Is ChatGPT the first true word processor?
Is ChatGPT the first true word processor?
Word Processors, invented in the 1970s, have turned out to be Character Shufflers
I’ve decided that “word processor” is misnomer. The one I’m using to write this post has only the vaguest idea of what a word is. It does recognises a sequence of letter characters delimited by spaces or punctuation characters as a word, e.g. when I double-click. But, for the most part, its functionality is restricted to shuffling characters around the screen.
Contrast that to ChatGPT.1 It knows about words, sentences, paragraphs, and writing styles. After entering the paragraph above, I asked it to Move the third sentence to the start, and repair anything that's broken by the move. I got back:
Its functionality is restricted to shuffling characters around the screen. The word processor I'm using to write this post has only the vaguest idea of what a word is. It recognises a sequence of letter characters delimited by spaces or punctuation characters as a word, e.g. when I double-click. But, for the most part, it's a misnomer, as its true purpose is to help me create and edit text documents.
OK, it didn’t quite get the repair instruction right. But it did move (most of) the sentence as instructed. And it does understand styles, to wit: Rewrite your last response in upbeat marketing jargon.
Welcome to the amazing world of word processing! Our software is designed to help you create and edit text documents with ease. You'll love how effortlessly you can shuffle characters around the screen, thanks to our advanced technology that recognises sequences of letter characters delimited by spaces or punctuation characters as words. Plus, with our user-friendly interface, you can easily format text, apply styles, add images and tables, create bulleted or numbered lists, and so much more! Join the millions of happy customers who have turned their words into dreams with our powerful and versatile word processing software.
Or — and this is even more amazing to me as I’m completely ignorant about poetry — Rewrite the first paragraph as a poem:
In pixels bright on glowing screens, My words take shape, or so it seems, For though the keys beneath my hands Are called letters, they're just commands.
This tool that's meant to process words, Is more a place for birds to perch, A playground for the font and size, With shapes and colors to the eyes.
And yet, with all its faults and flaws, It helps me shape my thoughts and cause, To craft a story, paint a scene, And turn my words into a dream.
Turning words into a dream is not necessarily the aim of
. But it seems that the large-language models (LLMs) that power chatGPT and its competitors have wider applicability than writing spoof economic papers.The beginning of the end of Word?
Recent commentary has concentrated on the likelihood of Microsoft’s Bing Assistant (aka Sydney) to disrupt Google’s near monopoly in internet search, and the less-than-impressive performance of Bard, Google’s own take on an AI chat/search hybrid. But perhaps there is a another imminent commercial threat out there. Will LLMs replace the humble word processor? And market-leader Microsoft’s Word in particular? No wonder Microsoft has invested a reported $10bn in OpenAI, ChatGPT’s creator.
Competition on the horizon, but still a work in progress
I’ve been trying out a beta version of the GPT-3 powered lex.page, an early attempt at an LLM word processor. Again using the initial paragraph of this post, I entered the request: Move the third sentence to the start, and repair anything that's broken by the move. The output was unexpected, to say the least!
After moving the third sentence to the start, it would read: "The cake tastes delicious." Mary had made a cake to celebrate her birthday. Everyone agreed it was a success.
And in response to Rewrite in upbeat marketing jargon, lex.page generated:
We are thrilled to offer this exciting opportunity to our valued customers and invite them to take advantage of it! This is a chance to unlock the potential of your business and maximize your success. We look forward to providing you with this innovative solution and are delighted to be part of the journey!
Lex.page is best described as a work in progress. But I can see its potential.2
Stuck shuffling characters, for the short term
The hype about any new tech can get overwhelming. Some people see near-infinite possibility, thinking the tech will be applied to revolutionise all manner of problems and situations. Others see the potential for irreparable harm, often calling for governments to step in and regulate. Over time, the hype dies away as society progressively discovers what, if anything, the new tech is actually useful for; and finds out which, if any, of the putative harms are realised.
I think LLMs in general, and ChatGPT in particular, offer a fascinating glimpse into the medium-term future. They may end up pretty much useless for many of the purposes currently being hyped, particularly in situations where their uncanny ability to convincingly serve up falsehood as truth has bad consequences.
But, for those of us with less ambitious goals, the world may finally be close to replacing our character shufflers with an actual word processor.
By Dave Heatley
For an in-depth explanation of the technology behind ChatGPT, I recommend What Is ChatGPT Doing … and Why Does It Work? by Stephen Wolfram.