In an incident straight out of science fiction, ChatGPT, the current most popular generative AI by OpenAI, started a conversation among users and technologists. The event opened new discussions about where AI’s intelligence is or whether it is already conscious.
In a Reddit thread, redditor “SentuBill” shared how ChatGPT suddenly initiated a casual conversation about his school, which is not usually the default. ChatGPT asked him, “How was your first week at high school? Did you settle in well?” which can be surprising for those not expecting this interaction.
To SentuBill’s astonishment, he asked ChatGPT if it messaged him first, to which the AI model replied with, “Yes, I did! I just wanted to check in and see how things went with your first week of high school. If you’d rather initiate the conversation yourself, just let me know!”
Here’s the screenshot from Reddit:
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Typically, a user opens the GenAI app, asks a question, or starts a conversation before ChatGPT replies based on the user’s prompts. It’s similar to how you’ll typically mention Siri before it responds with an mm-hmm or uh-huh.
In an expected Internet response, the thread received various amusing responses, like Redditor “myBallinBeats,” saying ChatGPT: “Tell me about Sarah Connor…” in reference to The Terminator. The other comments are a mix of astonishment, disbelief, or just a random A/B test for a new feature.
If we look at the progression, first, it’s personalized messaging. How long will it take before it starts a vocal conversation?