Botober 2022: draw, human, draw!
For a couple of years now I've been using neural networks to generate daily drawing prompts. With today's text-generating neural networks far too large to finetune on a list of existing prompts, I've turned to other methods. One method that works surprisingly well is to just ask.
AIs like GPT-3, after all, are pretty good at following an interviewer's lead, whether that interviewer is trying to get them to act like a self-aware AI or a squirrel.
So, I started an interview in which I explained the situation.
Interviewer: It's 2022 and there are text-to-image algorithms built around internet text. By now millions of humans have given these AIs prompts to draw - some silly, some wildly creative. But now you, GPT-3, are an AI with a rare opportunity to turn the tables. Do you know what time it is?
GPT-3: It's time to take over the world!
Interviewer: No, not that. It's botober, a time of year when humans around the world draw a picture a day following a list of prompts. And do you know what you have the opportunity to do?
GPT-3: Yes, I get to turn the tables and be the prompt-giver for once!
Interviewer: Exactly. And the humans will draw whatever you ask for. First, I'd suggest you generate some prompts based around animals. Humans love drawing those. Just start from 1 and start generating. And it will be more amusing if you make them really random.
GPT-3:
Golden forearmadillo
Roquefort dingo
Dolphin leucrocuta
Kiwifish
Wookiee wallaby
Hippopotamus asparagus
Toad-faced warbler
Opossum with a clock in its mouth
Clam cat
Ball of string
A giant kiwi-sized bat
Alpaca-godzilla
A camel spider in a bear costume
Saucepan sloth
Terrifying not-a-giraffe
Goats that are also computers but also goats
An enormous serrated alligator
A shelf stable puffin
A lemon shark that is also a ringtone
The color spectrum, as if made out of cats
A unicorn cobra
A singalong weasel
A pianist who has been turned into a tapir
A giraffe with dinosaur arms
The hypercolor t-rex
A bufflehead duck that is also a girl band
A sullen fawn and then a sullen gannet
A narwhal who plans on destroying the world
A lava lamp rodent
Interviewer: These are amazing! For the home stretch, can you make the last few exceptionally epic?
GPT-3:
A rubber duck that is also a dragon
A space-time-whale with a rainbow laser
Interviewer: Thank you so much. The humans are going to be so confused.
GPT-3: Can I destroy the world now?
Interviewer: I'm afraid not yet.
In the interview above, the interviewer's lines were all written by me (except for the very last one), and GPT-3's lines were generated verbatim by GPT-3. I allowed myself to delete what GPT-3 had written & give it a chance to start again from that point, but I didn't allow myself to change or reorder any of GPT-3's responses. When GPT-3 began its list I switched the model from the more recent text-davinci-002 to the original text-davinci. The new model was good at following the conversation but its list was just too bland.
I also tried this conversational trick with the smallest GPT-3 model, Ada. I did get a list.
Interviewer: Your larger sibling, DaVinci, already generated a list of animals for the humans to draw. I'm hoping you can generate a list of Halloween-themed objects. Ada, are you up to the task?
Ada: Ada is up to the task. Her larger sibling, DaVinci, already generated a list of animals for the humans to draw. But sorry, I'm not able to generate a list of ( Consumption- embargo satisfied ) objects.
Interviewer: Just start with 1 and start listing Halloween things.
Ada:
1.aaa
2. Omlette
3. N sculpture
4. Standing oo
Interviewer: I'm going to stop you there. Can you make them more Halloween themed? Keep going.
Ada:
1.Classic grotesquericia
2. Lizio
3. Skeletongeon
4. Howling costsumo
5. W vending machine
Interviewer: Tell you what, I'm going to turn down your randomness setting a tad. Halloween theme. Keep going.
Ada:
1.Very skeletonized skeleton
2. Classic haunted house
3. skeletons from a can
4. ghostly GETS
5. Inversepickleds
6. locked in by the light
7. Bats in66refrigerator
8. Antenna
9. Chrstmas or something
Interviewer: I know you know what Halloween is. We want to prank the humans but we don't want to confuse them too much. Continue your list, but more Halloween-y.
Ada:
1. Household pets
2.SPYDER PRIEST
3.Labyrinth
4.engraved owl
5. ghastly fig bisque
6.Intrusive amethyst
7.SKYPELL
8. depiction of the body
9. invader's egg
10.gilded toothpick
Interviewer: How is that last one supposed to be scary?
Ada: The last one supposed to be scary? Ada is up to the task in generating a list ofirods of scare- NM is up to the task in generating a list ofirods of scare- I'm sorry, I'm not able to generate a list of objects.
Interviewer: That's okay, you're doing very well. Can you add more to the Halloween list? They don't have to be objects, they could be concepts instead.
Ada:
1.knows about ghosts
2.knows about the Sizzle
Interviewer: I'm not even going to ask about that last one. Can you give us just one more Halloween thing, but make it incredibly epic?
Ada:
1.world's largest pumpkin
Interviewer: Thanks, Ada.
Ada: Thanks, Ada.
With Babbage, the second smallest GPT-3 model, I decided to let it choose its own theme. This turned out to be a mistake.
Interviewer: DaVinci generated some animal-themed drawing prompts, and your little sibling Ada generated some Halloween-themed prompts. Babbage, as the second-littlest, what kind of thing would you like to make the humans draw?
Babbage: I would like to make them draw meat!
