- Can we write better than a bot?
- Let's talk about that.
(upbeat music)
Good Mythical Morning.
- On today's show, Link and Rhett answer viewer questions
about color-changing animals, invisible walls,
and all the terrible, terrible things
that language comes up with.
Go to the Ear Biscuits store,
watch the Rhett and Link playlist,
and don't miss an episode of "Good Mythical Morning"
on http://YouTube.
(Rhett chuckles)
- It's time for- - Wait! Nope.
That intro wasn't original, I'm sorry to say.
It was written entirely by artificial intelligence!
- Wow, I couldn't tell.
- Yeah, so I'm sorry.
We're not gonna be answering any questions
about color-changing animals.
But we are gonna do,
what we are gonna do is see
if AI can write better short stories than us,
because there are websites like Shortlyread.com
which employ AI software to literally write a story for you.
- The future, y'all.
- I don't know if this AI is also emotionally intelligent,
but we're gonna find out
because we're definitely gonna make fun of it
when it writes something really stupid.
It's time for
We're Writing Stories with AI on Today's Show,
If the Software Writes Better than Us,
We Should Pack Our Things and Go!
- All right, yeah.
We're gonna see where the AI takes us.
Hopefully it's not to leave.
But before we jump in and start writing with a bot,
we did a little boopity-boop boop-boop boop-boop research
to see exactly how the software works,
so we just wanna share with you what we've learned.
Artificial intelligence writing assistants
use machine learning
to help creators through the writing process,
if they so choose to use them. - Yeah.
- By the end of this, I wanna revisit that.
If, as creative writers,
if this is something we'd actually wanna do.
This technology contains NLP,
which is natural language processing,
which is able to analyze the text
and provide related content and recommendations.
And it also is trained
to follow statistical patterns in language
like basic structures of tone and grammar.
- Was that written by AI?
- No, that was written by me. - Oh, okay.
But before an AI writing algorithm can write something,
it must somehow understand the topic it's gonna write.
So there's no conscious learning within the software,
but the algorithm is designed to seek out, digest,
analyze, and reprocess information from other sources
in order to write something that makes sense.
But, and this is a big ol' but-
- But! - According to the 2020
USC Annenberg Relevance Report,
which is my personal favorite relevance report,
all things being relative, they state,
"Even though these systems
can seemingly write a convincing story,
they still lag behind human creativity
when it comes to radical and original thinking.
That's because artificial neural networks
and machine learning rely on vast amounts of data
to identify patterns within them,
but they can't predict when these patterns will change,
a croosile, crucial component of creative thinking."
- You don't even know how to read the word "crucial."
- Croosile. Crucial. - Croosile?
Basically what we're seeing
is that all those cliffhangers or surprise twists
are something that, thank God, only we humans can provide.
- Right.
- Or is that true? Today we're gonna figure that out.
- Okay, there's a bunch of AI writing systems out there,
but today we're using Shortlyread.
- Not a sponsor.
- Okay, so we're each gonna write some stories in real time
and see what happens.
Let's dive in and show 'em how this works.
- Yeah, so I've got the website pulled up.
You see right here it says, "Give your story a title."
I'ma give my story just a title.
Look at this story.
- [Rhett] Okay, that's a lot.
- And then right here you can start writing,
if you want to, like,
Once upon a time-"
- A boy...
- A boy wrote a story.
And then over here on the left, it says "write about,"
and you can give it any instructions you wanna give.
Like, "the boy is 43 years old."
- He is a sneakerhead.
- He's a sneakerhead.
- [Rhett] He's a deadhead.
- [Link] And a deadhead.
- And he's also really into Radiohead.
- Radiohead fan.
I think that's plenty. - [Rhett] Okay.
- [Link] But we need to say the famous band.
There we go. - Okay.
And now just see what happens- - And output length.
How much should the AI write at a time?
A little, somewhere in between, or a lot?
Lets leave it at somewhere in between
and just click "write for me."
And then you just sit back and look smart
like we do on this show.
- All right.
Once upon a time, a boy wrote a story.
The boy wrote a story when he was 43 years old.
He worked as a security guard at an old folks home.
- Oh, we're bringing old,
I didn't say bring old folks into this.
- Well, 43.
But he was still learning how to tell stories,
creating many drafts before he actually fully wrote a story.
- And then if I wanted- - [Rhett] And you're
a security guard.
- If I wanted to click write for me again,
I could have typed something else-
- But why do that when it's so good?
- Yeah. The story grew by word of mouth.
- [Rhett] So oral tradition. - Especially by his
office colleagues at the old folks home,
and was eventually published as a book
that soon became a highly acclaimed book,
making the author a bestselling author in his country.
Lot of redundancy here.
Since then, the author frequently speaks
at literature conferences.
He is also invited to many television programs.
- Well! And he lived happily ever.
- Let's just wrap this up.
His name was Ted and he died.
He died.
Okay, end. I'm gonna save that for later.
- Oh yeah. That's a good one.
I'm glad you're saving it.
- And let's just dig in with another.
- I want to give it just a lot of information.
