I’m interested in this primarily as an English teacher. I need to be able to spot the linguistic tics and errors and recognize where it likely came from.
Right now, the best we have is like the opening scenes from Bladerunner.
Holden: One-one-eight-seven at Unterwasser. Leon: That’s the hotel. Holden: What? Leon: Where I live. Holden: Nice place? Leon: Yeah, sure I guess-- that part of the test? Holden: No, just warming you up, that’s all. Leon: Oh. It’s not fancy or anything. Holden: You’re in a desert, walking along in the sand when all of the sudden- Leon: Is this the test now? Holden: Yes. You’re in a desert walking along in the sand when all of the sudden you look down- Leon: What one? Holden: What? Leon: What desert? Holden: It doesn’t make any difference what desert, it’s completely hypothetical. Leon: But how come I’d be there? Holden: Maybe you’re fed up, maybe you want to be by yourself, who knows? You look down and you see a tortoise, Leon, it’s crawling towards you- Leon: Tortoise, what’s that? Holden: Know what a turtle is? Leon: Of course. Holden: Same thing. Leon: I’ve never seen a turtle – But I understand what you mean. Holden: You reach down, you flip the tortoise over on its back Leon. Leon: Do you make up these questions, Mr. Holden, or do they write them down for you? Holden: The tortoise lays on its back, its belly baking in the hot sun beating its legs trying to turn itself over but it can’t, not without your help, but you’re not helping. Leon: What do you mean I’m not helping? Holden: I mean, you’re not helping. Why is that Leon? – They’re just questions, Leon. In answer to your query, they’re written down for me. It’s a test, designed to provoke an emotional response. – Shall we continue?
Except I can’t ask the paper on Maya Angelou any questions. Short of interrogating each student when they turn something in, it’s been a real struggle in the last few months to spot work that was not actually done by my students but was instead written by chat gpt.
How to proceed now that they all interact with TikTok’s chatbot, where not just the tech savvy kids will try this, idk.
But my first super fake was a well written paper about the personal growth of a girl named Fredericka who described feeling triumphant having just got her masters degree and overcoming adversity since she grew up as a young black boy in the south. “Hmmmm,” I thought. “Something tells me You didn’t write this.”
Oh also, regarding compartmentalized language models in the brain, profanity and swearing is stored in muscle memory, not the front lobe. That’s why if u lose the power of speech due to stroke, you’d still be able to shout profanity of some kind.