#Preliminaries:
knitr::opts_chunk$set(message=FALSE, warning=FALSE, eval = TRUE)
rm(list=ls())
library(openai)
library(htmltools)
library(stringr)
dir.create("Histories_GPT", showWarnings = FALSE)
# 0 Generate helper function ---------------------------------------------------
if (file.exists("Histories_GPT/gpt_out.RDS")) {
gpt_out <- readRDS("Histories_GPT/gpt_out.RDS")
} else {
gpt_out <- list()
today <- as.character(Sys.Date())
gpt_out[1] <- today
}With the rise of generative AI, automatic text and image generation are becoming increasingly popular. The creative capabilities of Large Language Models can be used in various domains such as knowledge extraction, task automation and many more (eg. Yang et al. 2023; Kaddour et al. 2023; Liu et al. 2023), with rapid advancements in this technology underscoring its immense potential. One trending topic in the current discussion is how to efficiently query the engines (eg. Chen et al. 2023; Schulhoff et al. 2024). We contribute to this discourse by using R-code to interact with both GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 using the OpenAI-API on the science of historiography.
We start by following up on a previous essay on text mining the book Histories by the Greek author Herodotus (484 – 425 BC) and summarize the content of his book using the powerful capabilities of OpenAI’s GPT3.5-turbo. First, we let GPT summarize the text, setting the model’s temperature parameter to zero, which minimizes the random component in the generated output.
# 1 Query on OpenAI-API: GPT3.5 ---------------------------------------------------
# helper function to query the openai-api:
get_completion <- function(prompt, model='gpt-3.5-turbo', temperature = 0) {
messages <- list(list('role'='user', 'content'=prompt))
response <- create_chat_completion(model,
messages = messages ,
temperature = temperature,
openai_api_key = Sys.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY"), #add your openai key to the environment variables
)
return(response$choices$message.content)
}
# 1 First example: Summarizes Herodotus
prompt_1 <- 'Summarize the content of the book \'Histories\' by the author Herodotus. Provide the corresponding references.'
if (length(gpt_out)<2) {
sum_histories <- get_completion(prompt_1)
gpt_out[2] <- sum_histories
}
HTML(paste("Prompt:<i>", prompt_1), "</i>", "<p></p>", "GPT3.5:<i>", str_replace_all(gpt_out[[2]], "\\\n", "<br>"), "</i>")
The resulting text is well-written and looks plausible at first
glance. The provided reference suggests that the summary is based on the
original book. However, we should acknowledge that GPT was trained on a
lot of data from many different resources and is not necessarily relying
just on the Histories itself when answering our questions.
In the next step, we would like to figure out specific topics of the book. What messages was Herodotus trying to tell his readers beyond the pure content of the book? When we ask GPT, let us consider some experiments on GPT’s temperature parameter as well: To vary the randomness in the output we subsequently try out the configurations 0, 0.5, 1, and 1.5. Values beyond 1.5 resulted in pseudo-language, blending tokens from different languages.
# 2 Query on OpenAI GPT3.5: Introducing Temperature ---------------------------------------------------
prompt_2 <- "What knowledge and lessons can today's societies and people learn from the book \"Histories\" of \"Herodotus\"? Provide your answer in a list using hyphen bullets."
temp_vec <- seq(0, 1.5, 0.5) # set vector of temperature parameters
messages_histories <- list()
if (length(gpt_out)<3) {
for (i in temp_vec) {
answer <- get_completion(prompt_2, temperature=i) # query depending on temperature
messages_histories <- c(messages_histories, list(c(i, answer))) # concat list + add used temperature
}
gpt_out[3] <- list(messages_histories) #concat list + add used temperature
}
length_list <- length(gpt_out) #length of output
answer_1 <- paste0('"', str_split(gpt_out[[3]][[1]][[2]], "-")[[1]][[2]], '"') # example
HTML(paste("Prompt:<i>", prompt_2), "</i>", "<br>")" The importance of recording and preserving historical events for future generations "
is one element from the resulting list of 4 lists. We use
these answers for further exploration.
To facilitate a comparative analysis of GPT’s responses, we reset the model’s temperature to 0. Additionally, instead of using GPT-3.5 we now upgrade to gpt-4-1106-preview, which allows us to get more support for highly complex language modeling tasks.
# 3 Query on OpenAI GPT4: Comparative Analysis ---------------------------------------------------
# create helper function to extract and combine arguments from our list:
gpt_get_element <- function(x) {
paste0('Temperature ', gpt_out[[3]][[x]][[1]], ': ', gpt_out[[3]][[x]][[2]])
}
# extract list with answers from GPT:
gpt_arguments <- lapply(seq(1:length(gpt_out[[3]])), gpt_get_element) |>
paste(collapse=' ;; ')
# 3 Compare output of step 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Combine query with input from above:
prompt_3 <- "You are given a list \"X\" of \" ;; \"-separated and titled lists \"y\", each containing statements on topics of the book \"Histories\" of \"Herodotus\". The statements are labeled with hyphen bullets.
Do the following:
- Compare the contextual similarity of these statements between the lists \"y\" to identify the total number of meanings.
