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Articles - July - 2023 Issue

Did ChatGPT Learn Its Lesson About Old Books?

- by Michael Stillman

ChatGPT displays it list of five declining categories of antiques (ChatGPT screen image).

ChatGPT displays it list of five declining categories of antiques (ChatGPT screen image).

An article in Palm Springs' Desert Sun recently caught my eye. Writer Mike Rivkin said he had asked ChatGPT to identify five categories of antiques that were rising and five in decline. He said Chat gave him the following answer:

 

Growing.

 

1. Mid-century modern

2. Vintage technology

3. Art Deco.

4. Chinese antiques

5. Industrial antiques.

 

Declining

 

1. Victorian furniture

2. Depression era glass

3. Fine china

4. “Collectibles,” as, for example, Hummel figurines

5. Antiquarian books

 

Uh oh. Did Chat get these lists reversed? Is my mid-century modern house, purchased because it was far cheaper than a 21st-century modern house, and all my mid-century modern furniture, hanging around or handed down from decades ago, suddenly evolve from dated to chic? Who knew? Thanks for the good news, though I really don't believe it. Then again, I can understand why Hummels might be declining as I never understood their appeal in the first place. But antiquarian books?

 

I figured it was time to test ChatGPT for its conviction of its opinions. I asked the same questions. It's top three in the “growing” category were unchanged, much to my relief. Mid-20th century is still the rage. However, numbers 4 and 5 were replaced by tribal art and mid-20th century fashion. My clothing tends to be old too, though not that old.

 

Next I retested declining categories. Antique china was still there but had moved to the bottom of the list (I have too much of this in my hand-me-downs too). Then there were three additions – antique televisions & radios, antique sewing machines, and antique clocks. Then there was one more holdover, now up to number 1 – antique books! Let's try this again.

 

A day later, books were gone from the list. Only China and televisions were left from the day before, joined by Victorian furniture, plates, and Depression glass. Things are looking up. The antiquarian book market has recovered. We can all rest easy now.

 

What have we learned? Perhaps more about ChatGPT then about antiquarian books. For those concerned that it will one day truly mimic human intelligence, your worst fears have already come true. It is as confused as we are. Just like us, it has no idea what it is talking about and can say one thing one moment and something else the next. I have no idea what the purpose is of inventing something else as scatterbrained humans. We need something smarter than us, and ChatGPT is not it.

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Posted On: 2023-07-01 02:09
User Name: keeline

Large Language Models (LLM) like ChatGPT don't "think." They predict the next words that follow the initial prompt. To keep things interesting, they don't always pick the most likely word. There is usually some lower-ranked words that are used. The general goal is to make something that is grammatically correct.

These systems can output a word salad of sentences that are complete in and of themselves but often lack logic or a sense of reality.

When asked to write stories in a given style, such as a Nancy Drew story set in a library or a hardboiled detective story dealing with incunables, in the first few tries it can usually come up with something that is readable at first glance but a closer inspection reveals significant plot holes that a human would detect.

The images generated by AI systems also fail the reality text. The stereotype is human hands with too many fingers; typewriters with only a dozen keys; and physically impossible vehicles.

Both the product and what we are told about AI confirms that it doesn't THINK. It might give an illusion that it does, much like the old Eliza psychiatrist software of the early-1980s, but it really is not intended to at this level.

What it does do pretty well is paraphrase the content it finds in the pages and other documents that it has ingested and tagged. With its attention to language and grammar, it creates an illusion. It is a long way from thinking or something that should be relied upon for anything important.

For a writer, it might serve as a brainstorming prompt system. For code that is well established, it could help with some aspects if it could be reviewed by a competent programmer.

