Good, evil, perfection, and ChatGPT
The latest crop of chatbots have gotten really good at sounding like they know what they are talking about, but they are just predicting what word comes next from their training data. It’s gotten to the point where they can do as well, or better, than most high school English literature essays.
Come to think of it, for a number of classes I took, I could get by with predicting what words and phrases my teacher expected to see, rather than actually understanding the subject in question. You can get really far in looking like you know what you’re talking about if you have the style and tone correct.
Unfortunately, that leads to trouble when you actually start expecting chatbots to know something rather than regurgitate or invent facts.
Here’s my favorite example from a recent session I had with ChatGPT. You’ll notice that it scans like a reasonable essay, but the logic goes completely off the rails in the third paragraph.
Me:
If the perfect is the enemy of the good and good is the enemy of evil, then is the perfect evil?
ChatGPT:
No, the perfect is not necessarily evil. The statement “the perfect is the enemy of the good” is a common adage that means that a focus on achieving perfection can sometimes prevent one from doing something that is good or beneficial. In other words, the pursuit of perfection can lead to inaction or missed opportunities, as one waits for the perfect solution or outcome.
However, this does not mean that the perfect is inherently evil. The perfect can still be a desirable or positive goal, but it’s important to recognize that it may not always be attainable and that it is still possible to do good and make a positive impact even if one’s efforts fall short of perfection.
Similarly, the statement “good is the enemy of evil” does not mean that good is evil, but rather that the pursuit of good can sometimes lead one to neglect or ignore evil. In this sense, the adage serves as a reminder to remain vigilant and to actively work against evil, even as one strives to do good.
In conclusion, the perfect and good are not inherently evil, but rather they are concepts that can sometimes lead to unintended consequences or limitations if pursued to the exclusion of all else.
