Wagner James Au / New World Notes

Author, strategist, virtual world reporter

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ChatGPT Now Freely Available, Still Hilariously Confused About Virtual Worlds & Avatar Identity

ChatGPT Open AI

Open AI recently made ChatGPT 3.5 freely available to anyone on the web here. No doubt it's useful for various applications, but as noted last year, it remains comically confused about virtual worlds and avatars — even confusing my name with my avatar's name.

But it's not just me! Ask ChatGPT, "Who is the SL artist AM Radio?", and you get:

AM Radio, whose real name is Alejandro Miguel Justino Crawford, is a Second Life (SL) artist known for his immersive and evocative virtual art installations within the virtual world of Second Life. His work often explores themes of nostalgia, Americana, and the passage of time…

I don't even know who the fuck Alejandro Crawford is, but I bet Jeff Berg would be a bit miffed, as would his son.

Ask "Who created the Second Life brand Blueberry?", and you get:

The Second Life brand "Blueberry" is created by a virtual fashion designer known by the username "Blueberryxx" or simply "Blueberry" within the Second Life platform. Blueberry is renowned for creating high-quality virtual clothing and accessories for avatars in Second Life, catering to a diverse range of styles and preferences within the virtual fashion community.

Somehow ChatGPT again gets the description right but totally misses the name — even though Mishi McDuff has been featured in Vogue and many other major media outlets.

And not just Second Life! Ask ChatGPT, "Who is Syrmor related to VRChat?", and you get:

Syrmor, also known as Roflgator, is a popular content creator within the VRChat community. He gained fame by creating videos that showcase the experiences and stories of various users within the virtual world of VRChat. Syrmor is known for his empathetic approach to storytelling, often focusing on the personal struggles, triumphs, and unique perspectives of individuals he encounters in VRChat.

Roflgator is another VRChat YouTuber with a very different vibe, while real life Syrmor has been featured on HBO.

An AI expert observed that ChatGPT "aspires to be the most mediocre web content you can imagine", but when it comes to virtual worlds, it's actively and hilariously injecting misinformation about a technology used by upwards of 1 billion people.

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6 responses to “ChatGPT Now Freely Available, Still Hilariously Confused About Virtual Worlds & Avatar Identity”

  1. Martin K. Avatar
    Martin K.

    when it comes to virtual worlds, it’s actively and hilariously injecting misinformation
    This is probably true about almost any domain of specialized knowledge. The main reason why people don’t share many more of those failures is probably that they are funny only to domain experts.

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  2. n Avatar
    n

    Indeed, butter knives are useful for various applications, but “hilariously” they don’t function well as screwdrivers.
    After over a year, some people remain comically confused and still try to use ChatGPT as a screwdriver. ChatGPT (using the old GPT-3.5 model) without web search is obviously not a Google Search alternative and it is not designed to be.
    To make this post more useful: if you are seeking factual knowledge, you should rather use tools specifically designed for web search. Perplexity and Copilot are freely available since a long time. There is no reason to use ChatGPT for that purpose. Moreover, they provide sources for the information they present, so you can check them.
    Perplexity:

    AM Radio in Second Life (SL) is the avatar of Jeffrey Berg, an artist and technologist known for creating immersive art experiences within the virtual world. Berg, under the pseudonym AM Radio, has built multiple regions in Second Life, inspiring many residents with his unique artistic style

    Copilot More Precise:

    AM Radio is a renowned artist in Second Life, a user-created virtual world. He is known for creating immersive artwork that has drawn a passionate following within the game[1]. His real name is Jeff Berg[1]. Despite his fame, he has always preferred to keep his real and virtual identities separate[1]. His work has been featured in The New York Times Magazine and other outlets[1]. However, he mysteriously disappeared from Second Life in 2011, leaving behind only one of his creations[1].

    “Who created the Second Life brand Blueberry?”

    The Second Life brand Blueberry was created by Mishi McDuff. She founded the House of Blueberry, also known as Blueberry, in 2012. The brand designs virtual clothing and accessories for avatars in Second Life. McDuff started as an independent creator on Second Life and has since expanded the brand into other metaverse environments. As of now, Blueberry has sold over 20 million units of virtual clothing.

    “Who is Syrmor related to VRChat?”

    Syrmor Shiraz is a Canadian YouTuber known for his online virtual reality videos. His content mainly consists of gaming videos, more specifically in virtual reality. His channel revolves around the game VRChat, where he finds people online and interacts with them. He has over 1.07 million subscribers and his videos often involve deep and emotional conversations with other VRChat users. For example, he has videos where a guy in VR talks about their worst day as a soldier, or another guy opens up about his last girlfriend. His work has been described as finding human interest stories in virtual reality.

    Are they perfect? No. But they do a much better job. People should understand that artificial neural networks, like the natural ones from which they are inspired, don’t produce precise results as a calculator would do. So always check the results. Or use language models for language related purposes.
    By the way, misuse aside, is “ChatGPT 3.5” another example of how people keep to confabulate, “hallucinate” or are they “actively and hilariously injecting misinformation”? It is ChatGPT, which utilizes the GPT-3.5 model, distinct from ChatGPT Plus that employs the GPT-4 model.

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  3. Nat Avatar
    Nat

    I have asked ChatGPT to explain endings of books and novels, many times. It often changes the names of the characters (why?), what they did (why?), and hallucinates entirely different scenarios. It does this to certain books more than others. So I go back to looking for human-reviews and fan-discussion on forums.

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  4. n Avatar
    n

    For a laugh:
    https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/04/the-fine-art-of-human-prompt-engineering-how-to-talk-to-a-person-like-chatgpt/

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  5. Wagner James Au Avatar
    Wagner James Au

    Good examples, N! Though I will say “[AM Radio] mysteriously disappeared from Second Life in 2011, leaving behind only one of his creations” is taken directly from the opening of a Polygon article I wrote… which actually explains the mystery!

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  6. n Avatar
    n

    Thank you! Yes, Copilot used Bing to search the web, cited the search results, and linked the sources (your article on Polygon). Indeed, it also mentioned the mystery and it’s true that you explained it. To be fair, exploring the mystery was beyond the scope of the question, which was ‘Who is the SL artist AM Radio?’ and that question was answered. You can ask follow-up questions, though. But another reason could be that Copilot couldn’t fully access the article.
    So I asked Perplexity “Why did AM Radio Jeff Berg disappear from Second Life in 2011?”:
    https://www.perplexity.ai/search/Why-did-AM-TlQvLKRzTtuaebkEO44EcA#0

    AM Radio Jeff Berg disappeared from Second Life in 2011 due to a combination of factors, including the demands of his real life conflicting with his virtual fame. Berg felt he was neglecting those around him, both in his personal life and career, leading to a sense of imbalance. As his virtual creations were hosted on a university’s virtual land that was closing down its Second Life presence, nearly all of AM Radio’s creations disappeared along with it. Despite offers from others to host his creations, the terms and timing never aligned. Berg’s absence from Second Life was also influenced by a fear of obligations resurfacing and taking over his life again, making it challenging for him to reconnect with the virtual world. This departure marked a significant shift for AM Radio, leaving behind a legacy that continues to resonate with users who still visit his creations to this day

    Perplexity, too, links your article, so the user can the read the whole story.
    Not too bad, considering that this is the free available version.

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