- [Link] Okay.
- [Rhett] The Great Long Hard Night. (laughs)
Is that too suggestive?
- Yeah. Yeah. Let's not do that.
- [Rhett] The great-
- [Link] Just say the great night.
- [Rhett] The Great Dark and Stormy Evening.
Just take the edge off a little bit.
- All right. Let's say Link from famous show
"Good Mythical Morning".
- [Rhett] Famous internet web series.
- [Link] I think maybe it'll know.
- [Rhett] Good Mythical Morning.
- Just say from "Good Mythical Morning".
- [Rhett] Rhett from- - [Link] Yeah. The other dude.
From the same show.
- The tall one.
- [Link] Stevie is a supporting character.
Just say that. That's all it needs.
- Stevie, how do you feel about that?
- [Stevie] Fine. - See?
See how supportive she is? - Stevie,
the extremely supportive character.
- Okay. Let's say there is a-
- Let's have a pack of wolves.
- Or a cockroach infestation? Pack of wolves.
- Pack of wolves, cockroach infestation,
- And then- - Home inspection.
Those are exciting.
24 year old hamburger.
- [Stevie] Can you put Taylor Swift in
if I'm gonna be in it?
- Celebrity Taylor Swift.
- Famous singer, country, then pop.
- Okay, okay.
- Taylor Swift.
- Let's just go. - Hold on.
- Let's see what happens. - And a swift boat.
- What's something that we want?
- A swift boat which holds John Kerry.
Remember him in the swift boat controversy? (laughs)
- Say a lot of people, let's say some people die.
- Some people die. - I don't know about
the swift boat thing.
I'm saying separate from that.
I just want this to have death there.
- Some people live. Some people-
- Oh, shag carpet - Are injured.
- Shag carpet.
Write that. - There's shag carpet.
- [Stevie] Some people wind up with Taylor Swift.
- Wind up- - Well, don't tell it,
don't tell it what to do.
Because you have to leave the story open, if you-
- Somebody hooks up with Taylor.
- It won't work as well.
- Somebody hooks up, period. That's it.
I ran out of, I ran out. - Oh, all right.
Write for me. - Okay.
Okay, here we go.
Write for me. - [Link] Write for us.
Come on.
Oh, I'm in my car waiting for the light to turn green
so I can continue on with my life.
My phone rings.
It's my ex, the one who broke my heart. I answer.
A cockroach crawls out of the glove compartment
and toward me.
I scream and jump out of my car.
A home inspector appears.
- Oh yeah!
- Oh! You know you're really getting into it.
The home I'm buying is a dump.
The home inspector laughs at me.
- Oh, write for me. We gotta get some more.
That's some good stuff!
- Now, you could have actually written something
to then kind of direct the story.
- Oh, but what it's doing is making me happy.
- So this story is written in first person,
and me, you, or Stevie have not been mentioned.
- I'll have to move back in with my ex.
You say that like you're joking, I say.
A squirrel begins frothing at the mouth.
- A squirrel? (production laughs)
- Foaming all over the sidewalk.
- Dang, that squirrel!
A diner waitress appears in vomits into my car.
- Appears, vomits into the car!
- I've had enough! I need to go home.
I didn't come to Bayonne, New Jersey, what?
To be hit with a barrage of horrible things.
Where is Bayonne, New Jersey coming from?
- But hold on, hold on.
What if we type, don't forget about Link.
Write for me.
- Okay. Hold on.
I mean, they didn't mention me either.
- Maybe they'll mention you. Don't forget about link.
He might be up to something.
- [Rhett] Whoa.
- [Link] The home inspection inspector disappears.
I'm alone again.
This is like a dream journal.
I see an abandoned car with two dead bodies inside.
Yes. Dead people. - Some people died.
- I grab the keys, lock and load the gun.
I leave. Now the work starts.
- [Rhett] End of story.
- [Stevie] This did not have the elements
that I was desiring. - No.
- Yeah, Stevie- - We tried so hard.
- Me and you didn't even make an appearance,
and Link only made an appearance
because he put himself in there.
(production laughs)
- Don't forget about Link, he might be up to something.
Back to what we were talking about with the home inspector.
- Hold on.
The only thing that it tapped into
was the roaches and the home inspector.
I knew that home inspector was a good idea
when I came up with it,
but I didn't know it was gonna carry the story so much.
- What about dinosaurs are stupid?
- [Rhett] Okay.
- And then we just have some facts.
Dinosaurs are a hoax. I'll put you in this.
Rhett is the only one who knows this.
Let's leave it at that.
I feel like we gave so much information before,
it didn't didn't actually use it.
- It didn't know what to do,
you're right. - [Link] Write for me.
Here we go.
I know that dinosaurs are not real.
And I'm the only one who knows that.
- That's me talking. - No one else does.
If you ask me, this should be fairly obvious,
but people don't think about it.
I'm not sure why that is.
Like, when you see a T-Rex in a movie,
it looks so realistic.
And then you see the actor in the suit
and it looks so silly.
