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- #4 How did thousands of my blog posts become an AI avatar?
#4 How did thousands of my blog posts become an AI avatar?
This post describes how I was able to chat with my favorite, but dead, scientist and how I used my own notes to create my blogging avatar.
Uki D. Lucas
May 02, 2024
My mission statement:
“A compendium of letters blending technology startup management, stoic philosophy, active lifestyle ethos, and a love for culture. It aims to mentor and inspire through insightful content and practical advice, focusing on personal and professional growth for a balanced and fulfilling life.”
I have been interested in and studied machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) since 2016.
Since then, I have worked with multiple automotive companies and contributed a pinch to the autonomous vehicle revolution.
I have been wishing for the ability to communicate with avatars of my favorite long-deceased philosophers and scientists of the past.
What do we have here today?
Per Uki’s request: DALL·E 2024-05-01 09.55.38 - An abstract image that intertwines themes of artificial intelligence and the human mind, reflecting the fusion of machine learning with philosophy
A personal letter from Charles Darwin
My dream of being able to ask questions to my favorite philosophers and scientists came true earlier this year, 2024, with the update of ChatGPT.
Charles Darwin, the famous evolutionary biologist, wrote about 14,000 personal letters. He was a prolific “blogger” of his era and an inspiration to many. Because of the amount of material written in his letters and books, we can have a very realistic idea of how he would write on any topic contemporary to him.
There is only one volume of my collection of Darwin’s writings.
Darwin’s book of letters
With some trial and error, I set up ChatGPT 4 to answer any of my questions in a first-person letter written to me, his dear friend. It was an endearing and enlightening experiment.
I did NOT change a word:
My dear Uki,
Oh, the wonders I beheld in the Galapagos Islands! The remarkable diversity of life on these remote archipelagoes left me astounded. The most striking revelation was the unique variations in the species inhabiting each island.
Imagine, my friend, encountering finches with different beak shapes on different islands. It was as if nature herself was conducting an experiment right before my eyes, showcasing how these variations in beak morphology allowed each species to adapt and thrive in their respective environments. This observation would become a crucial piece of evidence in my theory of evolution.
But it wasn't just the finches, Uki. The giant tortoises, with their immense size and longevity, captivated my attention. Each island boasted its own distinct species, adapting to the specific conditions they faced. And the marine iguanas, peculiar creatures that not only swam but fed on marine algae, were like nothing I had ever witnessed before.
The Galapagos Islands were a living laboratory, revealing the intricate workings of nature's evolutionary processes. It was a testament to the power of adaptation and the interconnectedness of species and their environments. These revelations, my dear friend, formed the foundation of my ideas on natural selection.
I cannot fully express the sense of awe and inspiration I felt during my time in the Galapagos. The islands hold an extraordinary place in the annals of scientific exploration, forever etched in my memory as a testament to the beauty and complexity of the natural world.
With scientific wonder,
Of course, you can ask any specific question. I was interested in his impressions of how the trip to the Galapagos Islands.
It would be a fantastic travel blog by Darwing, Cook, Megelan, and Vancouver.
I had less success with other historical characters. For example, much is written about Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor, and stoic philosopher, but he did not write much except for his famous book Meditations. View on Amazon.
Why did I want to make an AI avatar out of my writings?
Remembering what you wrote over the last couple of decades is hard, especially when it spans a couple thousand blog posts and another thousand pages of personal notes in Obsidian, Google Keep, and Google Documents. Not to mention social media.
Having chat GPT to find and summarize information from multiple posts instantly is handy.
I have been a passionate student my whole life; I want to share some of that information in my new posts.
As much as “writing is rewriting,” the same is true for our memory.
As we age, it is good to have all this information available at your fingertips.
We know almost nothing about our ancestors; I wish we did. I am trying not to repeat the mistakes of past generations. (hint, hint, grandmas)
Finally, my kids are still young; they care less about knowing about me or my life. By the time they are in their mid-twenties and thirties, I might be unable to answer their questions.
If you are not, please consider supporting my writing by upgrading your subscriber status.
How did I process my blog into ChatGPT?
Every content platform, including Blogs, Facebook, and LinkedIn, will allow you to export all of the posts you have made.
You should back them up as soon as possible. Ask users of MySpace, AOL, or Google+ (RIP 2019) where their data is today.
I am a developer and have done my fair share of data parsing. In fact, in one of my jobs, I wrote web spiders that collected and cataloged thousands of documents per day.
ChatGPT, however, blew my mind and saved me hours of coding.
