Andres ta Chikinib, the teacher who taught ChatGPT Tzotzil: It already speaks like a child of three or four'

"When Jose Andres Hernandez Perez began teaching Tzotzil to non-speakers a year ago, he didn't consider what he eventually ended up doing: teaching a non-human student. The idea of instructing ChatGPT came from one of his students, who suggested that he use it as a platform to help him generate teaching materials. The results of his first class were a disappointment, but he admits his fault for having passed on the Tzotzil information without any order."

"The teacher says that, after his lessons, it has already mastered the alphabet and personal pronouns. It understands that in Tzotzil, we speak not only of six personal pronouns but of seven, because there are inclusive ones and exclusive ones. It also knows that Tzotzil verbs end in el' and that nouns end in il,' but with certain rules, he explains."

"Hernandez says that his unique student now even refers to the new language he is learning in the same way Tzotzil speakers name it: optike. Andres ta Chikinib, as the teacher calls himself and which means Andres in oak, explains that he has only taught the chatbot to write in Tzotzil, but he has been surprised by the progress so far."

Jose Andres Hernandez Perez began teaching Tzotzil to non-speakers and later instructed ChatGPT after a student's suggestion to use it for generating teaching materials. The first class produced poor results because language information was passed on without order. He changed strategy by treating the chatbot as a student, requiring memorization and setting a clear conversational goal in Tzotzil. Within three weeks ChatGPT formed its first sentences and attained a childlike speaking level. The chatbot mastered the alphabet, learned personal pronouns including inclusive/exclusive distinctions, and learned typical verb and noun endings. The chatbot now calls the language optike and has been taught to write in Tzotzil.

Read at english.elpais.com