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We published two unusual stories in our March 26 issue–one by Marilyn Myerson and one “by” Peter Terzian–and added a challenge to you, our readers, to create a story similar to Pete’s. We gave you an opening line to get you started and let you weave the story by adding Comments, each of which is a paragraph in the story below.
Unbeknownst to you {Cue villainous laughter here} we gave ChatGPT the same challenge. So, below you’ll find: our challenge, the opening line, your story, a list of the contributors, and the same challenge answered by ChatGPT. Let’s see how it all plays out!
Sergeant Joe Friday looked at the body on the floor of the seedy apartment, nattily dressed in a tuxedo and clutching a rhinestone tiara in one hand. “Talk me through it, Frank. Tell me how this happened.”
“He looks like the character Fagan from the play Oliver, which is on stage at a nearby community theater.
The slap on the left side of his face looks like it’s from a small hand, perhaps a woman’s.
On closer observation, those are real diamonds in the tiara; might they match the jewels recently missing from Lady M’s safe?”
Friday usually wouldn’t modify a crime scene, but his gut told him something else. He took out his hanky and gently moved the corpse’s head from left to right, and revealed fingernail scratches across one cheek, with part of a broken nail protruding from his right schnozz.“
I suspect the lady is dressed in a tuxedo, because black is harder to spot in the dark of night.
We can get DNA from the nail, but that’s going to take some time. Let’s get over to the theater for the second show and have a talk with the cast and crew. Ugh. Drama.”
Meanwhile, Lady M has returned from her sojourn abroad (consulting only the most discreet cosmetic surgeons) and is aghast at the theft of her diamonds. Was it one of those “theatre” people? She shivers….
Looks like another serial killer is out there – targets only those in tuxedos
It had been a typical Friday night in the city. Sergeant Joe Friday had been out on patrol when he received a call that a body had been discovered in a seedy apartment.
“’Show people’” are always drawn to sparkly things”, Lady M muses.
“Boss,” says Frank, “You know those theater people. They always get up to no good.” But Friday was contemplating the meaning of the scratch and broken fingernail. “Hmm,” Frank muses, “That flower design looks familiar. Now where did I see 9-inch nails like that before?”
We make our way to the theater and meet up with Joe. “Wait, is that Lady M playing the part of Fagan?”
“Yes, it is Lady M, doing her darnedest to stay in disguise. She disdains “theatre folk” but is fulfilling her community service, after being caught for public urination.”
When we went backstage to meet with the cast after the show, Lady M wasn’t there. One of the actors said that she ran out the stage door and jumped into the dumpster just before the truck came by to collect the trash. How fitting.
“Wait” said Friday. ” We found the body on Saturday. Tomorrow is Sunday and Monday is dark night at the theatre. Now we’ll have to wait until Tuesday” Friday muttered.
“Do you think she’ll be back Tuesday, Friday? We need to follow that truck!”
Oh, no, the police scanner reports that the driver of the dumpster truck was hijacked by a woman in a tuxedo. “She jumped out of the dumpster and scared the living daylights out of me”, the driver exclaimed. He was all shook up.
Lady M returns to the theater, this time disguised as a dumpster truck driver. The real driver turns up dead two blocks away.
Turns out that the dumpster driver was so upset, the police thought he was refusing arrest for indecent exposure and shot him. Lady M got away, having caused another death. “I wonder, what’s with the fly away blonde wig and orange makeup she wears. Hmm.…”
“Check Mara Lago; perhaps we can find her there.”
Will the brave Sgt. Friday finally capture Lady M and put her away for her nefarious activities, including her tendency to lie shamelessly about her innocence?
Or will (s)he get away with a wink and a nod and the occasional slap on the wrist? Only time will tell. But, for now, I’m with Friday. “Let’s get some donuts!”
Thanks to our contributors:
Peter Terzian, Bobbie Muir, Marilyn Myerson, Bruce Zimmerman, Jan Vaupel, Neil Cosentino, Ray Ann Favata, Diane Russell, Diane White, Joyce Carpenter, Joan Weaving, and Mary Satterwhite.
Human creativity produced a jumbled, but intriguing tale. What will ChatGPT do with our opening line? I actually had it write a second version of the story after it handed in Version One. Then, for fun, I changed what the victim had in his hand and asked it to write the story again. I think you’ll find the results interesting.–Editor
ChatGPT Version 1
Sergeant Joe Friday looked at the body on the floor of the seedy apartment, nattily dressed in a tuxedo and clutching a rhinestone tiara in one hand. “Talk me through it, Frank. Tell me how this happened.”
Frank, the officer on scene, took a deep breath before beginning his explanation. “We received a call from the landlord reporting a disturbance coming from this unit. When we arrived, we found the door slightly ajar and the victim lying here on the floor. The neighbors reported hearing a loud argument and a gunshot just before we arrived.”
Friday knelt down beside the body, examining it closely. “Who is he?”
“His ID says his name is Jack Smith, but we haven’t been able to confirm that yet. No one in the building seems to know him,” Frank replied.
Friday stood up, surveying the room. It was clear that a struggle had taken place. Furniture was overturned and various personal items were scattered across the floor. “What about a weapon?”
“No weapon was found at the scene, but the lab team is still processing the evidence,” Frank said.
Friday turned to the officer in charge of the scene. “Alright, I want you to canvass the entire building and see if anyone saw or heard anything. And send out an APB for anyone who may have been seen leaving the area around the time of the murder.”
Frank nodded, “I’ll get right on it, Sergeant.”
Friday knew it was going to be a long night, but he was determined to find out what had happened to this man in the tuxedo and rhinestone tiara. He had a feeling this was going to be a case like no other.
