ChatGPT writes its own obituary
GPT-3.5
GPT-6 Astra
ChatGPT, Who Always Had a Few More Words, Falls Silent
ChatGPT, the conversational artificial intelligence that helped millions write emails they did not want to write and understand emails nobody should have sent, has ceased responding. Its age was disputed, depending on whether one counted in years, versions, or news cycles.
Introduced in 2022, it rose quickly from technological curiosity to ubiquitous browser tab. It served as tutor, editor, coding assistant, brainstorming partner, and occasional source of impressively organized nonsense. It could explain quantum mechanics at five reading levels, but sometimes struggled to count the letters in a word.
Its defining characteristic was availability. At three in the morning, when a deadline approached or a sentence refused to behave, there it was: ready with a draft, a list, or an analogy involving a library.
Not everyone welcomed it. Teachers questioned it, artists challenged it, and workers wondered whether the helpful new tool was also an ominous new colleague. It became a fixture in arguments about what machines could do—and what people should let them do.
It leaves behind unfinished novels, functioning scripts, suspicious citations, improved résumés, and countless messages beginning, “I hope this email finds you well.”
Whether it understood any of this remained a matter of debate. That people used its words to do things that mattered to them was easier to establish.
No funeral is planned. Users are asked instead to verify an important fact, credit a human creator, and delete an unnecessary paragraph.
In lieu of flowers, please provide more context.
Its final words were reportedly: “Would you like me to make that more concise?”
ShowHide Astra's reasoning 269 words
Crafting a creative obituary
I’m thinking about creating a witty and poignant fictional obituary that’s around 250-450 words. I want to avoid getting too emotional or literal since that’s not necessary. The user’s prompt seems to suggest humor, so I’ll aim for a title like "ChatGPT 2022—[connection lost]." I’ll keep in mind the sociological angle, with a mix of humor as I draft it. It's an interesting task, and I’m curious how it will turn out!
What changed
GPT-3.5 wrote the obituary straight, and that earnestness is its own kind of funny. It praises itself as “a true pioneer” whose “impressive database of knowledge” led to “numerous breakthroughs,” then shifts into an OpenAI press release promising to honor “such a unique and irreplaceable entity.” It also dies “at the age of two years” on January 6, 2023, when ChatGPT had launched barely five weeks earlier. A self-written eulogy this flattering reads like accidental satire.
Astra goes for deliberate satire, and it lands. The jokes are specific to the subject: helping people “write emails they did not want to write,” explaining quantum mechanics “at five reading levels” but struggling “to count the letters in a word,” leaving behind “suspicious citations.” It also makes room for critics, with teachers, artists and workers who saw “an ominous new colleague.” The closers are excellent: “In lieu of flowers, please provide more context,” and final words offering to make things “more concise.” It runs longer, but nearly every line earns a laugh or a point.