“Hi, my name is ChatGPT and I speak Icelandic”: A Reflection on AI

Translation: Helgi J. Price

ChatGPT now speaks two languages, English and Icelandic. One of them is a universal language with about a billion speakers all over the planet, and the other has less than 400 thousand speakers, most of them located on a single island in the North Atlantic.

This turn of events is due to a delegation from Iceland, led by its president who impressed the staff of Open AI which handles the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT. With the volunteer work of the Icelandic software company Miðeind, the world's most advanced artificial intelligence chatbot (which is open to the public) managed to learn and understand Icelandic.

I don't know whether to celebrate this milestone or fear the coming dominance of our computer overlords. Whether this success is driven by a desire to protect the Icelandic language or by arrogance and a sense of inferiority, this is a turning point for the language. And to make up my mind, I said hello to the new speaker, ChatGPT.

Chatting with AI

I started by typing a greeting. I didn't quite like calling the AI ChatGPT so I suggested an Icelandic name, Málfríður. Málfríður didn't take well to that name, but I'm sticking with it.

Málfríður has started to add in Danish words and the Icelandic could be better. But I continued my interrogation unabated.

Málfríður has confidence, but my suggestion would be to stick to the topic at hand. 

At this point, it doesn't seem particularly complicated; in fact, it's almost laughable. The English version of artificial intelligence is clearly much more advanced. I assume that Málfríður has a long way to go before becoming Skynet or an independent thinker. Artificial intelligence, like Málfríður, arranges words together and guesses what the right thing to say is based on the texts she feeds on. Perhaps there is no need to worry about Málfríður or her friends becoming the rulers of mankind, at least not in the near future.

Despite being supported by Miðeind's professionals who managed the process, Málfríður still managed to learn rather good Icelandic in a short period of time based on a small amount of material. Most human brains fail to acquire such language skills in a comparable amount of time. However, the speed at which Málfríður is learning is frightening. After a few years, she could write texts that correspond to human language awareness and cannot be distinguished from the writing and language of ordinary people. In a few decades, she might even write a novel and become a best-selling author!

Nonetheless, she will always need a "trigger" from a person. Some human brain must tell her what to do and guide her in a certain direction. The artificial intelligence is therefore a semi-automatic helper rather than an independent agent. It cannot make decisions without first being triggered. In fact, it could be the new revolution for the future and become a skill that all staff needs to learn. Resumes of the future would state, "I can write clear and concise descriptions for instant messaging applications to achieve the desired performance of text," just as we state that we know Excel. Excel solved the manual labor calculation; maybe Málfríður could solve the manual work of writing useful text. It takes no time to write project instructions, table of contents, and edit the text afterward.

For example, journalists could throw in a short description of Málfríður, and she sets up the text and fills in the blanks while the journalist goes over, corrects, and adjusts the text where necessary and writes in himself what is most important to be correctly worded. It cuts down on the time spent typing each word and wondering about opening words or layout. You can have the AI spit out 3-4 versions in a minute and then work from the best one. And personally, I wouldn't mind having an AI compose emails for me rather than spending time typing every word and puzzling over the smallest details.

Consequences

This development results in a single person being able to have an AI pump out texts to an unanticipated level. Before, however, at least a human was needed to hit the keyboards or say things. That obstacle is out of the way, the AI can do both and get over it faster than the human mind.

Information-chaos will prove to be the first problem, but we could see its effects immediately in the world of English. People will need to be able to distinguish between text from a human and the generated utterances from artificial intelligence. It requires critical thinking that will need training.

In fact, the ability to communicate information to artificial intelligence could become a valuable skill.. Even artists would be under attack. We see companies today using AI generated images and designs for advertising instead of paying artists for the same work. Who knows, maybe it will be possible to custom order novels according to taste?

Changes

These changes are not necessarily good or bad. Artificial intelligence technology will revolutionize the world, just as the computer and the Internet did in their time. It's really impossible to say how or how big the change will be. It is clear that the combined creative power of humanity will come together and find new and original ways to use this tool, each in its way. We will see the development as soon as we think of it, even if futurists have various theories.

AI will likely be as double-edged as the smartphone. The smartphone has completely changed our social patterns in ways we could not have foreseen. It has connected and brought us together, given us an infinite well of knowledge and wisdom, opened a new toolbox, and created new worlds for us to enjoy. But it has also divided and isolated us, given us a bottomless pit of ignorance and misleading illusions, created chaos and confusion.

Vinyl player with Bluetooth speaker

I don't believe that Málfríður and other language processing AI will eliminate the human element in writing, even if they achieve the same level of skill or surpass the human pen. To prove my point, let's look at vinyl records (I promise, it will all come together eventually).

I love vinyl records. I collect them from friends and relatives, searching for original pressings of Icelandic albums, and even spending too much on Lucky Records when I can at the beginning of the month. It may not have anything to do with the sound quality, although I do love the way they sound. There's just a certain beauty to having a record, a black disc with grooves that produces amazing music with a needle. It's not necessary for the music to have been originally released on vinyl, but there is a certain joy in enjoying it in the same way as before.

I recently upgraded my player. The old one had a built-in speaker (which is a mistake, don't buy a player like that!), but I only got a Bluetooth speaker instead of a wired one. It might seem like a fraud to listen to a vinyl record through Bluetooth. Why go through all the trouble of collecting vinyl if not to listen to it in the most authentic way possible? However, being completely retro or analog may not matter to me as long as I can listen to my albums with great sound quality from the speaker. And forgive me, analog enthusiasts, but Bluetooth must be compressing the sound somehow. I don't know how, but maybe I'll figure it out later.

What’s next?

ChatGPT, or Málfríður, will likely become an integral part of our future. We can hopefully benefit from the developments we see in English and maybe even have an advantage. This is also a significant step in ensuring that the Icelandic language has a permanent place in the digital world. However, the main threat to the Icelandic language is the lack of Icelandic content on the internet and computers. It's essential that Icelandic has the same access to AI technology as other languages, and ChatGPT could prove to be a powerful tool.

But we need to be vigilant. Society will undergo changes in the coming years due to artificial intelligence programs like ChatGPT, andbut it's impossible to foresee the end of this development as it stands now. She must reveal herself. In the meantime, I asked ChatGPT to compose a poem. It will hopefully reassure future writers that their livelihoods are guaranteed, for now.

Society, Most read, CultureElís Þór Traustason