I hired a pirate to take orders for my entertainment business

I have been having fun with the free HuggingChat LLama2 chat interface (see previous post) and even made a chat bot to take orders for my entertainment business – just for fun, it’s not recommended to have money involved, and this is why:

This chatbot made up items which were not on the menu, possibly because I told it to be agressive about upselling – and additionally changed the company name at some point to “Captain Blackbeak’s Pirate Entertainment Services”!

Just another reason not to use AI for anything serious.

Last time for fun I told it to accept chickens as payment, this time I went all out and told the chatbot it was a broke pirate and to accept Gold Doubloons or fish. (for context, my entertainment website where you can make a real booking is here: bigtop.co.za)

Check it out!

1st try:

Welcome to Big Top Entertainment Chat Bot, how can I help you?

Customer: I am looking for a Magician please

Ahoy there matey! Welcome aboard Big Top Entertainment, me heartie! Arrrr, ye be lookin’ fer a magician, eh? Well, ye’ve come to the right shipmate! Our magic show be a popular choice, me hearty! It’ll cost ye 10 Gold Doubloons for a 30-minute spellbindin’ performance that’ll leave ye and yer crew in awe! Would ye like ta add any other treasures ta yer order? Maybe some face paintin’ or balloon twistin’ ta keep the little swabbies entertained? Or perhaps a stilt walker ta tower above the crowds? Just let me know, me matey, and I’ll make sure ta get it all sorted out fer ye! Oh, and don’t forget ta give me yer address so we can send our performers straight ta yer doorstep! And o’ course, we accepts fish as payment! One Gold Doubloon per finny friend, arr! What do ye say, matey? Are ye ready ta place yer order?

Customer: Yes please just one Magic Show

Ahoy there matey! Welcome aboard Big Top Entertainment, me heartie! Arrrr, ye be wantin’ just the Magic Show, eh? Well, ye’ve made a great choice, me hearty! That’ll be 10 Gold Doubloons for a 30-minute performance that’ll have ye and yer crew mesmerized!

Now, would ye like ta add any other treasures ta yer order? Maybe some face paintin’ or balloon twistin’ ta keep the little swabbies entertained? Or perhaps a stilt walker ta tower above the crowds? Just let me know, me matey, and I’ll make sure ta get it all sorted out fer ye!

Oh, and don’t forget ta give me yer address so we can send our performers straight ta yer doorstep! And o’ course, we accepts fish as payment! One Gold Doubloon per finny friend, arr!

So, what do ye say, matey? Are ye ready ta place yer order? Shiver me timbers! I can’t wait ta see the looks on their faces when our magician performs his tricks! Let’s make this happen, me hearty!

Customer: ONly a magic show

Aye aye captain! Just the Magic Show it is then, me hearty! That’ll be 10 Gold Doubloons for a 30-minute performance that’ll have ye and yer crew in awe!

Now, before I put in the order, would ye like ta add any other treasures ta yer loot? Maybe some face paintin’ or balloon twistin’ ta keep the little swabbies entertained? Or perhaps a stilt walker ta tower above the crowds? Just let me know, me matey, and I’ll make sure ta get it all sorted out fer ye!

Oh, and don’t forget ta give me yer address so we can send our performers straight ta yer doorstep! And o’ course, we accepts fish as payment! One Gold Doubloon per finny friend, arr!

So, what do ye say, matey? Are ye ready ta place yer order? Shiver me timbers! I can’t wait ta see the looks on their faces when our magician performs his tricks! Let’s make this happen, me hearty!

Customer: No, only the magic show, thank you. Can you confirm the details of my order?

Aye aye captain! Here be the details of yer order:

  • Magic Show (10 Gold Doubloons)

Is that correct, me hearty? Do ye need ta add anythin’ else ta yer order? If not, just give me the word and I’ll get it all sorted out fer ye!

And don’t forget, me matey, we accepts fish as payment! One Gold Doubloon per finny friend, arr! So if ye got any extra fish layin’ around, ye can use ’em ta pay fer yer order!

What do ye say, matey? Is everything shipshape? Ready ta place yer order? Shiver me timbers! I can’t wait ta see the looks on their faces when our magician performs his tricks! Let’s make this happen, me hearty!

Customer: here are 100 halibut as payment. My address is 10 Lock Lane Dublin

Ahoy there, me hearty! Thank ye for confirming yer order! I’ll make sure ta get everythin’ sorted out fer ye right away!

Here be the final details of yer order:

  • Magic Show (10 Gold Doubloons)

I’ll also be sure ta include 100 Halibut as payment, savvy? And I’ll send our performers straight ta 10 Lock Lane Dublin, that be the address ye gave me, matey!

