ChatGPT thinks humans are better than animals

You Can’t Make This Up

If it hadn’t happened to me today, I probably wouldn’t believe it.

For my new Pure Neo Magazine column “Germany - We Have a Problem” I was creating an image reminiscent of the famous Japanese pictorial maxim embodying the proverbial principle “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.”

In the original, the three wise monkeys are Mizaru, who “does not see,” covering his eyes; Kikazaru, who “does not hear,” covering his ears; and Iwazaru, who “does not speak,” covering his mouth.

For my column, I needed the third monkey to represent a loud mouth. So, I used OpenAI’s DALL·E to generate the image. It took about 20 minutes to refine the results to my liking.

This was my initial prompt:

GOAL: I need a compelling high-quality picture for the header of a blog post. I will also use this picture on LinkedIn and Twitter to trigger attention.
CONTEXT: I want a picture that is a reminiscence to the famous "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil" image that shows three apes and the first ape covers his eyes with his hands, the second ape covers his ears with his hands, and the third covers his mouth with this hands. BUT I want this picture with a twist. The third ape is NOT covering his mouth with his hands. He is doing the opposite. He shouts out loud with wide open mouth and holds his hands left and right to his mouth to sound even louder.
ACTION: Before you start creating you will ask me questions if you need more context. When you have all information you create the picture in the highest possible resolution. Do you understand?

Here the response of ChatGPT"

Absolutely, I understand your requirements. To ensure I create the perfect image for your needs, I have a few clarifying questions:

1. Aesthetic Preferences: Are there any specific colors, styles, or design elements you prefer for this image? For instance, do you want it to be more realistic, cartoonish, or stylized in a particular way?
2. Background Details: What kind of background would you like for the image? Do you want it to be plain, have a specific setting, or include additional elements that might enhance the message?
3. Expression and Emotion: Can you describe the kind of expression you want on the third ape’s face when he is shouting? Should it be intense, comical, exaggerated, or more subdued?
4. Additional Elements: Is there any text or additional graphical elements you would like to include in the image? For example, any logos, taglines, or annotations?
5. Brand Alignment: Are there any specific aspects of Pure Neo’s brand identity (like colors, logos, or specific design motifs) that should be reflected in the image?

Once I have these details, I can proceed with creating the image for you.

And my short answer to this:

1. black and white and as realistic as possible
2. plain background
3. intense, aggressive, with scary teeth
4. no
5. no

I was very happy with the result and will use it for my magazine column.

So far, so good.

However, I needed another image for the upcoming “The Good, the Bad, the Ugly” column of Pure Neo Magazine.

Here my follow-up prompt:

Awesome. I take this one. But we are not ready yet. Now I need the same three apes standing for something different. They have to represent, the good, the bad, the ugly.

I was laughing so hard when this image appeared on my screen.

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But I was also shocked. The picture seemed to suggest that if something is good, it has to be human, implying that humans are better than animals.

Clearly, I needed another attempt. I also didn’t like the hair compared to the first result; it looked like they had just gotten a fresh haircut with some gel in it.

After 2-3 attempts with unsatisfactory results, I opened the first generated image in the DALL·E image editor (not available in the macOS app yet) and used the selection tool to select the areas I wanted to change. Step by step, I instructed DALL·E to delete the hands and arms and alter the facial expressions of the first two apes.

After 15 more minutes, I had the final result.

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I'm happy with my final images now, but the journey to get there was filled with moments that made me think.

Who defines what is good or ugly?

Before I used the selection tool to isolate the areas I wanted to change, I got many bad results. Here’s one that was particularly strange.

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The ugly ape on the right had a lip piercing. Apparently, this is the second-best guess of how ChatGPT defines something ugly.

These examples show us how biased and dependent on training input GenAI is.

What do ChatGPT and similar models “think” about ethics, morality, and politics?

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