3 ms·

ChatGPT, draw a picture of a parrot in ASCII art

22 points by doener 1y ago

doener 1y ago
Via https://infosec.exchange/@mttaggart/115227159913970737 https://infosec.exchange/@mttaggart/115227159913970737
throw310822 1y ago
Nice. It looks like it's not really focusing much on the task and just drawing something by heart; then when asked for the third time it finally produces a much simpler and smaller design that actually resembles some kind of bird. As if this was the actual real effort.
- ziml77 1y ago
  You say that like it has an understanding. If I could have forked the conversation after it gave a unicorn I would have, but I was able to start my own and ask for ASCII art of a parrot. On the first try it gave me a sitting penguin (probably Tux art from the training data) When I then asked it if the image was really a parrot it told me that it was "more of a generic 'ASCII bird' (often used as a generic owl/parrot placeholder), not a true parrot." A sitting penguin is certainly not a generic bird.
  - firesteelrain 1y ago
    __ (o)> //\ V_/_
    - ziml77 1y ago
      That's what you might expect a generic sitting penguin to look like, but this is what it actually gave me .---. / \ \.@-@./ /`\_/`\ // _ \\ | \ )|_ /`\_`> <_/ \ \__/'---'\__/
      - deleted 1y ago
        [deleted]
      - firesteelrain 1y ago
        Definitely a Linux Tux penguin
  - throw310822 1y ago
    Yes. Well, it doesn't really "see" the ascii art it's producing because it's blind and it's just reading and writing it as if it were text- so the task is much more complex than it seems to us. I do notice a difference between the first attempt (and your sitting penguin) and the small art at the end. If you've used gpt5, it's possible that it decided to engage its full capacity only at that point, and that the previous answers were less thought through. But yes I do believe these things understand. There is no other way for them to do what they're doing.
pulvinar 1y ago
Ask ChatGPT to explain what it's drawing as it adds parts. It's usually more successful. Or at least entertaining. Reminds me of how a young child draws.
homeonthemtn 1y ago
The emojis are painful.
ravila4 1y ago
It looks to me like it’s regurgitating training data. The biggest success I ever had with drawing ascii art was with the GPT 4.1 model a while back.
tills13 1y ago
One of the most frustrating parts about "AI" in its current form is that you can challenge it on anything and it play dumb, being like " oops I'm sowwy I was wrong, you're right" I wish it would either: grow a spine and double down (in the cases that it's right or partially right) or simply admit when something is beyond its capability instead of guessing or this like low-percentage Markov chain continuation.
- doener 1y ago
  https://openai.com/de-DE/index/why-language-models-hallucinate/ https://openai.com/de-DE/index/why-language-models-hallucina... tl;dr: The models are optimized against a test that evaluates incorrect answers just as well as no answer at all. Therefore, they guess when in doubt.
  - tills13 1y ago
    I really don't mind guessing but the model should be encouraged to say when it's guessing.
- braebo 1y ago
  I was once in an argument with Claude over a bug we were trying to identify in my code, and it refused to concede my argument for almost 20 minutes. It turned out to be correct, and boy was I glad it didn’t capitulate (as it often does). I came up with a prompt that actually reproduces this behavior more reliably than any other I’ve tried: ”When presented with questions or choices, treat them as genuine requests for analysis. Always evaluate trade-offs on their merits, never try to guess what answer the user wants. Focus on: What does the evidence suggest? What are the trade-offs? What is truly optimal in this context given the user's ultimate goals? Avoid: Pattern matching question phrasing to assumed preferences, reflexive agreement, reflexive disagreement, or hedging that avoids taking a position when one is warranted by the evidence.”
CTOSian 1y ago
google gemini not better LMAO https://g.co/gemini/share/64e01b99c217 https://g.co/gemini/share/64e01b99c217

22 points by doener 1y ago

Via https://infosec.exchange/@mttaggart/115227159913970737 https://infosec.exchange/@mttaggart/115227159913970737

Nice. It looks like it's not really focusing much on the task and just drawing something by heart; then when asked for the third time it finally produces a much simpler and smaller design that actually resembles some kind of bird. As if this was the actual real effort.

ziml77 1y ago
You say that like it has an understanding. If I could have forked the conversation after it gave a unicorn I would have, but I was able to start my own and ask for ASCII art of a parrot. On the first try it gave me a sitting penguin (probably Tux art from the training data) When I then asked it if the image was really a parrot it told me that it was "more of a generic 'ASCII bird' (often used as a generic owl/parrot placeholder), not a true parrot." A sitting penguin is certainly not a generic bird.
- firesteelrain 1y ago
  __ (o)> //\ V_/_
  - ziml77 1y ago
    That's what you might expect a generic sitting penguin to look like, but this is what it actually gave me .---. / \ \.@-@./ /`\_/`\ // _ \\ | \ )|_ /`\_`> <_/ \ \__/'---'\__/
    - deleted 1y ago
      [deleted]
    - firesteelrain 1y ago
      Definitely a Linux Tux penguin
- throw310822 1y ago
  Yes. Well, it doesn't really "see" the ascii art it's producing because it's blind and it's just reading and writing it as if it were text- so the task is much more complex than it seems to us. I do notice a difference between the first attempt (and your sitting penguin) and the small art at the end. If you've used gpt5, it's possible that it decided to engage its full capacity only at that point, and that the previous answers were less thought through. But yes I do believe these things understand. There is no other way for them to do what they're doing.

pulvinar 1y ago

Ask ChatGPT to explain what it's drawing as it adds parts. It's usually more successful. Or at least entertaining. Reminds me of how a young child draws.

homeonthemtn 1y ago

The emojis are painful.

ravila4 1y ago

It looks to me like it’s regurgitating training data. The biggest success I ever had with drawing ascii art was with the GPT 4.1 model a while back.

tills13 1y ago

One of the most frustrating parts about "AI" in its current form is that you can challenge it on anything and it play dumb, being like " oops I'm sowwy I was wrong, you're right" I wish it would either: grow a spine and double down (in the cases that it's right or partially right) or simply admit when something is beyond its capability instead of guessing or this like low-percentage Markov chain continuation.

doener 1y ago
https://openai.com/de-DE/index/why-language-models-hallucinate/ https://openai.com/de-DE/index/why-language-models-hallucina... tl;dr: The models are optimized against a test that evaluates incorrect answers just as well as no answer at all. Therefore, they guess when in doubt.
- tills13 1y ago
  I really don't mind guessing but the model should be encouraged to say when it's guessing.
braebo 1y ago
I was once in an argument with Claude over a bug we were trying to identify in my code, and it refused to concede my argument for almost 20 minutes. It turned out to be correct, and boy was I glad it didn’t capitulate (as it often does). I came up with a prompt that actually reproduces this behavior more reliably than any other I’ve tried: ”When presented with questions or choices, treat them as genuine requests for analysis. Always evaluate trade-offs on their merits, never try to guess what answer the user wants. Focus on: What does the evidence suggest? What are the trade-offs? What is truly optimal in this context given the user's ultimate goals? Avoid: Pattern matching question phrasing to assumed preferences, reflexive agreement, reflexive disagreement, or hedging that avoids taking a position when one is warranted by the evidence.”

CTOSian 1y ago

google gemini not better LMAO https://g.co/gemini/share/64e01b99c217 https://g.co/gemini/share/64e01b99c217