Are You There Chat GPT? It’s Me, Wilhelm

Didn’t I just do an AI post yesterday?

Well, sometimes you just feel the need for some validation… also it is going to be a very busy week for me so I might lean on our future AI overlords for an assist.  I’m not yet to the point of having them write a blog post and trying to pass it off as me… it takes more than starting every sentence with a conjunction to imitate whatever my style actually is… so I will just ask questions and evaluate answers.

AIs thinking about non-video game questions… drawn by an AI

Yes, I could just take a day… or even a week… off and the world wouldn’t come to an end or anything.  But when has that seemed like an option for me in the last three years.  Maybe I’ve decided that stopping my streak at day 1,234 would be exceptionally fulfilling… did you ever think of that?  Also, I might be digging a few chestnuts out of the drafts folder this week.  Be warned.

Anyway, for no particular reason I decided to do the AI version of vanity Googling.  My question was:

Who is Wilhelm Arcturus?

And, honestly, I was mostly expecting the AI equivalent of, “Who?” in response.  I am not even notable enough to have a Wikipedia article stood up to be rejected as “not notable.”

So I went in the usual order and started off with Bing AI.  I figured this was the biggest risk of a non-response, Bing having removed the blog from its index for about half a year at one point.  But it knew me.

Wilhelm Arcturus is the name of a blogger who writes about video games, especially EVE Online and WoW Classic, on his site The Ancient Gaming Noob¹. He also has a Twitter account³ and a YouTube channel⁴ where he posts about gaming. He is not related to the COVID-19 variant named Arcturus², which is just a coincidence.

Source: Conversation with Bing, 5/3/2023
(1) The Ancient Gaming Noob | Veni, Vidi, Scripsi
(2) Wilhelm Arcturus (Parody) (@wilhelm2451) / Twitter
(3) Wilhelm Arcturus – My Year in EVE Online – 2021 – YouTube
(4) Arcturus: New COVID-19 variant spreading in the U.S with new symptom on Yahoo News
(5) Wilhelm Arcturus (@wilhelm2451) on Flipboard.

Bing remembers… or at least Googled me.  And it has a sense of humor.  Setting it for “more creative” always pays off… though I think it stole that COVID variant joke from somebody in my timeline on Twitter.

I removed the “(Parody)” from my Twitter handle about a month ago, so it is working with some old data.  It was an Elon Musk thing about going after any parody accounts that were not clearly marked as such, which led a bunch of people to just add that to their handle.

Otherwise it is short, in the Bing AI fashion, and to the point.  I think it stole most of that from my Twitter bio.  Still, not bad.

Grade: B

Then there is Google Bard which, like many a musician before, seems to be high on something.

Wilhelm Arcturus is the pen name of Zouve, a blogger and gamer who writes about online gaming at The Ancient Gaming Noob. He has been writing about gaming since 2006, and his blog covers a wide range of topics, including game reviews, news, and opinion pieces. Wilhelm is also a regular contributor to other gaming websites and publications, and he has been interviewed on several occasions by gaming media outlets. He is a passionate gamer who loves to share his love of gaming with others.

Here are some additional details about Wilhelm Arcturus:

* He is a native of the United States.
* He is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley.
* He is a former software engineer.
* He is a husband and father.
* He is a fan of all types of games, but he especially enjoys role-playing games, first-person shooters, and strategy games.
* He is a member of the National Association of Professional Journalists.
* He is a recipient of the Games Media Award for Best Blog.

Wilhelm Arcturus is a respected voice in the gaming community, and his blog is a valuable resource for gamers of all levels. He is a passionate gamer who loves to share his love of gaming with others, and his work has helped to make gaming more accessible and enjoyable for a wider audience.

Holy moly, I want to go live in Bard’s timeline, because I am clearly doing better there than I am here.  I’m a respected voice in the gaming community, not just some crank with a blog and a  bunch of pet peeves I ramble on about in that world!  I could be a valuable resource for gamers of all levels, if only I were there.

Instead I am here, where I have spent maybe a dozen hours total on the campus of UC Berkeley, where I have never been a member of the NAPJ, where I have certainly never won the Games Media Award for best blog, and where I don’t really like first person shooters all that much.

Also, what other gaming web sites have I ever contributed anything to beyond inane comments?  Frankly, I am even going to dispute “passionate gamer,” unless you you mean it the aforementioned “crank with a pet peeves” context.

Finally, not a software engineer.  I used to write code samples in a development environment for training, and somebody once took a sample I wrote and used it for a production app unaltered.  But that does not make one a software engineer.  Plus I went into management for a decade, so now I am only capable of project management tasks.

Oh, and Zouve used to be one of my go-to character names, but Wilhelm predates that by about a decade.  Other than that, mostly correct.

I thought about giving it a second chance, but asking for a re-roll only proved my theory that it offers up its best answer first.  The next one had me as a voice actor with credits in multiple video games and the head of a band called “The Ancient Gaming Noobs.”  And it only got more mundane from there.

Grade: D

Alrighty, having gotten through that mess, let’s move on to Chat GPT and see what it has to say about me.

Wilhelm Arcturus is the pseudonym of the author behind “The Ancient Gaming Noob” (TAGN) blog. This blog covers topics related to online gaming, MMOs (massively multiplayer online games), and video game culture. Wilhelm Arcturus shares his experiences, opinions, and insights about various video games, primarily focusing on MMOs like World of Warcraft, EVE Online, and EverQuest. The blog has been active since 2006 and has gained a dedicated following among gamers interested in MMOs and gaming culture.

For once Chat GPT seems to be giving Bing AI a run for its money on the brevity front.  That said, there isn’t much more to say about Wilhelm Arctutus without getting into Bard-like flights of fancy.

Correctly identified me as a pseudonym, got the blog and its acronym right, got the gaming focus almost right… I would have preferred MMORPGs, but whatever… and the blog has been around since 2006 and if you’re still reading this then you count as a dedicated follower.

No fluff, mostly on point.

Grade: A-

So not bad I suppose.  They all three knew the name to some extent.

Then, just to follow on from there, I asked what the acronym TAGN meant to them and got the following:

Bing AI

• The Ancient Gaming Noob, an online gaming blog
• Triaminoguanidine Nitrate, a nitramine propellent

Google Bard

• The Ancient Gaming Noob, an online gaming blog
• Triaminoguanidine Nitrate, a nitramine propellent
• Tandy Gamer Network, a defunct gaming website

Chat GPT

• The Ancient Gaming Noob: A blog that covers topics related to online gaming, MMOs (massively multiplayer online games), and video game culture.
• Tools And Ground Support Equipment (GSE) Advisory Group: A group that provides guidance and recommendations related to tools and ground support equipment in certain industries.

At least the site remains the top response.  I keep thinking I’ll just rebrand as TAGN, just changing all the banners to say just that with maybe a bunch of different variations as to what it might mean.  Once I have some free time.