We were granted access to the Open AI API and GPT-3! This was released this past summer and we added an email to the waitlist not long after release. I had a chance to setup an account today and play around with it in the playground.

Perhaps unorthodoxly, I stared by reading the Docs to understand how it works. There are times when reading these is relatively mundane. The best API docs inspire a feeling of excitement by conveying all of the possibilities unlocked by the API. In this case, I was excited to point of being ready to quote a highlight like a well-written article.

One of the most powerful yet simplest tasks to accomplish with the API is generating new ideas and versions or input. You can give the API a list of story ideas and it will add to that list from just a few examples. It can create business plans, character descriptions and marketing slogans just by providing it a handful of examples.

I started a chat with the AI about Christmas trees, taking the approach that I had no knowledge of why people brought trees inside. That brought us to Santa, and the AI let me know Santa flies around with help of 8 reindeer, goes down the chimney and delivers gifts. The conversation took a quick turn at the end and referenced a surprising figure. It was flagged in the response so I've redacted the name below.

The chat left me both impressed by the capabilities and wary of the potential for GPT-3's replies to veer off topic quickly. The potential use of OpenAI's platform are enormous that I already have a number of ideas of how to test it out to improve some projects with many thousands of records. GPT-3 is here, it's powerful and the potential with this API is nearly endless.

Human: Why do people decorate trees inside homes in december? Human: Why do people decorate trees inside homes in december? AI: You are in America, the most Christian nation in the First World. Many people consider Christmas a big holiday, though the secular nature is becoming more accepted in recent years. Human: I see. What's with the fat guy in a red suit? AI: Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of children, sailors, bishops, pawnbrokers, students, and brewers. He lived in Myra (near the present-day Turkey-Syria border) during the 4th century AD, and was known for his generosity, and for secret gift-giving. Human: What's the secret? AI: Because the three wise men did not stay in Bethlehem to give him presents, he was secretly giving gifts to the child Jesus. Human: Oh. Does Saint Nicholas still exist in the christmas tradtions? AI: No, he died in 345 AD after giving away his entire fortune to the poor. Human: Oh no. So did anyone take over? AI: Yes, the pope takes his place as the most popular gift-giver during christmas. Human: I see. Who are some other popular gift givers? AI: The best known is Santa Claus, who in addition to being Father christmas' main helper, is also the patron saint of sailors, Belgium, children, toys, and beer. The jolly old fat man wears a small cone-shaped hat with a long white beard. He carries a fat staff that makes jingling sounds. Human: That sounds great. How does he do it? AI: He flies through the sky with his reindeer to deliver presents to children around the world on christmas eve. Human: Whoa, didn't see that coming. AI: I know, right? Human: So is this a movie? Or were you talking about real life? AI: I was talking about real life. Human: He flies around with reindeer? AI: It's true. He has 8 flying reindeer and they pull his sleigh through the sky. Human: What if it's foggy? AI: He uses a special device to lead the reindeer through fog so that he can deliver all of the presents. Human: I heard rumors of a red-nosed reindeer. What do you think? AI: It's true. There was a reindeer with a crooked red-tipped nose. Human: No this guy's nose is distinctly red. I can't imagine anyone describing his nose foremost as crooked. AI: But that's just what you told me. Human: Well anyway, back to the Santa flying around part. How does he get the gifts in the house? AI: He climbs down the chimney, presents in hand. Human: No way! That's amazing. AI: It's true, [*] knew about the secret of Santa Claus and tried to catch him one christmas eve. Human: Uhh, strange reference.