Why AI Writing Is Bland
And the principle of subtractive color mixing
As a child, I sat with a palette of paint at my disposal and attempted to mix as many colors as I could manage. With eager eyes, I watched as vibrant colors combined on the page. As more and more began to meld into one, I stared at the resultant conglomeration, confused. The more shades I added to the mix, the less interesting it became. The identity of each was lost in a dull monotony.
“How can such a varied array of color result in something so bland?” I wondered.
When multiple colors are blended, many might be surprised to learn that the result is typically little more than a muddy brown or gray. But this is rooted in the way pigments absorb and reflect specific wavelengths of light. Primary colors when combined should theoretically produce black, as all light is absorbed.
However, due to the imperfections in real-world pigments, we usually end up with varied shades of brown. When too many colors are melded together, each one becomes muted. Each individual’s effect is less pronounced. They get lost in the noise.
The number of shifting variables at play in the world of AI is enormous. At OpenAI, there are over 100 trillion parameters — essentially the knobs that are adjusted behind the scenes at the company — that dictate…
