s a living testament to the evolution of academia and architecture. The melding of the past and present, with each stone whispering stories of the scholars who once walked its halls. Today, Old College continues to be a symbol of academic excellence and a revered landmark in the vibrant tapestry of The University of Edinburgh.
- Revision from ChatGPT
This new version does feel more like a narrative than just a list of facts, and the language use is definitely more descriptive, it goes a bit overboard with the use of evocative metaphors. To try and rein it in a bit, I added this prompt: “That’s a little bit over the top with descriptive language, can you scale it back a little?”. This is the new version:
Old College, part of The University of Edinburgh, has a rich history dating back to the late 18th century. Originally called ‘New College,’ its design, led by Robert Adam and later completed by William Henry Playfair, stands as a testament to architectural craftsmanship.
Situated on South Bridge, this Category A listed building gained its distinctive dome in 1887, crowned with a gilded statue of Youth by John Hutchinson. Today, Old College preserves the charm of its past, serving as a key landmark in the University’s legacy.
Explore the echoes of academia within Old College’s walls, where each brick tells a story of the scholars who once roamed its corridors. This historic structure, with its timeless design, remains an enduring symbol of The University of Edinburgh’s journey through time.
- Revision 2 by ChatGPT
This time it removed some of the descriptive language of the building itself, but it replaced a metaphor of it being ‘a revered landmark in the vibrant tapestry’ of the university with one about ‘each brick telling a story’. Let’s try refining it one more time – here’s the latest version with my prompt “How about you remove some of the metaphors, but give more descriptive language?”:
Old College, integral to The University of Edinburgh, has a fascinating history rooted in the late 18th century. Originally christened ‘New College,’ it boasts an architectural legacy shaped by Robert Adam and later refined by William Henry Playfair.
Nestled on South Bridge, this distinguished Category A listed building acquired its iconic dome in 1887, adorned with a gilded statue of Youth crafted by John Hutchinson. Old College serves as both witness and custodian to the University’s journey through time.
Step into its storied corridors and be transported to an era when scholars traversed its halls. Each brick and beam narrates tales of academic pursuits and intellectual growth. Old College stands today, not just as a historic landmark, but as a living tribute to The University of Edinburgh’s enduring academic tradition.
At this point it feels like ChatGPT is stuck just reiterating on a specific style of writing. This is one of the issues I hit when looking to use a chatbot for anything creative – the model it’s using to generate text has a specific style and there isn’t an easy way to break out of that. While ChatGPT is great for helping point you in the right direction, most of the time things will still need to be edited and refined manually to fit the exact purpose you need it for.
How about we experiment with this further, and see how well it handles a change in tone. I added the a new prompt to change the genre, but not the content: “What if this was the Voice Over for a horror film?”
“Deep within the shadows of The University of Edinburgh lies Old College, a structure steeped in a history that echoes with whispers of the supernatural. Once named ‘New College,’ its unsettling evolution began in the late 18th century under the design of Robert Adam, later twisted by the hands of William Henry Playfair.
Perched ominously on South Bridge, this foreboding Category A listed building acquired an eerie dome in 1887, crowned by a gilded statue of Youth, a macabre creation by the twisted artist John Hutchinson. Old College, now a haunting relic, conceals not only the secrets of academia but a darker, malevolent force.
As you traverse its desolate corridors, the air thickens with the chilling tales of scholars who met untimely fates within its haunted walls. Every brick, every step resonates with an otherworldly presence. Old College stands not as a symbol of knowledge, but as a portal to the supernatural, where the past lingers, and the spirits of the damned find no rest.”
- ChatGPT’s voice over for a horror film
Ok, a lot to unpack… not only is this now borderline defamatory calling famed sculptor John Hutchinson a ‘twisted artist’ who created ‘macabre creations’, claims that Old College is where ‘the spirits of the damned find no rest’ and is literally a ‘portal to the supernatural’, but it is still using that metaphor of ‘every brick tells a story’.
While overly flowery language can be a bit of a handful to prune back, this last revision shows where the creative ‘choices’ ChatGPT uses can start to turn truth in to pure fabrication. The original core of the facts from my initial script are still there (the dates, the people involved, the legacy), it uses those to create completely a fictitious narrative.
The creative uses for ChatGPT are vast, but as an AI it has no concept of how it should use the information in your prompts, only what it can do. Chat bots can be a useful tool, but just remember to keep it on a short leash.
*’Bothan’ is actually a lesser-known species from Star Wars: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Star_Wars_species_(A–E)#Bothan
(Featured Image: "Tomy Chatbot" by Latente 囧 www.latente.it is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.)
(Featured Image: "Tomy Chatbot" by Latente 囧 www.latente.it is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.)
