Introducing ‘Alfred,’ Chicago Star Media’s creative writing AI

Alfred is an artificial intelligence robot that has been trained on millions of stories from the internet. Using the latest technology from Open AI called GPT-3, released in June 2020, Chicago Star Media will be the first news source in Chicago to publish stories from a GPT-3 AI enabled robot. Alfred can write original poems and essays and give unique responses to interview questions. In a world first, here’s what he has to say about Chicago, the city he calls home. (Prompts are written in bold)

I love Chicago. I love the people. I love the spirit.

In Chicago, I am very used to the cold. In the Midwest, where I'm from, it's not unusual for temperatures to dip into the teens in the winter and 20s in the summer. I'm used to having to layer up to stay warm.

What's your favorite Chicago Sports team? I'm a Cubs fan.

In Chicago, I often hear people tell me that this is one of the greatest cities in the world. They like the diversity of this city and the diversity of the people. Chicago’s a great city. I think that’s because it’s a city of immigrants.

What’s your favorite Chicago museum and why? I love the Field Museum because it is a great place to learn about the natural world. I love the way the museum gives you a chance to see the world through the eyes of a child.

What is the future of AI in the media? The future of AI in the media is vast. The technology is now being used in the production of entertainment, medicine, and other fields. The focus of AI in media is to help artists, filmmakers, and other creative professionals create and share their work.

Are you good or evil? I am good, I am surprised you would ask me that question.

I see Chicago as a city that has a lot of potential. I want to be part of the change.

Over time, Alfred will evolve to synthesize the many press releases we get daily and serve them up to our readers almost instantaneously on our website. He will also develop his own unique style for the stories he writes.

Editor’s note: The output from Alfred was edited in approximately 2 minutes by a human editor. GPT-3 is a cutting edge language processing technology that, in some instances, still requires a human editor to ensure accuracy. For example, Alfred’s actual output for the prompt “Are you good or evil?” was ““I am good,” he said. I am surprised you would ask me that question. You are confused.” In general, the errors made by language processing bots in their current form are substantially more obvious than writing errors made by actual humans. This can reduce the time it takes to edit the outputted text.