Lies, Damned Lies, and ChatGPT: The Beautiful Trixie

So this week it’s time for the penultimate episode* of Lies, Damned Lies, and ChatGPT, in which ChatGPT has a go at a bio for The Beautiful Trixie! But first, hey, look, it’s another LLM spam comment from our old AI friend Mr. W on a post about nicknames over at the animals’ blog, which once again demonstrates that it can read the post, but it can’t understand the post.

This comment follows the usual pattern of sufficient vague relevance to demonstrate that it has some connection to the post it’s allegedly commenting on, followed by a small helping of praise, followed by a question—it just loves the “I’m curious” intro to its questions—to try to entice engagement. Considering that the post itself includes stories behind how Oona and Bean got their (non-obvious) nicknames, though, the question isn’t really necessary. Still, it’s a pretty good imitation of life, and is only going to get better. Yay?

Speaking of getting better (or not), let’s have a look at what ChatGPT has to say about The Beautiful Trixie!

Trixie was a beloved member of the family and a constant presence in Dennis’s life, as chronicled in his Diary of Destruction. She was a loyal and devoted companion to Dennis, always willing to follow him on his adventures and share in his mischief-making.

Like Dennis, Trixie was a Vizsla, and she shared his love for exploring the world around them. Together, the two of them would often embark on epic quests, searching for hidden treasures, chasing after squirrels, and getting into all sorts of trouble.

Despite her smaller size, Trixie was a fearless and determined pup, always eager to take on new challenges and push herself to the limit. She was a skilled hunter, and she had a particular knack for catching rodents and other small creatures.

Throughout his diary, Dennis affectionately refers to Trixie as his “sister,” and it’s clear that the two of them had a special bond. They would often cuddle up together after a long day of adventuring, and Dennis would often seek Trixie’s comfort when he was feeling scared or unsure.

Tragically, Trixie passed away at a young age, leaving a hole in Dennis’s life and heart. But even in death, Trixie’s spirit lived on, as Dennis continued to honor her memory and celebrate the adventures they shared together.

ChatGPT, Tellin’ the Truth & Makin’ Shit Up

Well, so, the most obvious issue here is that Trixie was not, in fact, a vizsla, but rather, what one of her vets affectionately referred to as an “All-American Dog”, i.e., a mutt**.

In fact, she was generally referred to as “Trixie the Mutt” on the blog until a Nice Reader opined that a better name for her would be “The Beautiful Trixie”, and that’s what stuck. Also, ChatGPT kind of made up the part about Trixie being smaller than Dennis, as they were of roughly equal size. (Tucker was the small one in that group.)

Then there’s some stuff that’s fairly accurate; she was indeed the fearless and determined one who usually rescued Dennis and Tucker from whatever mishaps they got into***, and Dennis and Trixie definitely had a special bond; in fact, Trixie accompanied Dennis to some of his flyball tournaments to serve as his “goat” ― not “Greatest of All Time”, in this case, to provide a fluffy security presence for him. He was known to look around for her during races to make sure she was present.

ChatGPT veers back into makin’ shit up for its final paragraph; Trixie in fact passed away at the ripe old age of 16, which is pretty astounding for a dog her size. Dennis definitely did miss having her around, though. Therefore, I give ChatGPT’s bio of The Beautiful Trixie a rating of half-true:

Tune in next week for the ChatGPT pack of lies bio you’ve all been waiting for: Dennis the Vizsla Dog!

* Unless I decide to continue it with the new current of pets, although, to be honest, things just aren’t the same over there without Dennis and the rest of the OG gang; so I’ll probably wrap it up with Dennis next week.
** Trixie mostly predated the modern era of genetic testing for mixed breed dogs, but the shelter described her as a Chow/German Shepherd mix, which is probably accurate, as far as it goes.
*** Possibly due to favoritism on the part of the writer.