6 ChatGPT
Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer – better known as ChatGPT – is an artificial intelligence tool developed by OpenAI. ChatGPT is based on a large language model (LLM). The version of ChatGPT that is based on the model GPT-3.5 is available online free of charge. As a chatbot, ChatGPT is capable of generating text in response to instructions or questions – known as prompts – that are provided by human users. Prompt engineering is the process of structuring the question or instruction in a clear and precise way that makes it easy for a generative AI tool such as ChatGPT to interpret and to carry out the task (e.g., answering the question or following the instruction).
Large Language Models (LLMs)
Like the machine translation systems discussed in the previous section, ChatGPT is a data-driven tool. In the case of ChatGPT, it is based on an LLM, which includes a very, very large corpus of texts that is used to train the tool. By looking at the examples in the corpus, the tool learns what texts look like, and based on these examples, the tool learns to generate new texts. It’s important for you to recognize that ChatGPT and other LLM-based tools do not understand the meaning of the text that they are working on. Rather, LLMs produce text based on the probabilities of which words follow the words that it has already seen or generated. The result is a text that looks good, but its meaning may be strange because the tool does not actually understand what it has written.
ChatGPT and translation
Unlike the machine translation tools mentioned in the previous section on machine translation (i.e., TradooIT Translator, Microsoft Bing Translator), ChatGPT was not designed specifically to translate texts. Rather, ChatGPT can be used for a wider variety of language-related activities, including answering questions, summarizing long texts, simplifying specialized texts, and generating new texts. Even though it was not designed as an automatic translator, ChatGPT can also be used to translate texts. However, as is the case with machine translation tools, the results are unlikely to be perfect and it is important to verify the translated content before sharing it. One interesting aspect of this tool, particularly for anyone who is translating for a Canadian audience, is that you can specify that you want to translate into a Canadian variety of English or French.
Try it! Can ChatGPT produce Canadian language? 
- Go to the ChatGPT website. If you have never used ChatGPT before, follow the instructions to register for a free account. When you first access the site, a window will open to give you some tips. You can close the window by clicking on the button that says “OK, LET’S GO”.
- In the ChatGPT message box at the bottom of the screen, enter the following prompt:
- “Translate the following sentence into English: L’adresse de l’ancien théâtre ne figure pas dans le catalogue.”
- Look at the proposed English-language target text.* Does the spelling of words such as theatre and catalogue reflect Canadian English, or does it appear in another variety of English?
- Try again by entering the following more specific prompt in the ChatGPT message box:
- “Translate the following sentence into Canadian English: L’adresse de l’ancien théâtre ne figure pas dans le catalogue.”
- Look at the output now. Has the spelling of theatre and catalogue been changed to align with Canadian spelling?
- Now try translating into French by entering the following prompt:
- “Translate the following sentence into French: Marie had blueberry pancakes for breakfast.”
- Look at the proposed French-language target text.* Take note of the translations for the words blueberry and breakfast in particular. What variety of French do these translations reflect?
- Now adjust the prompt to tell ChatGPT to produce Canadian French specifically:
- “Translate the following sentence into Canadian French: Marie had blueberry pancakes for breakfast.”
- Look again at the translations for blueberry and breakfast. Have these been changed to terms that are more typical of Canadian French?
*Note: NMT systems are constantly learning, so the results produced may differ from the results that were shown at the time that this resource was created.
Although the focus of this OER is on translation, you can use ChatGPT to help you “Canadianize” other types of text too. For instance, if a text has been written in American or British English, you can ask ChatGPT to rewrite it in Canadian English. Likewise, if a text has been written in a European variety of French, you can ask this tool to transform it into Canadian French.
