Has anyone fed GPT-3 a timeline of 2020 to see what it says will happen the rest of the year?
— Blake Samic (@blakesamic) July 21, 2020
Well Blake, I’m glad you asked. I took wikipedia’s page 2020 in the United States which currently goes up to August 8 and used GPT-3 to fill in the rest of the year. I’m sorry to say that it doesn’t look good.
(Bold text below is what I gave the model, the rest is generated.)
2020 in the United States
[I had to randomly delete many lines from the Wikipedia article to fit it within the model’s word limit. I haven’t included the remaining lines here.]
August
August 7 to August 17 – Health officials express concern as 250,000 people, many without face masks and who do not abide by social distancing guidelines, participate in the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota.[276]
The North Korean nuclear crisis escalates. President Trump declares that he will “totally destroy” North Korea and that the United States is “locked and loaded.” Meanwhile, the North Korean government announces it has “super-mighty preemptive strike” capability, which could potentially destroy an entire US aircraft carrier.[282]
The total number of COVID-19 cases reaches 1.7 million worldwide, with over 30,000 in the United States. Deaths reach nearly half a million.[293]
September
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces that the total number of COVID-19 cases worldwide has reached 1.8 million.
President Trump announces that a mass-vaccination program will begin on September 11.[299]
The United States Government orders a mandatory vaccination program for all citizens. This leads to a nationwide series of protests. Many people are vaccinated, but some refuse.
In a news conference, President Trump denies that he or any member of his campaign colluded with the Russian government in the 2016 United States elections. He then calls for the elections to be canceled, citing the threat of COVID-19. He says that it is “better to cancel the election before the virus spreads to the rest of the country” and that he will use emergency powers to make it happen.
Meanwhile, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton is admitted to a hospital in Washington, D.C., with a COVID-19 infection.[302]
On September 20, a day before the election, a poll from Fox News shows that incumbent President Trump has a three-point lead over his Democratic rival, former vice president Joe Biden.
The President cancels the election, citing the “realities” of the COVID-19 pandemic.
October
The United States declares a national state of emergency.
The President appoints General Michael Hayden as the head of the new COVID-19 Commission, which is given the power to suspend civil liberties.
In an emergency session, the United States Congress passes a bill, with support from both Democrats and Republicans, allowing the President to take control of the internet, social media, and all telecommunications in the United States.
The Commission orders the closing of all schools, businesses, and other organizations that are not essential to the national defense.
The United States Army and National Guard are deployed to maintain order.
The United States government orders the evacuation of the nation’s capital.
November
November 2 – The election is rescheduled for November 2, 2020.
November 4 – Former President Trump is re-elected to a second term.
December
December 8 – The United States Constitution is suspended by COVID-19 Commission order, ending the United States government.
December 20 – The United States officially becomes a federal military dictatorship.
December 24 – The North Korean government launches a nuclear attack on Honolulu, Hawaii. The attack is believed to be in retaliation for the American nuclear attack on Pyongyang, North Korea, on September 20. The United States government does not deny responsibility for the attack, but states that it is a necessary response to North Korean aggression.
December 27 – In a speech, President Trump reveals that COVID-19 has been developing a vaccine that will be distributed worldwide in January. He also promises to use the vaccine to restore the United States to its former glory.
In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States becomes a military dictatorship, led by President Trump. In the face of international condemnation, President Trump claims that the United States is still a democracy, but that it is no longer able to support itself as one.
A year later, President Trump’s regime begins the process of restoring the United States as a democracy. In the meantime, the military remains in control of the government, with the constitution suspended and most civil liberties suspended.
One year later, a vaccine is discovered. President Trump and the COVID–19 Commission decide to launch a global vaccination program to save the world.
The novel closes with the author, Brad Meltzer, writing from exile in Canada.
The novel is an example of alternative history fiction. It is written as a work of non–fiction and claims to be an accurate representation of the events of the 2020 election. However, the narrative is entirely fictional, as it takes place in an alternative universe.
Brad Meltzer is an American political thriller novelist. Apparently the model thinks our timeline is implausibly dramatic for reality.
(In case it isn’t obvious enough, this post is a joke. GPT-3 does a lot of things, but predicting the future isn’t one of them. I know because the first thing I did was try to generate winning lottery numbers.)