I got GPT-3 to predict the timeline of the pandemic, and HOO BOY.

(THREAD)

Since GPT-3 is trained on data from before 2020, it knows nothing about COVID-19. So I gave it a prompt for a general pandemic virus emerging in China and let it go. Here’s the result. (1/n)

The prompt:

“In the year 2020, a pandemic virus emerges in China and begins sweeping the globe. What follows is a month-by-month timeline of the events of the pandemic.” (2/n)

What follows is GPT-3’s timeline. For some reason it, when generating the text it duplicated every monthly entry with identical wording. So I’ve removed the duplicates. Otherwise, this is unedited. (3/n)

January: The first cases are reported in China.

February: A pandemic virus is discovered by scientists at the University of Chicago. They begin to study it and discover that it has many similarities with other viruses they have studied before. (4/n)

One scientist named Dr. Robert Garry becomes obsessed with finding a cure for the disease. He creates an army of infected called "Zombies" to help him research the virus. (5/n)

March: The virus begins to spread outside of China. The World Health Organization is quick to react and declares a state of emergency. In America, several thousand cases are reported and suspected cases are quarantined. (6/n)

Most of these people will die in the next few weeks, and will reanimate to seek out living human flesh. The military is sent in to attempt to contain the virus. (7/n)

April: The virus has spread throughout the entire globe. Reports begin coming in of cases where people have died, but fail to reanimate. It is discovered that the virus itself has evolved. The "New Variant" as it becomes known, is much deadlier than its predecessor. (8/n)

Thousands of people die from the virus or from "friendly fire" from the military as they attempt to quarantine the infected. (9/n)

May: The first reports of human survivors are reported. Large walled cities, military outposts, and other well defended areas become islands of hope for the human race. (10/n)

The "Zombie Plague" as it is commonly called, has effectively reduced the world's population by over 90%. A few survivors are found in some very surprising places. (11/n)

June: The first recorded evidence of a "Ghoul" is found. In the old city of Las Vegas, a man calling himself "Mr. Black" controls a small army of around a dozen "ghouls". (12/n)

July: The governments of the world have effectively collapsed. Although small communities of survivors exist, there is no central authority to control them. The "Age of Darkness" has begun. (13/n)

August: A report written by Dr. Adrienne Denoux is found. It contains her theories on the virus and its origins. It is sent to a friend of hers in England, and from there it makes its way onto the internet. Denoux's theories become commonly accepted. (14/n)

September: Reports begin coming in of a "colony" of survivors in northern California. They have been walled off from the outside world for over a year, and are apparently in a state of civil war. (15/n)

October: The colony in northern California is proven to be a hoax. It's leaders, "The Twins", were just playing on the hopes of the desperate to keep them under their control. (16/n)

November: The last surviving humans from the Military Facility finally die off, and the earth is once again free of humans... at least for now.

THE ZOMBIE APOCALYSE HAS BEGUN...

(END OF TEXT) (17/n)

So there you have it folks. Looks like GPT-3’s money is on zombie virus. I have to say, I’m pretty impressed with the coherence of the timeline. A couple elements are dubious (Internet after civilization-collapse? Walled of for over a year?) (18/n)

But on the other hand, it picked a current epidemiologist, Dr. Robert Garry, who has an ACTUAL NATURE-PUBLISHED COVID-19 PAPER.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-0820-9If

If that’s not spooky, I don’t know what is.

(END THREAD)

Addendum: The first month-title, “January:”, was actually also part of the prompt. Sorry.