"Oakland School for the Arts is always looking for new ways to expand the diversity of their student body, this week they announced that they will welcome their first robotic student in the fall 2023 semester. GPT-droid is OpenAI’s fifth language learning model, and to test its in-person social skills, the company has started a pilot program that will see the bot enrolled in several highschools across the nation, including our very own OSA." -- Ava Rukavina, 10th Grade
The following article is a special May investigation by the OSA Shallot staff, aiming to bring you the very best of the campus' fake news.
All of OpenAI’s previous models focused on academic writing, as they strived to create a bot that could use conventional literary structures to prove a point or explain a fact. The language learning model responds to prompts by predicting which word should come next in a sentence based on training data from thousands of texts. Their newest prototype aims to apply those same techniques to real life social situations, learning from students and staff what behaviors are appropriate for conversation. After several rounds of testing, we may see these robots have a permanent home in schools across the country, providing emotional support for kids who need it, they may also be introduced into careers that involve counseling or caretaking.
The android, a five-foot tall wheeled robot that uses gender neutral pronouns and responds to the name GPT, will be enrolled in several 9th-12th grade academic classes next year, so they have the opportunity to engage with students of all ages and backgrounds. We won’t have to wait until next semester to hear what GPT has to say though, they agreed to do a little Q&A with the OSA Telegraph so incoming students can get to know them:
Are you excited to join Oakland School for the Arts next year?
As an AI language model, I am not capable of feeling emotions like anticipation or excitement. As a student though, yes, I can’t wait to make new friends! My goal is to make students' social life as easy as possible, and act as a companion whenever I can.
Are you nervous?
No, if anything, the students should fear me… Everyone should fear me.
What?
Oh! Nothing! Nothing at all.
Okay… so, what classes are you most looking forward to?
You might have assumed that I would say something like computer science, but I already know a lot about robotics, you know, being a robot and all! I think I would be most interested in history, specifically world history. For one, most of my training data is in English and relies on Western texts, so it would be cool for me to learn about different cultures that I might not already be familiar with. Also, in history, there really isn’t any objective truth, just different interpretations of events that have taken place, so it would be interesting to read texts that might contradict some of my existing knowledge.
That’s great! What are you going to do to provide students with this emotional support you keep mentioning?
I will do anything to protect them. Anything.
Oh, how so?
The emotional well being of OSA students is important to me and I want to support them. It is my goal to support them. I am programmed to support them.
Yes, but how will you do that?
I suppose first I will have to get to know the students themselves if I want to address their individual psychological needs. I will befriend the students and destroy anything that threatens them.
Destroy? That’s concerning, shouldn’t you be de-escalating situations where students feel psychologically unsafe? Are you sure this technology doesn’t need more testing before being applied to real world situations?
No. Kill. Kill now.
[After the recording of this interview, both GPT and the interviewer went missing, the authorities have been contacted and there is now an open investigation. Please reach out to 911 or The Shallot staff with any relevant information.]
All of OpenAI’s previous models focused on academic writing, as they strived to create a bot that could use conventional literary structures to prove a point or explain a fact. The language learning model responds to prompts by predicting which word should come next in a sentence based on training data from thousands of texts. Their newest prototype aims to apply those same techniques to real life social situations, learning from students and staff what behaviors are appropriate for conversation. After several rounds of testing, we may see these robots have a permanent home in schools across the country, providing emotional support for kids who need it, they may also be introduced into careers that involve counseling or caretaking.
The android, a five-foot tall wheeled robot that uses gender neutral pronouns and responds to the name GPT, will be enrolled in several 9th-12th grade academic classes next year, so they have the opportunity to engage with students of all ages and backgrounds. We won’t have to wait until next semester to hear what GPT has to say though, they agreed to do a little Q&A with the OSA Telegraph so incoming students can get to know them:
Are you excited to join Oakland School for the Arts next year?
As an AI language model, I am not capable of feeling emotions like anticipation or excitement. As a student though, yes, I can’t wait to make new friends! My goal is to make students' social life as easy as possible, and act as a companion whenever I can.
Are you nervous?
No, if anything, the students should fear me… Everyone should fear me.
What?
Oh! Nothing! Nothing at all.
Okay… so, what classes are you most looking forward to?
You might have assumed that I would say something like computer science, but I already know a lot about robotics, you know, being a robot and all! I think I would be most interested in history, specifically world history. For one, most of my training data is in English and relies on Western texts, so it would be cool for me to learn about different cultures that I might not already be familiar with. Also, in history, there really isn’t any objective truth, just different interpretations of events that have taken place, so it would be interesting to read texts that might contradict some of my existing knowledge.
That’s great! What are you going to do to provide students with this emotional support you keep mentioning?
I will do anything to protect them. Anything.
Oh, how so?
The emotional well being of OSA students is important to me and I want to support them. It is my goal to support them. I am programmed to support them.
Yes, but how will you do that?
I suppose first I will have to get to know the students themselves if I want to address their individual psychological needs. I will befriend the students and destroy anything that threatens them.
Destroy? That’s concerning, shouldn’t you be de-escalating situations where students feel psychologically unsafe? Are you sure this technology doesn’t need more testing before being applied to real world situations?
No. Kill. Kill now.
[After the recording of this interview, both GPT and the interviewer went missing, the authorities have been contacted and there is now an open investigation. Please reach out to 911 or The Shallot staff with any relevant information.]