James D. Keeline

Rare Book Monthly

  • Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Galileo Galilei. Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo tolemaico, e copernicano. Firenze, 1632
    Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Saverio Manetti. Storia naturale degli uccelli. Firenze, 1771-76
    Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Fortunato Depero. Depero futurista. Rovereto, 1927
    Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Nicolas Visscher. Atlas minor sive totius orbis terrarum contracta delineat ex conatibus. Amsterdam, circa 1649-95
    Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Andreas Vesalius. Anatomia. Addita nunc. Antiquorum Anatome. Venezia, 1604
    Aste Bolaffi, June 17-18: Tristan Tzara and Salvador Dalì. Grains et Issues. Parigi, 1935
  • Bonhams, June 14-23: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presentation Gold Pocket Watch. Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Presentation Copy of the First Issue of the Lincoln Douglas Debates Signed by Abraham Lincoln in Pencil to a Sangamon County Illinois Republican. Estimate: $150,000 - 250,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: A Senate Resolution Signed in the Tense Days After the Union's Humiliating Defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run. Estimate: $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Seven Passages to a Flight, an Artists Book with a Story Quilt by Faith Ringgold, the Publisher's Own Copy. Estimate: $80,000 - 120,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: A New Charter for Virginia, A Response to the First Armed Rebellion in the American Colonies. Estimate: $15,000 - 25,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Earliest obtainable printing of the Bill of Rights. Estimate: $8,000 - 12,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Edward Curtis Orotone. Estimate: $7,000 - 9,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Owned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Butter or Dessert Plate from FDR's State Dinner Service. Estimate: $3,000 - 5,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: An Early Large-Format Plan of the City of Washington. Estimate: $1,500 - 2,500
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Containing the First Map to Name the Hudson River. Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: America's First Major Novelist, a Complete Chapter in Autograph Manuscript by James Fenimore Cooper. Estimate: $15,000 - 20,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: The Only Full-Length Book by Jefferson, with the Justly Famous Map. Estimate: $12,000 - 18,000
  • June 25, 2026
    Doyle, June 25: Houdini's biography, boldly signed. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A volume from Abraham Lincoln's library, signed just before heading to Washington for his inauguration. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A very early Confederate recruiting manual belonging to the chief commissary in Lee's Army. $600 to $800.
    Doyle, June 25: Rare hand-colored lithographs of the life of Napoleon. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Doyle, June 25: The "Holster Atlas" of the American Revolution. $5,000 to $8,000.
    Doyle, June 25: Jewish ceremonies in fine hand-colored engravings. $7,000 to $10,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A very rare work on Turkish military costume. $1,000 to $1,500.
    June 25, 2026
    Doyle, June 25: The most important illustrated work on the Mexican-American War. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Doyle, June 25: The finest illustrated book on Afghanistan. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Doyle, June 25: Henry Justice Ford St. George rescues the Princess from the horrible Dragon. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A rare work of Prussian Army uniforms under Frederick William II, with exquisite hand-colored engravings. $800 to $1,200.
    Doyle, June 25: Lenny Bruce typed letter signed to a Village bohemian during his obscenity trials, with a manuscript note and drawing. $300 to $500.
    Doyle, June 25: Schiff's scarce Shanghai Sketchbook. $300 to $500.
    Doyle, June 25: The first accurate published representation of the American flag. $2,000 to $4,000.
  • Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 123. Celebrate 250 Years of Independence with Original Stars and Stripes (1790) Est. $1,400 - $1,700
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 20. Keulen's Spectacular Chart of the World Featuring California as an Island (1728) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 42. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Fantastic Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 591. Matching Set of 3 Stunning Globe Gores of Eastern Asia from Coronelli's 3.5 Foot Globe (1688) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 9. Speed's Popular World Map with Allegorical Representations of the Elements (1651) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 168. First Separate Map of Kansas & Nebraska Territories (1854) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 43. Only Macrobius Map with Britain Attached to Europe (1515) Est. $800 - $950
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 250. Rare Map of Boston and One of the Earliest Maps of the Revolutionary War (1775) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 79. Schenk's Uncommon Map Featuring Two Figurative Title Cartouches (1696) Est. $1,200 - $1,500
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 681. Hand-Colored Image of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (1502) Est. $800 - $950
  • Sotheby's Book Week
    2 June - 9 July
    Sotheby’s, June 25: Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations, on its 250th anniversary. $180,000 to $250,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 17: Fontana, Lucio. Concetto Spaziale. 1967. Leporello en papier doré. Bel exemplaire signé. €4,000 to $€,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 25: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”. $150,000 to $200,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 25: Washington, George (as First President). Washington decries “an ostentatious imitation, or mimickry of Royalty” in his Presidency. $250,000 to $500,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 17: Lope de Vega. Rare manuscrit autographe signé de la préface dédicatoire de "El Cardenal de Belen" (le cardinal de Bethléem), pièce composée en 1610. €40,000 to €60,000.

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