The Guardian Long Read, 5 Sep. 2023: Proust, ChatGPT and the case of the forgotten quote Thread poster: Barbara Carrara
|
|---|
Barbara Carrara 
Italy
Local time: 22:45
Member (2008)
English to Italian
+ ...
The lighter side (not) of ChatGPT. While searching for an elusive Proustian passage, US writer Elif Batuman tried the bot out, with questionable results.
Sneak preview: how many times does the bot have to apologise before it gets there, or it? Duh!?
Have a short read before the long one,
'EB: (...) That’s why I asked about the French text – so we didn’t have to worry about different translations or editions. So the French quote was a paraphrase and not a ci... See more The lighter side (not) of ChatGPT. While searching for an elusive Proustian passage, US writer Elif Batuman tried the bot out, with questionable results.
Sneak preview: how many times does the bot have to apologise before it gets there, or it? Duh!?
Have a short read before the long one,
'EB: (...) That’s why I asked about the French text – so we didn’t have to worry about different translations or editions. So the French quote was a paraphrase and not a citation?
GPT: I apologize for any confusion in my previous responses. The French quote I provided was indeed a paraphrase and not a verbatim citation from “In Search of Lost Time.” I’m sorry for any misunderstanding caused.
If you’re looking for a specific passage within Proust’s work, I recommend consulting the actual text of “In Search of Lost Time” in its original French language to accurately locate the passage you mentioned.'
For disconcerting times, make it ChatGPT time.
Enjoy!
https://tinyurl.com/2ckwdcub
Edited to add quotation marks around the... ehm... quoted passage.
[Edited at 2023-09-13 18:05 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | |
Barbara Carrara wrote:
The lighter side (not) of ChatGPT. While searching for an elusive Proustian passage, US writer Elif Batuman tried the bot out, with questionable results.
A case study in the limitations of ChatGPT, showing the process by which a user discovers them. I went through a similar process a while ago.
ChatGPT is good at tracking things down based on a general description, but it's very bad when it comes to specifics. What's more, it doesn't understand the difference between an original text and a paraphrased version, or even a complete misquote.
In fact, ChatGPT doesn't "understand" anything at all. In the cited article we see the author attributing to the bot certain qualities, motivations and thought processes that she possesses herself, but ChatGPT does not. And yes, I know it's tongue in cheek, but it's illustrative nevertheless.
A differently crafted question might produce a better result, but the user has to learn how to do this. It's not necessarily obvious.
| | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » The Guardian Long Read, 5 Sep. 2023: Proust, ChatGPT and the case of the forgotten quote | Trados Business Manager Lite | Create customer quotes and invoices from within Trados Studio
Trados Business Manager Lite helps to simplify and speed up some of the daily tasks, such as invoicing and reporting, associated with running your freelance translation business.
More info » |
| | CafeTran Espresso | You've never met a CAT tool this clever!
Translate faster & easier, using a sophisticated CAT tool built by a translator / developer.
Accept jobs from clients who use Trados, MemoQ, Wordfast & major CAT tools.
Download and start using CafeTran Espresso -- for free
Buy now! » |
|
| | | | X Sign in to your ProZ.com account... | | | | | |
Login to reply/comment 
Translation news