- Use your comparisons to sort the statements into one enumerated table \"Z\", such that the entries in the resulting rows have very similar meanings. The first column of table \"Z\" should contain ordered row numbers for each statement, from 1 to the total number of meanings in \"X\". Name the other columns by their corresponding name in \"y\".
- Only output table \"Z\". Output this table in HTML format.
\"X\": "
if (length(gpt_out)<4) {
table_compare <- get_completion(paste(prompt_3, gpt_arguments), model = 'gpt-4-1106-preview') # do comparison
gpt_out[4] <- table_compare # append output list
}
saveRDS(gpt_out, 'Histories_GPT/gpt_out.RDS') # save data for future compilation
HTML(paste("Prompt:<i>", prompt_3), "</i>", "<br>") # output promptHTML(str_extract(as.character(gpt_out[4]), "(?s)<table>(.*?)</table>")) | Row Number | Temperature 0 | Temperature 0.5 | Temperature 1 | Temperature 1.5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The importance of recording and preserving historical events for future generations | The importance of recording and preserving historical events for future generations | The importance of recording and documenting historical events and stories | Importance of historical inquiry and analysis |
| 2 | The significance of cultural diversity and the need for understanding and respecting different cultures | The significance of cultural diversity and tolerance | The importance of understanding and appreciating diverse cultures and traditions | Cultural diversity and the value of understanding different civilizations |
| 3 | The impact of geography and environment on the development of civilizations | The exploration of the natural and geographical factors influencing human history | The significance of geography and its impact on the development of societies | Recognition of the impact of geography on a culture's development |
| 4 | The consequences of excessive pride and hubris in individuals and societies | The consequences of excessive pride and hubris | ||
| 5 | The role of religion and belief systems in shaping societies and influencing historical events | The analysis of the role of religion and mythology in shaping societies | The role of religion and beliefs in shaping societies and their actions | |
| 6 | The power dynamics between different nations and the consequences of imperialism and colonization | |||
| 7 | The value of critical thinking and questioning established narratives and beliefs | The understanding that different perspectives and biases shape historical narratives | The value of multiple perspectives and questioning traditional and dominant narratives | Critical examination of 'truths' and questioning of bias |
| 8 | The complexities of human nature and the range of motivations behind individual and collective actions | Assessment of human behaviors, motivations, and achievements throughout history | ||
| 9 | The cyclical nature of history and the patterns that can be observed in the rise and fall of civilizations | The examination of the rise and fall of civilizations | Reflection on the fragility of empires and personal eminence | |
| 10 | The importance of diplomacy and peaceful resolutions in international relations | |||
| 11 | The recognition of the interconnectedness of different cultures and societies | The interconnectedness of different cultures and civilizations | Appreciation for the interconnectedness of world events | |
| 12 | The exploration of the causes and consequences of wars and conflicts | The impact of war and conflict on societies and individuals | Understanding the effect of conflicts and wars on societies and individuals | |
| 13 | The appreciation for the power of storytelling and oral traditions | Reverence for storytelling and narrating events | ||
| 14 | The study of the origins and development of political systems | Examination of political systems and leadership styles | ||
| 15 | The examination of the role of economics and trade in shaping societies | |||
| 16 | The exploration of social structures and hierarchies within different civilizations | |||
| 17 | The recognition of the importance of historical context in interpreting events | Exploration of various perspectives and interpretations of history | ||
| 18 | The examination of the role of women and gender dynamics in ancient societies | |||
| 19 | The understanding of the significance of art, architecture, and cultural achievements in shaping societies | |||
| 20 | The significance of human agency in shaping historical events | |||
| 21 | Lessons of governance, both successes and failures | |||
| 22 | Mitigation of ethnocentrism through a broader perspective of world history |
A first exploration of the table shows that the mapping of the
arguments from the different temperature configurations works pretty
well. Although there is some variability between the lists, a lot of
arguments show up more than once in the table. Generated by GPT-4, the
summarized list contains the 22 distinct answers of GPT-3.5. These
answers range from ‘The significance of cultural diversity and
tolerance’ (4 times mentioned) to ‘The impact of war and conflict on
societies and individuals’ (3 times) to ‘The consequences of excessive
pride and hubris’ (2 times) and more.
Overall, we see that the interplay of R-Programming and the OpenAI-API can do a magnificent job of knowledge mining and generative text analysis. We also see that prompt engineering strategies such as providing enough context or formulating specific expectations are useful tactics when interacting with AI, as well as varying the temperature parameter, or switching the underlying model.
Are the suggested answers correct? Are important lessons missing from the above overview? To answer these questions, we need to have a look at the literature or the book ourselves. In general, such a semantic list will probably not be conclusive, since interpretations of the text are subjective, depending on the perspective of the reader.
In essence, we have seen that old texts such as the ‘Histories’ can capture a lot of knowledge and wisdom that can be discovered by either reading – or by accessing them through generative AI. Our journey through the Histories has not only pointed towards a richer understanding of historical narratives but also emphasized a fruitful interplay between programming and machine intelligence.
Your perspectives enrich the discussion, turning it into a collaborative exploration of the past and the future. What are your thoughts on this?