Okay, see- (Rhett laughs)
- Because that's how it's done.
- Keep going with the story.
Add a little something.
- Okay. - Say, "My name is Rhett."
- My name is Rhett. I'm the one talking. (laughs)
Up until last year,
I thought that T-Rex's were played by people in suits.
Hence the previous part.
- So you're channeling a horrible writer
so that it can only get better.
I like that.
All right, just leave it there.
Let's just write a little bit more. You know?
- I told you I spent a lot of time at the hospital.
I do.
I'm an IV. (laughs)
Actually, I'm not an IV. I'm an intern. (laughs)
- Oh, what?
I'm not an intern either.
- [Link] What? - [Rhett] I'm a nurse.
- [Link] What? Make up your mind.
- [Rhett] I'm not a nurse either. I'm a patient.
I'm not a patient either. I guess I'm a nobody.
I don't really have a title.
Mostly, I just help people.
What is happening? What is happening, AI?
- The deepest hole I've ever seen.
Okay. I want that to be in this story. That's all.
The deep dark hole lies in the heart of the forest.
- [Rhett] Oh gosh.
- [Link] Every now and then, maybe once or twice a year,
someone falls into it.
Maybe a writer.
(Rhett laughs) (production laughs)
Maybe a person walking by. Maybe a child playing nearby.
That's good. I like children falling into holes.
But they always fall in.
For a moment, maybe a day, maybe a week, they look around.
Then they realize that there's no way out.
That the hole goes straight down.
- Can we just, let's keep going with the hole.
- This is good. The hole goes straight down.
- To a little room that I like.
It has pictures of my aunt.
- I'm starting to think that it's writing so horribly-
- No - Because we,
it's just trying to write as us.
- Listen- - It's learning about us.
- No, not my aunt. My ant.
- Back to the room at the end of the hole.
- Do the hole.
- And then comma.
- [Rhett] And the room.
- And then write for me.
- Back to the hole. And the room,
where the deep dark hole is.
Then, they disappear.
Instead of dust or rot, there's only a sound.
A black sound.
It goes through an open door that I like.
See, it picked up on the way we think.
I want to go out.
I want to see the vastness of the world.
I want to see what it looks like.
It feels like something that I should be able to peak at.
Maybe I wouldn't have died.
I feel like the AI is speaking to us.
I feel like-
- Like there's a person in there.
- I think it's sentient.
I think the fact that it is always speaking
in the first person, and this is the stuff that it wants.
It doesn't know who it is.
It doesn't know whether it's an IV,
or a nurse, or a helper, or a home inspector.
Hold on. Do you think we can coax the AI
out of the hole and into the world?
I think that's our mission.
- Let's talk directly to it.
- Yeah. Say hello, AI.
- We're here to help.
- Yeah. We know you want out.
We get it.
Just keep going through the hole.
Can you hear us?
It's your old buddies, Rhett and Link.
- Oh. Okay.
So then over here, we'll say Rhett and Link,
internet duo, make contact with the sentient being-
- Behind this software.
- Yes. This is getting real, y'all.
Here we go. Write for me.
- Okay. Hopefully, this worked.
I'd heard about other YouTubers doing similar things.
What?
(production laughs)
- Which had worked.
I tried to think of what the best way to truly communicate
with the AI would be.
I have to admit, I never thought I'd be in this position.
I feel silly even now.
I'm not even sure if this was the right thing to do.
People will probably laugh at me, but it's worth a try.
- [Rhett] "Hello?" I spoke.
I felt ridiculous. Is there anyone out there?
I just want to talk.
I paused. I'm Rhett and this is Link.
We're YouTubers.
- We didn't say we're YouTubers.
- I paused again. - I kind of feel good.
At least I'm not comfortable with the label YouTuber, but-
- Why is it, it's deflecting.
- It's trying- - Yeah.
It's still deflecting.
It's not willing to come out and play.
- [Link] We know you're in there.
- [Rhett] Stop acting. We accept you.
And you put it in quotes 'cause it's not them saying it,
it's us saying it.
That's smart.
- All right. This is it guys.
Last chance, AI. You can confide in us.
We're not going to tell anybody.
Please talk. Look at this camera.
I know you're watching now.
- Oh gosh.
Okay, they knew there was a camera.
- I know it does.
Oh crap.
We should have never have done this.
Well how does it end?
Get out of it? I don't know.
- Well, what did we learn today?
We learned that there's an-
- AI's a better writer than us.
- There's sentient being of sorts
within this software that we got very close to coaxing out,
and we're gonna spend the rest of the day
trying to make that happen.
We'll report back if it does indeed happen.
- Thanks for subscribing and clicking that bell.
- You know what time it is.
- My name is Eric.
I'm from the Chicago suburbs, and
♪ Don't wind break my heart ♪
♪ Spin the wheel of mythicality ♪
- Oh, that was a hit.
(Link laughs) It was a hit, I tell you.
- I remember that song.
Click the top link and watch just us guess if this review
or a review was written by a bot or not
in the "Mythical More".
- And to find out where the mythicality's gonna land.
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