Ronnie Corbett, Hamlet and ChatGPT

I have been using ChatGPT a lot, for all sorts of reasons, and I am wholeheartedly amazed by what it can do. I don't have any great technical knowledge and am just a regular user of technology, but to me this new facility is so extraordinary. It is showing us something of where we are heading with Artificial Intelligence.

My initial forays were just for fun, and in that regard, I asked it to rewrite Hamlet's famous soliloquy, that begins "To be, or not to be" in the style of a Ronnie Corbett story or monologue. To those that don't know, Ronnie Corbett is a much loved and missed British comedian, who was well known for telling long stories whilst sat on a comfortable chair. This was a regular feature on his show, The Two Ronnies, and they're funny not only because of the stories themselves, but the way he told them, with lots of incidental, circumlocutious remarks, in a meandering, whimsical fashion quite unlike the normal quick fire, punchline packed presentation of a stand up comedian. 

This is what ChatGPT produced in response to my earnest entreaty :

"Well, let me tell you a little story about a chap I once knew. He was having a bit of a tough time, you see. He was a bit down in the dumps, and he was feeling a bit sorry for himself.

So, he's sitting there, having a bit of a ponder, when he suddenly says to himself, 'To be or not to be...that is the question.'

And I said to him, 'Hold on a minute, old boy, what are you talking about?' And he says, 'Oh, it's just something I heard, about whether it's better to be alive or dead.'

Well, I couldn't help but laugh, I tell you. I mean, what kind of a question is that, eh?

But then he starts going on about the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, and the heartache and the thousand natural shocks, and I'm thinking to myself, 'Good heavens, this chap is really taking it all to heart.'

And then he says, 'Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles.'

Well, I couldn't help but chuckle, I tell you. I mean, what kind of a choice is that, eh? Take arms against a sea of troubles? I don't think so.

So I said to him, 'Listen, old boy, why don't you just have a cup of tea and put your feet up for a bit. I'm sure everything will look better in the morning.'

And you know what, he did just that. And the next day, he was as right as rain.

So, you see, sometimes, it's just a matter of perspective. To be or not to be...well, I think we all know the answer to that one, don't we?"

What I love about this is that ChatGPT hasn't just converted the text into the style of Ronnie Corbett, its spun Hamlet's beautiful exposition on existential angst into a ridiculously British take on the whole concept. Impressively, it isn't just glossing one thing into another, but giving the new creation a new direction, a facetious riposte to the notion of existential angst itself. This silly example of the creative or generative facility the software humorously demonstrates how powerful and subtle AI can be.