Does this AI know more about Crypto than you?

Using GPT-3 to mine Reddit for Crypto insights

One of the areas we’ve been exploring at Addition is the ability of new AI models like GPT-3 to understand and synthesize human language at scale.

While a lot of the hype around Open AI’s groundbreaking GPT-3 model has been focused on novelties, like zero-shot text generation, we suspected it would be possible for these AI’s to perform more nuanced fact-based tasks like understanding online conversations at scale.

A great use case for this is understanding conversations around Crypto. Conversations around Crypto are rapidly evolving and require constant immersion to keep up with.

What if an AI’s ability to understand and synthesize text could help you keep up with the latest Crypto trends?

Here’s how we went about testing it out:

1. We scraped recent conversations from the r/CryptoCurrency subreddit, where enthusiasts are sharing their opinions at scale.

2. We converted 20k of the most recent conversations into a JSON format that Open AI’s new InstructGPT models can understand.

3. We supplied training examples to help the models understand that we want to extract themes from opinions about any subject.

4. We used Open AI’s answers API to supply the model with questions and prompts for completion.

The result is a conversational AI that can understand and synthesize text about the latest trends based on the recent opinions of thousands of Crypto enthusiasts.

Let’s take it for a spin:

Me: What are some of the new Crypto Currencies people are excited about?

GPT-3: Some of the new cryptocurrencies people are talking about include IoTex, Grimacecoin, and nano.

Using this conversational technique, I can delve deeper into topics of interest, for example, learning more about Grimacecoin.

Me: What is Grimacecoin and why are people talking about it?

GPT-3: Grimace coin is a digital currency that was created in response to a tweet by Elon Musk. He said he would eat a McDonald's Happy Meal on TV if it accepted Dogecoin. The fast-food chain responded by posting a picture of a grimacecoin coin featuring McDonald's mascot Grimace. This exchange prompted the creation of more than 10 different grimacecoins. Some people are talking about it because they think it is a scam, while others are bullish on it because they think it will be used for mass adoption.

One surprising outcome of this experiment is that using this technique, GPT-3 can not only answer questions based upon the Reddit conversations but can also use them to generate content in various formats.

Let’s see if it can use conversations about Grimacecoins to write an abstract for a news article.

Me: Write an abstract for a news article about Grimacecoin:

GPT-3: Grimacecoin, a new cryptocurrency, is making waves in the crypto world. Created in response to a tweet by Elon Musk, Grimacecoin is quickly gaining popularity. The fast-food chain McDonald's responded by posting a picture of a grimacecoin coin featuring McDonald's mascot Grimace. The exchange prompted the creation of more than 10 different grimacecoins.

I don’t know about you, but I’d probably click on that article if it showed up in my newsfeed, especially if it had a picture of Grimace on it.

Let’s see if we can push it further by asking it to write an ad.

Me: Write a creative advertisement about Grimacecoin:

GPT-3: Looking for a high yield investment? Look no further than Grimacecoin! This up and coming altcoin offers returns of up to 2-3x, and is backed by the stability of the McDonald's brand. Don't miss out on this opportunity to get in on the ground floor of the next big thing!

We believe we are just scratching the surface of what large language models like GPT-3 can do when rooted in a strategic text corpus.

The examples shown here have been achieved on the first attempt with minimal training data. With finetuning, we believe this approach could be used to synthesize highly accurate insights, content ideas, and even first drafts for brands, publishers, and content creators.

Here is a video demo if you’d like to see more:

What do you think? Let us know by hitting reply to this email.