When US President Abraham Lincoln stood on the battlefield on November 19, 1863, at the official dedication of the Soldiers National Cemetery (now called the Gettysburg National Cemetery) at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania., he delivered a short speech which expressed his belief that the Civil War was not just a fight to save the Union, but a struggle for freedom and equality for all.
His short three-minute speech followed the long-winded orator and politician Edward Everett who allegedly spoke for a surely-dreadful two hours.
Lincoln’s address, which appears to have undergone several revisions before his final delivered version, reads as follows:
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
The speech was handwritten and supposedly composed on the fly that same day. But what if Lincoln had had access to ChatGPT, the amazing artificial intelligence technology that can put together sentences based on a query?
If Lincoln had access to ChatGPT to help him write speeches, it could potentially have made the process of speechwriting more efficient and effective.
ChatGPT's ability to understand and respond to natural language input, as well as its extensive knowledge base, could have been used to assist Lincoln in researching and organizing his thoughts.
Additionally, ChatGPT's ability to generate text based on a given prompt could have helped Lincoln to craft powerful and persuasive language for his speeches.
However, it's worth noting that even with the help of AI, Lincoln's speeches were not only the product of his own intellect, analytical and oratory skills, but also the reflection of historical context, personal experience, and his mastery of rhetoric.
By entering the following query into ChatGPT, the program rewrote the Gettysburg Address as if Lincoln himself had not written it, but rather a computer: “rewrite the gettysburg address as if it was written with artificial intelligence.”
The program rewrote the speech, transforming it into a slightly more simple version of the original. Here is what ChatGPT produced:
"Eighty-seven years ago, our forefathers founded a new nation, grounded in freedom and equality for all. We are currently engaged in a great civil war, testing the strength and endurance of that nation. I stand here on this sacred land to consecrate a portion of it as a final resting place for those who gave their lives for the nation's survival. It is appropriate that we do this.
But on a larger scale, we cannot consecrate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot sanctify this land. The brave men, living and dead, who fought here, have consecrated it far beyond our ability to add or subtract. The world will not remember the words spoken here today, but it will never forget the sacrifices made here.
It is our duty, the living, to continue the work that these brave men have begun, to honor their sacrifices by dedicating ourselves to the unfinished task that lies ahead. We pledge to renew our devotion to the cause for which they gave their last full measure of devotion, and to ensure that their sacrifices were not in vain.
We vow that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from this earth."
Based on this interesting yet disappointing result, it is safe to say that it is a good thing Lincoln did not use AI to write his famed speech. His version is far better, more meaningful, and more memorable.
AI today is mostly an assisting tool and not one that can develop thoughts or ideas that do not already exist on the internet. When it comes to writing a speech, use your own thoughts and experiences.
As intelligent as they are, computers cannot and will not replicate the human mind.
After all, computers are created by the people, for the people.