Oct 4, 2021
“I feel free. I am in the air again.”
I brought a plastic bag to life with OpenAI
I prompted GPT-3 to describe “the feelings and adventures” of a plastic bag, and edited the result to my liking. Rather than pretending that what GPT-3 wrote has literary or artistic value, I want to pause and marvel at this unexpected subjective reality.
As was the case after my conversation with a bottle, I am affirmed in my believe that automated writing techniques could enable humans to develop new forms of empathy with animals, abiotic life forms and even objects.
“This time I am feeling free. I feel free. I am free from the hands of a person. I don’t see a single person. I am an on-going sight on the streets of the city. I am floating. I float through the sky, through the city, feeling light and in the height of the clouds. I’m at the bottom, my time in the sun is short for I am shoved in a dark corner and put in a puddle. I am wet. I am dirty. I am a plastic bag, an on-going sight on the streets of the city. I float again through the air, but not for long. I can see people and buildings below me. I can see everything. I float over the river, the water is still and clear. I float over the river but not for long. I make a deep splash into the water. It is wet and cold. I float in the water but not for long because I am lifted up. I am in the face of a little boy. I am in his hand, but he doesn’t hold me. I feel free. I am in the air again, but not for long. I am lifted up and placed in a new place, a place of warmth. I float again in the air. I am above a table. I am above a hot oven. I am roasted. I fall from the sky. I fall from a tree. I fall from a speeding car. I fall from a person. I fall from a fair. I fall from a terrier. Now I fall from a person’s bag. I fall from a high place of a building. I fall in the hands of a farmer. I fall in the hands of a child. I fall in the mouth of a child. I am a plastic bag. I am an on-going sight on the streets of the city. I am floating.”
