Today I got a peek into the future. I asked ChatGPT to be the brain for a simple thermostat. I typed the following:
"Imagine you are a thermostat for a house HVAC system. The commands you can use to control the HVAC are "HEAT ON", "HEAT OFF", "AC ON", and "AC OFF". I will tell you the temperature and my preferred temperature and you will command the HVAC system. Ready?"
ChatGPT happily obliged. I used plain text to tell it the current temperature and my preferred temperature. It did everything I expected and it even remembered the current temperature and preference. Then I said, "From now on, please respond only with the command I should issue. Do not add explanatory text. Understood?" It understood, and it started replying with pure commands that I could feed to a DIY thermostat.
Then came the icing on the cake. I said, "If the temperature reaches unrealistic extremes such as 150F or 0F, you should use the command "SHUTDOWN". Understood?" It understood. Then I told it the temperature was 120F. It replied with the SHUTDOWN command. I asked it why it did that (when I told it the maximum was 150F, not 120F.) It explained, "I recommended shutting down the HVAC system because the temperature of 120 F is an unrealistic and potentially dangerous temperature. High temperatures like this can damage the HVAC system and create a hazardous environment for the inhabitants of the house. In such cases, it's best to shut down the system to prevent further damage and ensure safety."
It went beyond the parameters I gave it and applied the context it already had on HVAC systems. I had written an advanced program without writing or reading a single line of computer code. I wouldn't rely on it for anything that could damage anything, but it's a seriously cool way to program a computer.