A Game of Thrones fan tired of waiting for George R.R. Martin to get a move on with the conclusive installments in A Song of Ice and Fire has turned to ChatGPT to finish the story.
Over the past decade, HBO’s Game of Thrones dominated pop culture like few things ever have. The hit series was a near-unrivaled phenomenon, keeping millions glued to their screens waiting to see what would happen next in the lands of Westeros.
Through its eight-season run, the live-action adaption managed to overtake the books on which it was based upon. While the conclusion we got on the silver screen was certainly divisive to say the least, it was a conclusion nonetheless, something fans of A Song of Ice and Fire are still waiting for.
It’s been 27 years since George R.R. Martin’s series turned its first pages and 12 years since the most recent entry hit store shelves. Despite regularly assuring fans the sixth chapter, titled The Winds of Winter, is in progress, many have long given up hope, leading some to turn to more inventive methods.
As first spotlighted by IGN, one particular fan of the series just attempted to finish the story themselves with the help of the AI-powered ChatGPT. By introducing the program to a series of subsequently convoluted prompts, the software eventually spat out 45 lengthy chapters of material.
What began as simple dot points soon morphed into broader overviews of each chapter before finally evolving into full-fledged pieces of computer-generated literature. While the finer details may not line up to a T, rest assured ChatGPT didn’t skimp on length, living up to GRRM’s name in producing a whopping 1.2 million words across the two final books.
One such strength of the AI program is seemingly in its ability to “keep track of a massive web of characters,” independent developer Liam Swayne said when sharing his project online. In one particular example, a character by the name of Illyrio had scattered appearances throughout the two books, scarcely popping up with hundreds of pages of material in between, yet still not forgotten about in the grand scheme of the narrative.
Conversely, one major shortcoming of this generated conclusion appears to be its unwillingness to truly step into the shoes of GRRM and brutally murder fan-favorite characters.
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The program did, however, take some bold steps with its direction for the finale. Branching out from the ending we saw with Season 8 on HBO, in this written iteration, we see a few new wrinkles added to the story.
Bran, for instance, has a unique vision of The Wall at some stage in A Dream of Spring, Swayne told IGN. It was here he learned The Wall wasn’t just a giant slab of ice blocking the big bad Night King, but that it also served as a mystical shield preventing the reanimated army from encroaching on Westeros.
“This twist fits well within the universe and raises tension for the remainder of the story,” the creator said.
When all was said and done, the developer behind the project emerged with more optimism for the future despite witnessing the capabilities of AI like ChatGPT firsthand.
“Large language models can be very scary,” he began, “but this project makes me more optimistic about the future of writers and AI. This project has given me confidence that AI won’t be replacing unique literary works any time soon.
“To my surprise, I’m more confident than before starting this project that writers making creative and unexpected decisions are not replaceable.”