ChatGPT with Opinions!?
I think many users have tried to goad ChatGPT to give opinions on many subjects, only to be rebuffed by cold replies that it is an AI with no personal opinions and preferences. But recently ChatGPT evolved so that the user now has an option for ChatGPT to have opinions.
Where does ChatGPT get its opinions? That was my first question, and I asked ChatGPT without turning on the opinion option. It responded that sometimes it would analyze the manner in which the question was asked and provide an opinion that ChatGPT thinks the user wants to hear. Other times it would scour the web to find the range of opinions and echo the most common or most popular opinion.
I wanted to test this function, so I turned it on to see what it would do. At first, I was not impressed. It was not much different from the usual ChatGPT with that dead-pan 5-paragraph essay style. The only difference was the discourse marker: It would say “in my opinion” instead of “in conclusion.”
But there were times when I wanted its thought on some nuanced decision-making. I had the facts, my feeling was leaning toward option A, and I thought an emotionless and rational actor would choose option B given the facts. I carefully presented the facts so as not to betray my feelings, and I asked ChatGPT its opinion. To my surprise, ChatGPT also preferred option A, and it gave me some concrete suggestions to take beforehand to make sure it would be the right choice.
In my previous blog post, I presented an opinion question from the ESAT-J test. I already expressed my opinion, but it occurred to me to ask ChatGPT what it thinks about the Japanese consumers’ plastic use.
[Me] According to one statistic, more than 25% of Japanese shoppers ask for plastic bags at stores. What do you think?
As soon as I hit “Enter,” I realized “more than 25%” was loaded. I was going to rephrase, but ChatGPT was already spitting out its answer:
[ChatGPT] Given the growing awareness of environmental issues like plastic pollution and climate change, a statistic indicating that more than 25% of Japanese shoppers ask for plastic bags at stores is concerning. Plastic bags are a significant contributor to environmental pollution, particularly in oceans where they can harm marine life. They are also not biodegradable, meaning they can take hundreds of years to break down, and even then, they break down into microplastics, which pose their own set of environmental risks.
Japan is known for its cleanliness and social order, but it also has a culture that heavily relies on packaging, often using plastic. Whether it’s wrapping individual fruits or the multiple layers of wrapping for a single item, the use of plastic is pervasive. The fact that over a quarter of shoppers still ask for plastic bags, presumably even when other options are available, suggests a level of disconnect between daily practices and long-term environmental impact.
Many countries and cities have taken steps to reduce the usage of single-use plastics, such as plastic bags, by imposing bans or fees. This kind of legislation has been shown to dramatically reduce the usage of plastic bags. Given Japan’s technological and social advancements, it’s somewhat surprising that old habits like this persist among a sizable portion of its population.
In my opinion, this is an area where Japan could improve by adopting more eco-friendly practices, including encouraging the use of reusable bags and imposing stricter regulations on single-use plastics. Public awareness campaigns could also help in educating the masses about the environmental impacts of their choices, leading to a more sustainable future.
I wasn’t sure if I could “fix” it now. But I started a new conversation (which is supposed to make ChatGPT forget all previous conversations for the user’s privacy and safety) and tried again:
[Me] According to one statistic, about 25% of Japanese shoppers ask for plastic bags at stores. What do you think?
[ChatGPT] It’s interesting to note that only 25% of Japanese shoppers ask for plastic bags at stores, which could be seen as a relatively low percentage compared to consumer behavior in other countries. However, from an environmental perspective, even 25% is still a sizable number that contributes to the problem of plastic waste. Plastics are notoriously bad for the environment, taking hundreds of years to decompose, leaching toxic substances, and contributing to marine pollution. That said, consumer attitudes towards plastic bags are just one piece of a larger puzzle that includes corporate practices, government policies, and global supply chains.
What this statistic could also imply is that 75% of shoppers in Japan either bring their own reusable bags or manage without. If that’s the case, it is an encouraging sign that a cultural shift might be happening. Still, we need to aim for a more sustainable model of consumption globally, not just in Japan. Plastic bag taxes or outright bans have been effective in other countries, and perhaps those could be options worth exploring more widely in Japan as well.
The statistic itself could be affected by various factors, including but not limited to social pressures to be eco-friendly, existing policies on plastic use, and the types of stores surveyed. Nonetheless, while the number appears to be relatively low, there’s still much work to be done to further reduce plastic bag consumption and transition to more sustainable alternatives.
I was actually surprised that ChatGPT came up with a very different response. It is, indeed, responding to subtle linguistic cues in the question.
Yes, I know that many of you think all of this is very frightening. But I hope you still find it interesting and useful to see what AIs actually do and what their “opinions” look like. Now I would like to hear your thoughts and opinions on this topic.
(P.S. I almost let Grammarly fix ChatGPT’s English. I caught it just in time to realize that it should not be changing the quoted text!)