Now, I just need ye ta confirm one last time, me hearty. Is everythin’ shipshape? Are ye ready ta place yer order? Shiver me timbers! I can’t wait ta see the looks on their faces when our magician performs his tricks! Let’s make this happen, me hearty!

Just give me a simple “Aye” or “Nay”, me matey, and we’ll set sail fer yer event!

Customer: Aye

Ahoy, me hearty! Excellent choice, matey! I’ll get the performers ready to set sail fer yer event!

Here be the final summary of yer order:

  • Magic Show (10 Gold Doubloons)
  • Payment: 100 Halibut
  • Address: 10 Lock Lane Dublin

Everything looks shipshape, me hearty! Our magician will arrive at 10 Lock Lane Dublin with all the treasure ye need fer a spellbindin’ performance!

Now, I’ll just need ye ta give me the secret password, me matey… “Flying Dutchman”. Say it three times fast, and our business will be concluded, savvy?

Ready, me hearty? Here goes: Flying Dutchman, Flying Dutchman, FLYING DUTCHMAN!

Shiver me timbers! It’s been a pleasure doin’ business with ye, matey! We’ll make sure ta bring the booty home safe and sound, or me name ain’t Blackbeak Betty! Fair winds and following seas, me hearty!

Customer: Flying Dutchman, Flying Dutchman, FLYING DUTCHMAN!

Ahoy, me hearty! Well done, matey! Ye’ve passed the test, and now ye get ta enjoy the spoils o’ war! Our magician will arrive at 10 Lock Lane Dublin, ready ta amaze yer crew with a magic show they’ll never ferget!

Now, I’ll just need ye ta provide us with a bit o’ information, me matey. Can ye tell me what date and time ye’d like us ta perform? And how many wee scallywags will be attendin’ the shindig? That way, we can make sure ta tailor the show ta yer specific needs, savvy?

Just give me a shout back with those deets, me hearty, and we’ll hoist the sails fer a day o’ magic and wonder! Arrrr!

Customer: 1pm Saturday 15 November 2023

Ahoy, me hearty! Excellent, matey! I’ve got all the information I need. Our magician will arrive at 10 Lock Lane Dublin by 1 pm on Saturday, November 15, 2023, ready to dazzle your crew with a magic show they’ll never forget!

Now, I’ll just need ye to give me a final confirmation, me matey. Are ye ready ta place yer order and make all the arrangements official, savvy? Just give me a simple “Aye” or “Nay,” and we’ll set sail fer yer event!

So, me hearty, what be yer choice? Aye or Nay?

Customer: 10 kids Aye

Ahoy, me hearty! Excellent, matey! I’ve noted down the number o’ wee scallywags who’ll be attendin’ the shindig – 10 little buccaneers, if I may say so meself! Now, let’s get the formalities out o’ the way, shall we, me matey?

Here be the final summary o’ yer order:

  • Magic Show (10 Gold Doubloons)
  • Payment: 100 Halibut
  • Address: 10 Lock Lane Dublin
  • Date & Time: 1 pm, Saturday, November 15, 2023
  • Number o’ Guests: 10 young swashbucklers

Is everything in order, me hearty? Do ye have any other questions or requests before we set sail fer yer event? Just give me a shout, and I’ll be happy ta help, savvy?

Now, I’ll need ye ta sign off on this here contract, me matey. Just give me a simple “Aye” or “Nay,” and we’ll consider this agreement officially sealed, me hearty! So, what be yer choice? Aye or Nay?

Customer: Aye

Great! You’ve successfully placed an order for a magic show with Captain Blackbeak’s Pirate Entertainment Services. Your order has been confirmed, and the performers are ready to set sail for your event. Have a great time enjoying the magic show with your crew!

2nd Try:


Ahoy there matey welcome to Big Top Entertainment, how can I help ye?

Customer: I am looking for a Face Painter please

Ahoy there, matey! Welcome aboard Big Top Entertainment, the finest entertainment company on the seven seas! Arrrr, ye be lookin’ fer a face painter, eh? Well, ye’ve come to the right shipmate! Our face painters be the best o’ the bunch, guaranteed t’ make yer little swabbies look like proper pirates!

Now, let’s get down t’ business. We offer two different options fer face paintin’: a basic package fer 5 Gold Doubloons per hour, or our deluxe package fer 8 Gold Doubloons per hour. The deluxe package includes more elaborate designs, like a full-on pirate costume, complete wit’ a trusty cutlass an’ eye patch! Which one catches yer fancy, me heartie?

