The AI chatbot GPT has been a popular phenomenon for months, and designer Matt Webb has created an innovative and enjoyable use, creating a rhyming E Ink Clock.
The incredible ChatGPT makes composing a two-line rhyme that tells time for every minute of the day possible – something we all desire.
An old Inky wHAT screen and a Raspberry Pi repurposed as a text clock provide the power behind John Webb’s DM-clock. In an interview with The Verge, Webb revealed his setup and commented that he had initially intended the components to be used as a regular text clock.
He’s been experimenting with OpenAI’s language models and had the thought of combining them. For a while now, he has been toying around with these models and exploring the possibility of linking them.
Webb says:
“There’s a single prompt to ChatGPT, and the clock uses OpenAI’s API. The time is a parameter to the prompt. The prompt instructs the AI to respond with two rhyming lines, and encourages it to be imaginative and profound,”
The prompt to ChatGPT describes the physical setup of the room, including that the clock is situated in it. This enables the clock to communicate as a physical entity—as seen in this example.
Webb went on to say:
“In cozy shelves, I do reside, / It’s nearly noon, the clock confides.”
“In cozy shelves, I do reside, / It’s nearly noon, the clock confides.”
The clock created by Webb has the unique ability to generate its text each time it displays, rather than using a preset set of texts, due to the usage of ChatGPT as a cheaper option than GPT-3. Nonetheless, Webb expresses his preference for connecting the clock to GPT-3.
Webb continues to say:
“If I were an AI sommelier I’d say that ChatGPT is an easier drink with a long finish, very smooth, but GPT-3 is more complex and spicy,”
(who also describes his work as that of an “AI sommelier”). “It’s tight with its words and has a better vocab. But not quite worth 10x the cost for something sitting on my bookshelves.”
Webb, previously CEO and co-founder of design studio BERG, are well suited for constructing a pleasingly physical digital doodad as they created such gadgets before, with one standout example being Little Printer.
This fabulous device printed a thermally-inked daily digest filled with headlines, meetings, birthdays, and social media updates. Its highly customizable input allows users to customize it to their specific needs.
The enthusiasm surrounding Webb’s AI clock with rhyming capabilities has been incredible, so he is now contemplating two avenues to make it available to the public: assembling a kit for computer builders to construct their own and launching a commercial, ready-to-utilize product.
One can easily envision even more features that could be included, such as a knob allowing the user to adjust the tone of the miniature poems from cheerful to sad based on their mental state. This application will help people unwind after stressful days by evoking pleasant and amusing illustrations.
Webb seeks to offer a DIY kit and a finalized product of the clock. He desires to give his customers the liberty to choose one that best serves their needs.
Webb is yet to settle on a definite plan for making these options available and does not have an estimate of the cost. However, updates are available by signing up here.
Webb adds to say:
“My priority is to get this into people’s hands so I’m pushing on both routes simultaneously.”
“Big piece of the puzzle”
Creating a custom backend to send out times to multiple clocks required daily API calls to ChatGPT for the poems at $1.80 per day, which, though unaffordable for individual clock owners, amounted to very little when distributed among all units.
ChatGPT– a type of artificial intelligence language model — has an unfortunate tendency to generate false information or “hallucinate.” This issue applies even to seemingly simple tasks, such as when someone asks for time.
Webb mentions that the clock will occasionally present some inaccurate information regarding the time; this irregularity occurs approximately once every 15 minutes to make a particular rhyme sound appropriate.
Webb went on to say:
“The fibbing is hilarious. Sometimes you can’t tell — it might say ‘one past two’ when it’s actually ‘two past one,’”
He mentions that although this issue is “fixable,” it currently serves as an amusing system characteristic. According to him, “Clockwork” delivers absolute accuracy while “AI-work” generates seemingly fictional results.
By harnessing the power of ChatGPT, the clock can generate whimsical and informative poems, providing a novel way to tell the time. The clock represents a marriage between technology and creativity and is a testament to the power of AI to inspire and delight. As AI technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see more innovative applications like this that push the boundaries of what is possible.
The AI clock is a reminder that, while AI technology may have its drawbacks and limitations, it also has the potential to bring joy and wonder into our lives in unexpected ways. Overall, the AI clock that uses ChatGPT to generate tiny poems that tell the time is a delightful example of the creative potential of AI technology.
Source: The Verge
