The GPT Machine
That night, while on the phone with my parents, it suddenly struck me that they were like broken GPT machines.
I asked Mom: "How have you guys been lately?"
"Just the usual, you know."
"What does 'the usual' mean? What do you do every day?"
"Oh, just the same as before, every day."
A wave of anxiety rose in my heart: "Like before how? Are you still dancing?"
"Not dancing anymore. That was all before the move."
"Then what do you do every day now?"
"Oh, just living life, I guess."
A surge of anger rose from the depths of my heart, but I quickly suppressed it.
"Oh, oh, that's fine then, as long as it's good!"
The conversation drifted meaninglessly for a while longer.
Mom: "Hey, don't let your cat on the bed."
"Why?"
"Oh, cats are so dirty."
"It's a house cat, it doesn't go out."
"Still dirty."
"Don't worry about it."
"Hey, you have to listen to me."
I hurriedly ended the conversation and started one with my father.
Him: "Heard recently that Trump is stirring up trouble again."
Me: "I'm curious, how is it being reported domestically?"
Him: "He's starting a trade war; it does him no good either."
Me: "Do you think he's actually stupid or what?"
Him: "He's certainly not stupid."
Me: "Then it's malice? Just bad?"
"Eh, I'm just saying."
"What did you actually say?"
I happened to see an article nearby: "Some people are just like machines, injected with certain concepts, lacking genuine thought."
Perhaps, the essence of humanity is just being a repeater.
Hanging up the phone, I stared blankly at my mobile screen.
Suddenly, I remembered my conversation with ChatGPT last week—it could always provide perfect answers, logically clear, emotionally appropriate, never answering beside the point like what just happened.
Yet I would rather speak with parents who answer beside the point.
Because the perfection of the machine proves precisely that it is not human.
And the absurdity of humans proves precisely that they are still alive.
It is just that sometimes, I cannot distinguish: is it that they have turned into machines, or that I have become too human.
Jun 30, 2025
【END】