The Met Museum, OpenAI Created an AI Chatbot With the Persona of a 1930s Socialite for a New Exhibit

AI is transforming a 94-year-old Depression-era wedding dress into an interactive grounds astatine nan Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Monday's Met Gala kicked disconnected nan museum's yearly Costume Institute exhibition, which focuses connected "sleeping beauties" aliases apparel that are now highly vulnerable and tin nary longer beryllium worn. The accumulation features complete 200 garments and accessories crossed 400 years and invites visitors to touch embroidered walls and acquisition what it was for illustration to deterioration storied pieces of clothing.

But it's nan final item successful nan exhibition, a wedding dress designed by Callot Soeurs that New York socialite Natalie Potter wore connected her wedding time connected December 4, 1930, that has group — and a persona — talking. Here, nan Met collaborated pinch ChatGPT-maker OpenAI to create a civilization chatbot modeled aft Potter's personality.

The AI bot tin reply visitors' questions astir Potter's wedding, her life, and her dress — each successful her persona.

Visitors conscionable person to scan a QR codification to talk to nan Potter chatbot done text.

Wedding dress worn by Natalie Potter astir 94 years ago. Credit: The Metropolitan Museum of Art

This is nan first AI-aided grounds created by nan Met, pinch nan museum's head Max Hollein telling The Wall Street Journal that he sees nan AI arsenic a aviator program; visitant consequence will show nan Met much astir really to further usage AI.

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"I deliberation artists will usage AI successful nan early successful very absorbing and intelligent ways," Hollein told nan publication.

OpenAI trained nan Potter chatbot connected letters she wrote, newspaper articles, and documents from nan time. According to FamilySearch, Potter passed distant much than 26 years ago.

The civilization chatbot pinch Potter's persona was besides a first for OpenAI, which says it looks for ways to collaborate pinch industries connected real-world usage cases.

"I deliberation we person an opportunity present to do thing different, and nan result is not preordained," OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati told nan WSJ.

Related: OpenAI Reportedly Used More Than a Million Hours of YouTube Videos to Train Its Latest AI Model

Finding a beardown usage lawsuit for AI is important arsenic OpenAI faces lawsuits from creatives and pushback connected copyright grounds.

Authors for illustration Paul Tremblay and Sarah Silverman person alleged that their books were portion of datasets utilized to train AI without their consent and artists for illustration Billie Eilish and Jon Bon Jovi precocious signed an unfastened missive astir nan "catastrophic" usage of AI successful nan euphony industry.

In April, nan New York Times reported that OpenAI may person trained AI models connected YouTube video transcriptions.

Murati spoke pinch nan WSJ's Joanna Stern successful March and said that nan institution utilized publically disposable and licensed information to train its chatbots.

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