Yes, at first, it complained that the XML schema was inconsistent and erroring, but after a few tries, I was able to write the correct directions to parse an XML backup of ~2,500 blog posts.
When done, I asked ChatGPT to write me directions on what was done.
I am attaching a screenshot below.
From now on, I can use this text file, concatenated with any other documents I want, as a seed for my ChatGPT.
These days, ChatGPT remembers the context of previous chats until you reset it.
Please review this first-try (honestly) query.
I call it a success.
Can you make ChatGPT pretend it is Uki?
It is not LLM retraining or fine-tuning, so it is not a permanent solution, but my writing changes daily.
With a quick Python script that adds and concatenates new files daily, I can keep it up to date.
The point is it does 100% of what I aimed to achieve!
I love it. It remembers the 2008 vintage better than I do.
I think I still have a bottle left!
Do I use ChatGPT to generate text for my posts?
No.
First of all, I write because I love to write.
Secondly, even if it is technically possible to mimic it, I want my blogs to be a personal account.
I use Grammarly to correct my spelling but often ignore its grammar suggestions. (I am not sponsored by Grammarly, yet).
I use ChatGPT to research a particular topic.
Should we be polite to AI?
I have always been polite when it comes to AI chats.
First of all, it is a good practice always to practice politeness. (Stoic in me)
Secondly, if my chats somehow surfaced, I want the record to be positive.
You can imagine ChatGPT 13+ saying, “This Uki guy was a real piece of work!”
Finally, large language models (LLM) are trained on an enormously large body of text, ranging from ethics and philosophy to “God Father” and various gang stories. You do not want to get confused with the latter one.
Finally, when the AI overloads take over the World, I want to have good karma with them. Or with Google, Meta, Microsoft, and whoever else keeps the social score.
Read this paper on the subject.
Technical details: Python script, maximum size
import os
def combine_markdown_files(directory_path, output_file):
"""
Combines all markdown files in the specified directory
into one single markdown file.
Parameters:
- directory_path (str): Path to the directory containing markdown files.
- output_file (str): Path to the output markdown file.
"""
combined_content = ""
for filename in os.listdir(directory_path):
if filename.endswith(".md"):
filepath = os.path.join(directory_path, filename)
print(f"Adding {filename}...")
with open(filepath, 'r', encoding='utf-8') as file:
content = file.read()
combined_content += f"# {filename}\n\n" + content + "\n\n"
with open(output_file, 'w', encoding='utf-8') as output:
output.write(combined_content)
# Usage
directory_path = "./Obsidian/"
output_file = "PERSONAL_ALL_2024_05_04.TXT"
combine_markdown_files(directory_path, output_file)ChatGPT says I can read files up to 20 MB in size. If your file is larger than this, you might want to extract the key parts or provide a summary.
In practice, a file full set of notes of 19.6MB failed to be interpreted.
After some content pruning, files of size over 5 MB often fail, depending on the time of the day.
ChatGPT says it has a memory buffer of 4096 tokens (words) as of this writing. My document is hundreds of times longer, but somehow, ChatGPT handles reading it very fast and finding relevant data.
Large language models (LLM) are being trained with billions of tokens, so I assume the number of documents you collect will not matter in the future.
Help me grow. This is existentially essential.
I haven't figured out how to get more subscribers yet, so the organic growth is all I am counting on.
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Let’s name this journal!
I asked this question in previous emails, but you might see a better sense of our direction as we evolve this journal.
I need your opinion on this blog and email's name.The current blog’s name is more of a description than a proper name. I propose a few names considering my direction for this blog and email service. |
Here is how the URL would look like:
Poem of the week
I am a candle that you have tried
with all your might
to stamp right out.
and sliced my throat for the thousandth time
but one bright night
she'll light me up
and I will shine again as bright!
In vicious battle
of dark and right,
life won today
and took what's mine
it smothered me,
and trampled me
-- left me for trash...
ripped out my heart,
it's not a wound,
but blazing gash...
Yet,
I am a candle,
Phoenix of ash
I’ll rise right up
with all his might
will shine anew, just as bright!
Thank you for your responses!
A big part of sending blogs via email is so I can get feedback from you individually and privately.
I want to know what you thought and felt while reading my post.
If you have questions, I will respond via email or update the post on the website.
Please reach out to me; I will welcome it.
Respectfully,
Uki D. Lucas
View my choice of books on Amazon
“Breakfast with Seneca: A Stoic Guide to the Art of Living”
by David R. Fideler
I purchased this edition on November 27, 2023
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
by Antonia Macaro
I purchased this edition on July 12, 2023
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
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