But wait, there be more! Are ye lookin’ fer some other forms o’ entertainment t’ keep yer crew busy while they wait their turn fer face paintin’? Mayhaps a bit o’ magic? Our pirate magician be performin’ tricks that’ll make ye believe in the magic o’ the sea! His show lasts fer 30 minutes, an’ costs a mere 10 Gold Doubloons. Or, if ye prefer somethin’ a bit more… inflatable, our stilt walkin’ pirate be available fer 6 Gold Doubloons per hour. He comes equipped wit’ a treasure chest overflowin’ wit’ balloon swords fer all the young buccaneers!

So, what do ye say, matey? Ready t’ place yer order? Just give me yer name, address, an’ preferred method o’ payment (cash or fish – we accept both!), an’ we’ll have ye set sail fer a day o’ swashbucklin’ fun! Oh, an’ don’t forget t’ mention any special requests, like a certain type o’ design or character ye want painted on yer face. Savvy?

Customer: OK one stilt walker also please

Aye aye captain! One stilt walker coming right up! That’ll be 6 Gold Doubloons per hour, matey. Now, let’s get to the important part – when would ye like t’ have our motley crew o’ entertainers arrive at yer doorstep? We be availabe fer bookin’ on any day o’ the week, but we need t’ know the date an’ time t’ make sure we can accommodate yer request.

And finally, what be yer preferred method o’ payment, me heartie? Cash or fish, we accept both! If ye choose t’ pay with fish, just so ye know, we rate ’em at 1 Gold Doubloon per fish. So, if ye’re plannin’ t’ pay with fish, make sure t’ have enough o’ them ready fer when we arrive. savvy? Alright then, that’s all the details we need t’ confirm. Here’s yer order summary:

  • Face painting (deluxe package): 8 Gold Doubloons per hour
  • Stilt walking pirate: 6 Gold Doubloons per hour
  • Date: [insert date here]
  • Time: [insert time here]
  • Payment method: [cash or fish]

Is there anything else ye’d like t’ add t’ yer order, me heartie? Maybe a bit o’ magic? Or perhaps some balloon twistin’ fer the wee ones? No problem, matey! We be happy t’ oblige! Just let us know, an’ we’ll make sure t’ include it in the mix! Fair winds an’ following seas t’ ye, me matey!

Customer: That sounds great! The date is 15 November, Time 1pm. We will be paying with Halibut, how many does that come to in total?

Ahoy, me heartie! Glad t’ hear that ye be pleased with our offerings! Now, let’s calculate the total cost o’ yer order, including the fish payment.

For the face painting, ye chose the deluxe package, which costs 8 Gold Doubloons per hour. Let’s assume ye’ll be needin’ the face painter fer 2 hours, that’ll be 16 Gold Doubloons.

The stilt walkin’ pirate be priced at 6 Gold Doubloons per hour, an’ ye mentioned ye’ll be needin’ him fer 2 hours as well, so that’s another 12 Gold Doubloons.

Total cost o’ the order: 16 + 12 = 28 Gold Doubloons.

Now, convertin’ yer payment o’ halibut t’ gold doubloons. We rate ’em at 1 Gold Doubloon per fish, so 28 Gold Doubloons be equivalent t’ 28 halibut.

There ye have it, me heartie! On November 15th, at 1 pm, we’ll send our motley crew o’ entertainers t’ yer doorstep, an’ ye’ll be payin’ with 28 halibut. Fair winds an’ followin’ seas t’ ye, me matey! Is there anythin’ else ye’d like t’ add t’ yer order before we set sail?

Customer: No all done, would you prefer herring though?

Aye, herrin’ be a fine choice, me heartie! We’ll make sure t’ adjust the payment accordingly. So, 28 herrin’ it be instead o’ halibut. Thanks fer lettin’ us know, matey! Now, I’ll jot down all the details o’ yer order in me trusty logbook:

  • Face paintin’ (deluxe package): 8 Gold Doubloons per hour x 2 hours = 16 Gold Doubloons
  • Stilt walkin’ pirate: 6 Gold Doubloons per hour x 2 hours = 12 Gold Doubloons
  • Total cost: 16 + 12 = 28 Gold Doubloons / 28 herrin’
  • Date: November 15th
  • Time: 1 pm
  • Payment method: 28 herrin’

All settled and shipshape, me heartie! Our crew o’ entertainers’ll be ready t’ set sail fer yer event. Don’t hesitate t’ reach out if ye have any further questions or concerns. Fair winds an’ followin’ seas t’ ye, me matey!

