DOES ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE BECOME MORE INTELLIGENT OVER TIME?
In 2023, I asked ChatGPT a number of questions about suicide in order to test how knowledgeable it was about suicide. One question I asked concerned the motives for Jocasta’s suicide (Lester, 2023).
David
Lester
In the play
Oedipus Rex, written by Sophocles, why did Jocasta die by suicide?
ChatGPT
In the play "Oedipus Rex"
written by Sophocles, Jocasta, the wife of Oedipus and mother of his children,
kills herself out of shock and despair upon realizing that Oedipus is her son
and that she had unknowingly married and had children with her own son. The
revelation is so devastating to her that she chooses to end her life rather
than continue living with the knowledge and shame of her actions.
I noted that it is clear from the play that Jocasta knew that she had married her son. Jocasta was prepared to live a life married to her son as long as this information was kept secret. Once the fact was likely to be known, she died by suicide, primarily out of shame.
Has
ChatGPT improved over the next six months? I asked it once more why Jocasta
died by suicide.
David
Lester
Why did
Jocasta die by suicide?
ChatGPT
In Greek mythology, Jocasta is a character best known for
her role in the tragic story of Oedipus. The details of Jocasta's death vary in
different versions of the myth, and it's important to note that the story
itself is a work of fiction.
The most well-known version of the story is found in
Sophocles' play "Oedipus Rex." In this version, Oedipus discovers
that he has unwittingly fulfilled a prophecy that foretold he would kill his
father and marry his mother. When Oedipus realizes the truth, he blinds himself,
and Jocasta, horrified by the revelation and the tragic fate of her family,
hangs herself.
The reasons for Jocasta's suicide are complex and involve a
combination of shame, guilt, and horror at the fulfillment of the prophecy. The
Oedipus myth explores themes of fate, free will, and the consequences of trying
to avoid destiny, making it a powerful and enduring tragedy in Greek
literature.
This is
impressive. Perhaps it read my article in Suicide Studies? ChatGPT now
brings shame and guilt into the motivating forces for Jocasta’s suicide.
Reference
Lester, D. (2023). What does
artificial intelligence know about suicide? Suicide Studies, 4(3),
25-28.
