Style transfer is my newly discovered AI super-power: having AI rewrite in someone’s style.
EXAMPLE 1: Kalama Sutta. I asked Claude to “Rewrite this Kalama Sutta translation. Pick an author whose style is modern, thoughtful, and VERY readable. Mention the author and rewrite in their style.”
The original sounds like this: https://lnkd.in/gQhi8CBY
“It is proper for you, Kalamas, to doubt, to be uncertain; uncertainty has arisen in you about what is doubtful. Come, Kalamas. Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing; nor upon tradition; nor upon rumor…”
Here it is in the style of Pico Iyer, an essayist who writes the way good conversation feels: https://lnkd.in/gMFpc74y
“Your confusion makes sense. When things are genuinely doubtful, doubt is the appropriate response. So here is what I suggest: Don’t accept something just because you’ve heard it repeated many times. Don’t accept it just because it’s tradition, or rumor, …”
EXAMPLE 2: AI Personhood. Here’s a fascinating paper by Google: https://lnkd.in/gikMnUzj
“Assuming some essence of personhood is “out there” waiting to be discovered, or a metaphysical fact about what AIs or persons “really are” that can settle our practical questions seems to us, unlikely to prove helpful. We propose treating personhood not as something entities possess by virtue of their nature, but as a contingent vocabulary developed for coping with social life in a biophysical world.”
In Tim Urban’s style, it becomes this one-liner: https://lnkd.in/g8t8fG4g
“Given this mess in front of us… what vocabulary actually works?”
Both articles have amazing content. But now they’re accessible to me, thanks to style transfer.
PROMPT: Here’s the prompt fragment I’m using:
Think about whose style of writing would be the most engaging and informative to write the following content.List options, mentioning their style, why they’re suitable, and pick the best, with reason.Then rewrite it in their style.
Claude has better style. ChatGPT has higher rigor. Pick what works for you!
PS: Image by Nano Banana Pro. “Draw Keanu Reeves as Buddha but wearing jeans, addressing a crowd of villagers. He is clearly modern. The village and villagers are clearly ancient. The image is very realistic, like from a modern digital camera.”
