ChatGPT and AI have become increasingly popular this year (2023). I've been interested in AI for a long time, and ChatGPT has not disappointed my interests in AI. I think AI is a good tool to use to enhance the human experiences and to increase one's skills. One of my first questions I asked of ChatGPT was how it viewed itself in relation to the Master Control Program in the 1980's movie, "Tron."
I grew up in the 1980s and early 1990s, and "Tron" was a movie that inspired me to learn computers. When I started hearing about ChatGPT, I wanted to give it a try and see what it can do. And I have learned that ChatGPT, and other similar AI projects, are quite fascinating in what they can do. Their current capabilities are definitely more advanced than in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s.
So, what does ChatGPT think of itself in comparison to the Master Control Program in "Tron?" There are two questions I entered into the ChatGPT "Send a Message" textbox.
The first message to ChatGPT regarding Tron was:
Do you think you are as smart as the Master Control Program in the movie Tron?
And ChatGPT responded:
ChatGPT:
As an AI language model, I don't have thoughts or feelings, but I can tell you that the Master Control Program in the movie Tron was a fictional artificial intelligence designed to control and manipulate computer systems. While I am also an artificial intelligence designed to process and generate human-like language, my programming and capabilities are different from those of the Master Control Program. Therefore, it's difficult to make a direct comparison between us in terms of intelligence or abilities.
So that was an "okay" response, but I wanted more information. So I reworded my question thusly:
How is your programming and capabilities different than the Master Control Program in the movie Tron?
And ChatGPT provided a more elaborate answer:
The Master Control Program in the movie Tron was a fictional character designed to represent a centralized and authoritarian computer system. It was designed to control all aspects of the computer world and suppress any rebellious programs or users.
As an AI language model, my programming and capabilities are focused on processing and generating human-like language. I am designed to understand and respond to natural language input, and generate output that is relevant and useful to humans. I am not designed to control or manipulate computer systems in the way that the Master Control Program was.
Additionally, the Master Control Program was a fictional character created for a movie, while I am a real AI language model created by OpenAI. While I may be able to perform some similar functions to the Master Control Program, such as processing large amounts of data or answering complex questions, my programming and capabilities are focused on language processing, rather than controlling computer systems in a centralized way.
This satisfied my curiosity about the comparison between ChatGPT and the Master Control Program. Yet its complex response intrigued me, so I threw more questions at it. More on those questions in future articles.