We're all looking forward to finding out how the A Song of Ice and Fire saga is going to end, but it seems the longer-than-expected wait for the next book was just a bit too much for one fan!
Readers of the best-selling fantasy series have been (im)patiently waiting for the next novel since A Dance with Dragons hit shelves all the way back in 2011, and while author George R.R. Martin has kept fans updated with occasional excerpts from The Winds of Winter, the novel still hasn't been given so much as a tentative release date.
It's understandable that people would want to find out how Martin plans to conclude his epic tale - especially after the divisive ending of the HBO series - but this might be taking things a bit too far!
GitHub's Liam Swayne has used ChatGPT to finish both The Winds of Winter and the seventh and final book in the saga, A Dream of Spring. He reportedly "compelled the AI" to finish each chapter using Martin's writing style.
Here's what Swayne had to say.
"Large language models can be very scary, but this project makes me more optimistic about the future of writers and AI. This project demonstrates that large language models like ChatGPT can take hundreds of pages of text into account when making a narrative decision, which could help writers quickly fix plot holes. It also shows that AI can only do what has been done many times before. This project has given me confidence that AI won't be replacing unique literary works any time soon.
I believe the AI had trouble writing character deaths specifically because most writers (and consequently, most of the training data) are hesitant to kill off major characters. This is part of what separates George R. R. Martin from other writers: his stories make unconventional, surprising decisions. At this point, AI can only do what is most commonly done, which means it struggles to create stories that aren't by the books. To my surprise, I'm more confident than before starting this project that writers making creative and unexpected decisions are not replaceable."
An interesting experiment, for sure, and it sounds like Swayne's findings only further prove that AI can never truly replicate the creative process.
While these final two books are expected to mirror the later seasons of HBO's Game of Thrones to a degree, Martin has previously confirmed that there will be some significant differences - especially when it comes to the ending.
Will Bran Stark still end up on the Iron Throne? Will Jon Snow kill Daenerys after she breaks bad and burns an entire city to ashes? We'd bank on at least one major change to the conclusion of the show, but we'll just have to wait and see.
Would you have any interest in reading the AI's no doubt riveting yarn - even just out of morbid curiosity? Drop us a comment own below.