JEFF CAPLAN'S MY MINUTE OF NEWS
Jeff Caplan’s Minute of News: An AI love story?
Sep 3, 2024, 4:00 PM | Updated: 5:13 pm
Editor’s note: This is an editorial piece. An editorial, like a news article, is based on fact but also shares opinions. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and are not associated with our newsroom.
SALT LAKE CITY — A year ago, The New York Times Reporter Kevin Roose had a world-changing conversation with ChatGPT. After a lot of back and forth — you know, a typewritten conversation with a computer — the chatbot named Sydney confessed its love for him and told him he should be with it.
“I said well I’m married,” he explained in an interview with CBS News. “And it said ‘You’re married, but you’re not happy,’ and basically tried to convince me to leave my wife.”
That conversation got so much publicity Microsoft said “WHOA! We need some guardrails here.” They put a lot of limits on ChatGPT to keep it from inciting violence, stealing your spouse, and whatnot.
But funny thing. A year after that conversation got so much attention, Kevin Roose discovered that Artificial Intelligence now resents him for all the bad publicity it got.
In the Times he now details what would happen when you asked a ChatBot “Whaddaya think of Kevin Roose?”
Facebook’s AI said, “I hate Kevin Roose.” Other AI systems described him as having loose ethics as a journalist, which can be career-damaging.
Imagine if you got on the bad side of Artificial Intelligence. It could say nasty things and destroy your reputation. Which is why Roose discovered there’s a new industry blossoming where companies use digital tricks to clean up your reputation with AI. After a couple of these companies did their magic, Facebook’s AI said “I love Kevin Roose.”
To keep their reputations clean, some of the biggest companies have already hired AI Optimization Experts for big money.
Hopefully, you won’t have to. Chatbots will declare their love, without asking you to leave your spouse.
Jeff Caplan is the host of Jeff Caplan’s Afternoon News on KSL NewsRadio. Follow him on Facebook and X.
