In his latest issue of galaxy brain, Charlie Warzel dismisses the value of ChatGPT in part because he’s unable to see the value or potential. of ChatGPT, because the ability to control or drive value from the tool is outside the grasp of most humanities types.
A good ChatGPT whisperer understands how to sequence commands in order to get a machine to do its bidding. That’s a genuine skill, but one that eludes me as well as some other humanities types I know. The best ChatGPT prompters I know tend to be good systems thinkers or at least well-organized people—the kind who might create a series of automated protocols and smart-home integrations to turn their lights on and off. I’m the guy who sees romance in wandering around in the dark, bumping into a coffee table, to find the switch.
I would argue that “humanities types” are some of the most well-positioned to be able to exploit the value of chat, GPT, and other large language models. Humanities types as he refers to them, understand language and its power of precise language more than most. The ability to construct exactly the right language or prompt is one of the key skills needed to extract value from chat, GPT.
