I always thought reading science fiction would prepare us for the future, but fantasy novels might be better suited to understanding our suddenly AI-haunted world.
There are now advanced and useful systems whose exact operations remain mysterious, even to those who built them. While one can understand the technical aspects of building Large Language Models like ChatGPT, the precise capabilities and limitations of these AIs are often only uncovered through trial and error. And having both conducted academic studies and developed magic spells for fictional fantasy games, working with ChatGPT often feels more like the latter.
Consider that ChatGPT outputs are created by prompts invoking webs of tenuous connections, basically programs in prose form. And since the way that the AI makes these connections are not always clear, creating good prompts requires exploring the AI with language (here are some hints to get started in your explorations). Once discovered, new invocations are often kept secret to gain an advantage in a job, or else shared online through secretive chat groups. But the magic analogy goes beyond secret knowledge and esoteric schools: There are certain words that ChatGPT cannot seem to remember or understand (ask it what Skydragon means). There are glyphs that other AIs cannot see. Still other AIs seem to have invented their own languages by which you can invoke them. You can bind autonomous vehicles in circles of salt. As science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke’s Third Law states: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”