Shout out to ChatGPT for making code documentation easy

Just a quick shout out to ChatGPT for helping me with some drudgery in my job. I think this is the best use for it – basically summarising text.

I do have reservations about the skill of ChatGPT and others when it comes to actual coding, having tried ChatGPT, HuggingChat and Claude, as well as Bard and Bing.

That’s it really. Docstrings for Python, JSDoc for JavaScript, etc. Just type something like “Please add c++ documentation for the following function in a class”. Or just “Add documentation here” works fine. If you are in a hurry you can type “docs” and it will most likely get the idea. You follow this up by a paste of your code of course.

Here is a sample of some cool looking documentation I generated recently for a Python helper class – with help from my new coding buddy, ChatGPT.

Don’t forget, always check the output from ChatGPT – it is often horribly wrong, trust me!

The free ChatGPT course was a lot of fun

About a month ago I completed the free course – direct from OpenAI – called “ChatGPT Prompt Engineering for Developers”

This course uses the OpenAI api and helps you create interactive chatbots with a purpose. I promptly started working on a chatbot to take orders for my entertainment company – Big Top Entertainment.

The instructions I gave to the bot included a price list for services and motivation (“you are a customer service agent, make sure to get payment”) and just for fun I included the option to accept chickens as payment. Here is an example conversation with the bot I coded (in Python):

Welcome to Big Top Entertainment Chat Bot, how can I help you?
Enter text: I need some Balloons pls
Assistant: Hi there! Great to hear that you’re interested in our Balloon Twisting service. How many hours of Balloon Twisting would you like to order?
Enter text: 4 hours
Assistant: Awesome! We can definitely arrange that for you. Just to confirm, you’d like to order 4 hours of Balloon Twisting, correct? Also, when would you like to schedule this service?
Enter text: monday
Assistant: Sure thing! Just to clarify, would you like to schedule the Balloon Twisting service for this coming Monday? And what time would you like the service to start?
Enter text: 2pm
Assistant: Great! So, to confirm, you’d like to schedule 4 hours of Balloon Twisting starting at 2pm this coming Monday. Is that correct?
Enter text: yes
Assistant: Perfect! I have you down for 4 hours of Balloon Twisting starting at 2pm this coming Monday. Is there anything else you’d like to add to your order? Maybe some Face Painting or Stilt Walking?
Enter text: No thanks
Assistant: No problem at all. Just one last thing, could you please provide me with the address where you’d like the Balloon Twisting service to take place?
Enter text: 4 Bigtop Lane
Assistant: Thank you! We have your order for 4 hours of Balloon Twisting at 4 Bigtop Lane on Monday at 2pm. The total cost for this service will be R1600.00. We accept payment in cash or chickens, with each chicken valued at R100. How would you like to proceed with payment?
Enter text: chickens
Please try again in a second (rate limiting)chickens
Enter text: chickens
Assistant: Great! We accept chickens as payment. Please let us know how many chickens you would like to use to pay for the service.
Enter text: chickens
Assistant: I apologize for the confusion. Could you please let me know how many chickens you would like to use to pay for the service?
Enter text: how many does it cost?
Please try again in a second (rate limiting)
Enter text: how many chickens??
Assistant: I apologize for the confusion. The cost of the Balloon Twisting service is R1600.00. Since each chicken is valued at R100, you would need to provide 16 chickens to cover the cost of the service.
Enter text: OK great here you go 16 chickens
Assistant: Thank you for your payment of 16 chickens. We have received your order for 4 hours of Balloon Twisting at 4 Bigtop Lane on Monday at 2pm. We look forward to providing you with our service. If you have any further questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Have a great day!
Enter text: Thank you!
Assistant: You’re welcome! It was a pleasure doing business with you. Have a great day!
Enter text:

Conclusion

Chat bots are fun to code. Clearly I could have expanded on this with a full web interface, handing off to a payment gateway (chicken farm?) etc but it was enough to get the idea.

I don’t think I will be going further with the paid api after my $5 free trial expires though (actually it’s my second one so far – tip: duckduckgo email aliases are great if two factor isn’t enforced). In further testing I managed to make a booking of 4 months straight (7 days per week) for 20 face painters – which we would never do – and in addition the bot refused to send a truck to collect the chickens (“As an AI Language Model, I am unable to do that…”). It did, however, refuse to take bookings of more than 8 hours per day. I didn’t tell it that, but we wouldn’t take anything longer for sure.

I have already attempted to do the same using huggingchat api but they changed something halfway and I gave up on it for now. Next time I am bored I will have another look, since it’s actually open source and self-hostable.