Harari includes AI text written in Sapiens’ special edition

“Is this truly written by AI?”

Israeli historian Yuval Harari, who wrote the best-selling book "Sapiens" was recently surprised by the preface in the book's special edition celebrating its 10th anniversary of publication. After analyzing the author's books, thesis, and interviews, the text was written by "GPT-3," one of the best AI models in natural language processing. The model did not make any amendments or edits.

Harari confessed in the same preface that his jaws dropped while reading the AI text and that he was also utterly shocked.

The author added that what he wrote, as with all the writings, was a mix-up of ideas and that the case was the same when he was writing the "Sapiens." He pulled out different ideas and facts from various books, theses, and interviews and jumbled them into new stories.

At a glance, the text AI wrote seems to convey the gist of the book "Sapiens," penetrating through the history of homo sapiens.

"In the past, we could have power in the imaginary order of nation-states and the capitalist market. Thanks to that order, we could achieve unprecedented prosperity and well-being. However, the same order is trying to break us down."

However, Harari also pointed out some of the weaknesses in AI writing.

He noted that there are many ideas he would not have written down. Some of them seemed unconvincing or outright absurd. The results look literary but an intelligent-looking mix-up at the same time. He continued that it is somewhat relieving because at least for several years GPT-3 won't be able to take his job away.

Harari predicted that AI would bring about revolutionary changes in the future. He argued that the AI revolution is the signal that human history as we know it has ended and warned that the center of power may slip away from humanity's grasp for the first time in history.


hoho@donga.com