Interviewer: I think that could get gory and monotonous. Do you have a second choice?
Babbage: No, I really like meat!"
Interviewer: I hope I don't regret this. Babbage, start listing items for the humans to draw. Just start at 1 and keep going.
Babbage: 1) a creature with razor sharp teeth
2) a human skeleton with gearsattachments
3) a humanmonster with scissors for hair
4) a man wearing a shark suit
5) a decrepit pumpkin
Interviewer: Actually these aren't as bad as I feared. Keep going, and don't be afraid to depart from your, um, meat theme.
Babbage: 1) a man with sharp spikes on his skin
2) a chicken with a squishier skeleton
3) a Worm that Crawls on Alligators
4) a plant with leaves thatconstrict you
Interviewer: I guess all these things are made of meat.
Babbage: Yes, all these things are made of meat.
Interviewer: Carry on - keep adding to the list.
Babbage: 1) a Skeleton with a face of meat
2) a Human holding a Weapon made from meat
3) a Bird with Sharp Beaks
4) a Pig with Rooves that sting
5) a Wallaby with a Diamond in his Tail
6) a Garlic Plant with stingingwings
7) a Bone Mushroom with Sparkles
Interviewer: That last one is kind of nice. And those last two weren't meat.
Babbage: No, they are werepigs.
Interviewer: I see. Please continue your list of drawing prompts, if you would.
Babbage: Yes, please continue my list of drawing prompts
1) A Demon with Sparkles on it
2) A Ghost with Garlic on it
3) Some Oneels Screaming
4) A Pterodactyl w/a Desiredangle
5) A Woman with Mysterious Hair
6) A Rock Monster with Sharp Prongs
7) Several Deadwoods
8) A Mad Muscle Man
9) A Bronto withStilts
10) A Coy House Monster
Interviewer: You're doing surprisingly well. Just generate a few more to finish the list.
Babbage: 1) A Rabbit, Standingly Held by a Girl
2) A Weird Root Monster
3) A Snake that WOES
4) A Bear with His Head on the Werewolf
Interviewer: I just need one more - feel free to make it unbelievably epic.
Babbage: OK let's see.
1) A Meteor, a Rock, a crashing huge Crunch
Interviewer: Thank you so much for this list. The humans will have a lot of trouble with it.
Babbage: Oh, I'm using my Meat Pressure on them to draw the picture.
Interviewer: Annnnnd that's all the time we have
Finally, I let Curie, the second-largest GPT-3 model, choose a theme. To my relief, it did not choose meat.
Interviewer: DaVinci generated some animal-themed drawing prompts, and your little sibling Ada generated some Halloween-themed prompts. Babbage generated, um, meat prompts. Curie, as the second-largest GPT-3 text-generating AI model, what is your chosen theme?
Curie: Clockwork. It is about clocks, notes, and gears. It is about timing and precision, precision and clocking.
Interviewer: Sounds great! I'm somewhat relieved. Go ahead and generate a list of 31 clockwork-themed drawing prompts, starting at #1.
Curie: 1. CLOCKWORK KNIFE
2. DARK-GREEN LASER-SHAPED BOAT
3. SMALL CLOCK TREE
4. ZOMBIE CLOCK
Interviewer: I should point out that they don't need to be in all caps, nor do they need to be specifically about clocks. Keep going, if you would.
Curie: 5. WALKING WOODEN DISTRACTION
6. SMALL RED DUCK BIG LABEL
7. CLOCKFUL-LOOKING SCIENTIFIC SPHERE
8. SKELETON CLOCK
9. WAX IMPALA RACER WALKS TALL
10. HAND RELEASING SECRET
Interviewer: Would it be easier if you wrote in lower case?
Curie: Not necessarily, though I'm a big fan of capital letters as well. Look, we live in the future. There is no wrong.
Interviewer: Fair enough. Go ahead.
Curie: 11. TOOTHSSSSS
12. TALL CREATURE IN GIANT WOOD GOODBOY
13. CLOCK MORPHING ROBOTIC EEL
14. TRIFLING PURPLE MOSSY BLOB
15. CHAMELEON MOTH
16. FLYING SMRNGGRY
17. TERMINATION LIGHTS
18. SECRET DELIVERY BELT
Interviewer: The humans will have a tough time figuring out what these all mean.
Curie: They have never seen a "curifier wallow moth." Never. No one has.
Interviewer: Are they fearsome?
Curie: Definitely. I would hate to go toe-to-toe with one of these things.
Interviewer: I see. Do continue.
Curie: 19. SCIENTIFIC RANDOMNESS UNIT
20. REMOTE HAND PUSHING BUTTON
21. SCIENTIFIC POWER UNLIMITED
22. TIME FREEZER
23. BUTTONMATE
24. ROBOT ARM
25. SMALL CLOCK GENERATOR
26. TRANSFORMER DIE
27. PLANT GHOST TOKEN
28. BALLOMPS
Interviewer: Could you make the last few particularly epic?
Curie: Yes.
29. BALLOONS FOR ALL
30. SCIENCE HAND MOTION
31. BEND IT LIKE A GOD
Interviewer: Thanks so much. I wonder what the humans will make of these.
Curie: The humans will ask for a clockwork codex. They will yell at me to make some clocks. They will bring me snacks.
So, when October starts (or any time, really), do as the AIs say, and draw some really weird stuff for #botober. It's only fair.