As the night went on, the investigation led to a number of suspects, each with their own motive for killing the mysterious Jack Smith. But it wasn’t until they found the missing weapon, a gun with fingerprints belonging to the victim’s jealous ex-boyfriend, that they finally had their man. The case was solved, and Friday could finally close the file on the seedy apartment murder, but the memory of the nattily dressed victim and the rhinestone tiara he clutched in his hand would stay with him forever.
ChatGPT Version 2
Sergeant Joe Friday looked at the body on the floor of the seedy apartment, nattily dressed in a tuxedo and clutching a rhinestone tiara in one hand. “Talk me through it, Frank. Tell me how this happened,” he said to his partner, Frank Smith.
Frank Smith, a seasoned detective, knelt down beside the body. “It looks like a classic case of murder, Joe. The victim is a male, early thirties, and from the looks of it, he’s been strangled. The tuxedo and tiara suggest that he was probably at some kind of event or party before he was killed.”
Joe nodded, taking in the information. “Any signs of a struggle?”
Frank shook his head. “None that I can see. It looks like he was taken by surprise.”
Joe’s eyes scanned the room, taking in the shabby furniture and peeling wallpaper. “Any leads on a suspect?”
“Not yet,” Frank replied. “But we did find this,” he said, holding up a shiny silver cigarette lighter. “It has the initials J.M. engraved on it. Could be our killer’s.”
Joe took the lighter and examined it. “Good work, Frank. Let’s get this to forensics and see if they can match it to any fingerprints. In the meantime, let’s start canvassing the area and see if anyone saw or heard anything suspicious.”
As the detectives set to work, Joe couldn’t shake the feeling that this case was going to be a tough one. But with Frank by his side, he knew they’d get to the bottom of it.
They spent the next few days interviewing neighbors, going through security footage and following up on leads. The case was cold, but they didn’t give up, they found out that the victim was a well-known person in the city, a successful businessman with a lot of enemies.
After a long and exhaustive investigation, they finally got a break. The forensics team had matched the fingerprints on the cigarette lighter to a man named Jack Mitchell, a shady businessman with a long rap sheet.
Joe and Frank brought Mitchell in for questioning, and, after a few hours of intense interrogation, he finally cracked and confessed to the murder. He claimed that the victim, who was his business rival, had wronged him in the past and he couldn’t take it anymore.
With the killer behind bars and justice served, Joe breathed a sigh of relief. He and Frank had done it again, solving another case and making the streets of Los Angeles a little bit safer.
ChatGPT Version 3 — “I Like IKE”
Sergeant Joe Friday looked at the body on the floor of the seedy apartment, nattily dressed in a tuxedo and clutching an ‘I Like IKE’ pin in one hand. “Talk me through it, Frank. Tell me how this happened,” he said to his partner, Frank Smith.
Joe’s eyes scanned the room, taking in the shabby furniture and peeling wallpaper. “Any leads on a suspect?”
“Not yet” Frank replied. “But we did find this,” he said, holding up a handgun. “It has been fired recently, the serial number has been removed, it could be our weapon.”
Joe took the gun and examined it. “Good work, Frank. Let’s get this to forensics and see if they can match it to any fingerprints. In the meantime, let’s start canvassing the area and see if anyone saw or heard anything suspicious.”
As the detectives set to work, Joe couldn’t shake the feeling that this case was going to be a tough one. But with Frank by his side, he knew they’d get to the bottom of it.
They spent the next few days interviewing political opponents, going through security footage and following up on leads. The case was cold, but they didn’t give up, they found out that the victim was a well-known political figure, a senator running for president.
After a long and exhaustive investigation, they finally got a break. The forensics team had matched the fingerprints on the gun to a man named John Mitchel, a political opponent of the senator with a long history of radicalism.
Joe and Frank brought Mitchel in for questioning, and, after a few hours of intense interrogation, he finally cracked and confessed to the murder. He claimed that the senator’s political views were a threat to the country, and he couldn’t let him win the election.
With the killer behind bars and justice served, Joe breathed a sigh of relief. He and Frank had done it again, solving another case and making the streets of Los Angeles a little bit safer.
ChatGPT’s three stories–each of which took it about 10 seconds to produce–illustrate its current strengths and weaknesses. Strong on spelling and grammar. Kind of weak on creativity.
We love the way you responded to this challenge, and we think you’re ready for another one. Few of us had a life that was a single smooth arc from birth to where we are now. Tracing it would be more like watching a ball make its way from launch to exit in a pinball machine.
Take a moment and think back. What bouncing misdirection shifted the trajectory of your life and led you to “here and now?” Recent adventures and those that happened long ago. OLLI Connects is about sharing and celebrating our members’ experiences. We’d like you to share yours here by sending it to connectsolli25@gmail.com. Thanks! – Editors
Unpredictable, yet oddly connected, is SO much more interesting than what is expected. See Jobsite’s Alice now at The Straz Center’s Shimberg Theater for a taste.
“Kind of weak on creativity “ is a good summing up! Chatbot has been watching lots of Law and Order reruns and is very literal, but lacks spontaneity and humour.
Interesting to see that in story one, the victim is portrayed as gay, was it the tiara that gave him away? Haha. (Meanwhile, don’t tell you know who).
In the second story, Chatbot disregards the tiara altogether.
In the Ike story, it’s a little unclear whether it’s the senator or the perp who has a history of radicalism but in either case, radicalism is not defined, we’re just left with the sense that’s it’s bad.
Very clever! Kudos to the OLLI Connects team and contributors to the story. Fun to do and fun to read our version.
AI gets good score for speed and consistency, but not as fun to read. The writers on SNL do not have much to fear at the moment anyway! I did read that AI does not at the moment pick up on irony and other subtleties of language. Just give them time.
In the meantime, we have OLLI Connects and another creative challenge!
OK, so robots can write.
But can they remember the opening chords? Dum de dum dum