A Conversation with ChatGPT
Zine Exploration
ChatGPT is a newly developed AI chatbot that is able to have human-like conversations to help with a variety of requests, including coding and practical knowledge. It is known to be an extremely intelligent program, but there are limitations. To understand the extent of ChatGPT’s extensive knowledge, I wanted to challenge if it can accurately depict what it knows.
In this case, I chose a simple concept of a cat, and made three iterations that ChatGPT was able to depict.
Year
Client
Client
Early 2023
Independent Work
Independent Work
Services
Zine Design
Print
Risograph
Layout Design
Experimentation
Zine Design
Risograph
Layout Design
Experimentation
1/3
In the first of three conversations, I chose to start a conversation by asking ChatGPT to explain what a cat is in order to confirm that it is able to describe one before it tries to depict one. While it was able to draw a cat with ASCII art, which is depictions created only from symbols, ChatGPT was unsuccessful in drawing a cat in the p5.js software. At the end of my conversation, I took the code that ChatGPT made and manually fixed the code to make a cat myself. After I finished, I sent the code back to ChatGPT and informed it that this was a code of a cat to record its reaction.
In the first of three conversations, I chose to start a conversation by asking ChatGPT to explain what a cat is in order to confirm that it is able to describe one before it tries to depict one. While it was able to draw a cat with ASCII art, which is depictions created only from symbols, ChatGPT was unsuccessful in drawing a cat in the p5.js software. At the end of my conversation, I took the code that ChatGPT made and manually fixed the code to make a cat myself. After I finished, I sent the code back to ChatGPT and informed it that this was a code of a cat to record its reaction.
2/3
In the second conversation, I started the conversation differently by asking it to draw a cat with shapes immediately. In this case, the cat was depicted differently.I also wanted to see if ChatGPT is able to depict a certain breed of cat, so I asked it to make a calico cat. Even though ChatGPT was able to correctly identify the colors of a calico cat, orange, black, and white, it incorrectly added different colors to the drawing. As before, I used the code to make my own depiction of a calico cat, and sent the code back to Chat GPT.
In the second conversation, I started the conversation differently by asking it to draw a cat with shapes immediately. In this case, the cat was depicted differently.I also wanted to see if ChatGPT is able to depict a certain breed of cat, so I asked it to make a calico cat. Even though ChatGPT was able to correctly identify the colors of a calico cat, orange, black, and white, it incorrectly added different colors to the drawing. As before, I used the code to make my own depiction of a calico cat, and sent the code back to Chat GPT.
3/3
In the last chat, I asked it to explain what a cat is to me again though I also began to ask for more specifics. In this iteration, I was focused on testing ChatGPT’s understanding of what a cat looks like but also testing its understanding of expressions and specific features. Again, ChatGPT was not able to successfully depict a cat, and I manually coded the cat again and sent it back.
In the last chat, I asked it to explain what a cat is to me again though I also began to ask for more specifics. In this iteration, I was focused on testing ChatGPT’s understanding of what a cat looks like but also testing its understanding of expressions and specific features. Again, ChatGPT was not able to successfully depict a cat, and I manually coded the cat again and sent it back.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I was able to find that while ChatGPT is able to describe many features of a cat and is knowledgeable of cats, it is unable to correctly draw a cat on its own. Knowing that ChatGPT is prefaced as a software that is yet insufficient in some areas, it is understandable that it is unable to carry out functions on its own. As an experiment to discover its capabilities, ChatGPT is an AI that is able to regurgitate information and is not yet able to comprehend the knowledge it contains.
However, I was able to come across other realizations in my experiment. In each new chat made in ChatGPT, the cat was completely different from the last. Depending on what is asked, the cat could look completely different. Another aspect I learned was that in a conversation chat room, when asked to make a cat again, ChatGPT uses the code that it initially gives and adds to it instead of providing a new iteration.
However, I was able to come across other realizations in my experiment. In each new chat made in ChatGPT, the cat was completely different from the last. Depending on what is asked, the cat could look completely different. Another aspect I learned was that in a conversation chat room, when asked to make a cat again, ChatGPT uses the code that it initially gives and adds to it instead of providing a new iteration.