Skip to main content

ChatGPT allows this nightmarish AI typewriter to talk to you

A classic Brother AX-325 typewriter straight out the ’90s has gained ChatGPT powers and is all set to have conversations with you, on paper anyway (literally).

Designer-engineer Arvind Sanjeev shared his full process thread on how the typewriter went from idea to the final, charmingly elegant machine that it is. Sanjeev reverse-engineered a Brother AX-325, modded it with some AI smarts, gave it a new paint job, and called it Ghostwriter. And now, it can conversate (onto a piece of paper) with anyone typing on the keyboard.

Ghostwriter complete exploded view.

According to his Twitter posts, Sanjeev dismantled the typewriter, mainly to feed the keyboard signals through an Arduino driver, which in turn was sent to a Raspberry Pi running OpenAI’s GPT-3 python API.

GPT-3 is a powerful tool that works like a chatbot, responding to input (in this case the keyboard) and composing text at a level similar to a human. Sanjeev also showered the Brother with a little TLC, giving the typewriter a new bounce in its mechanical step.

As promised, here is the full process thread for Ghostwriter – the #AI typewriter. A journey from idea to realization:

The idea: With the exponential growth and emergence of a prolific number of AI products we see every day, I wanted to create a mindful intervention that (1/13) pic.twitter.com/MCOeAcM26q

— Arvind Sanjeev (@ArvindSanjeev) December 14, 2022

Sanjeev felt that he also needed a way to control the temperature (creativity) and length of the responses from GPT-3, so he installed two knobs above the keyboard. The knobs flank another small addition: a small OLED that displays their feedback statuses.

Ghostwriter conversation on paper.

Once the technical bits was done, Sanjeev set out to turn the office gray of the Brother into something more inviting and modern. He was aiming for something warm and playful that anyone can approach, without digital distractions, where they could enjoy a “calm, meditative interface of a vintage typewriter” — and we think he succeeded.

Editors' Recommendations

Aaron Leong
Computing Writer
Aaron enjoys all manner of tech - from mobile (phones/smartwear), audio (headphones/earbuds), computing (gaming/Chromebooks)…
Is Apple making its own version of ChatGPT? It seems that way
AI assistants compared with ChatGPT.

Apple is likely working on some kind of answer to ChatGPT and generative AI -- because of course it is. It would have been safe to assume that without evidence, but now we have some solid proof that Apple is starting to take AI seriously.

As noticed by TechCrunch, Apple currently has posted 28 AI-related jobs in May alone, and 9to5Mac points out that there's a total of 88 open jobs at Apple that are somehow related to AI. That's a lot, especially considering the hiring freeze that was instituted earlier this year.

Read more
OpenAI’s new ChatGPT app is free for iPhone and iPad
The ChatGPT website on an iPhone.

OpenAI has just launched a free ChatGPT app for iOS, giving iPhone and iPad owners an easy way to take the AI-powered tool for a spin.

The new app, which is able to converse in a remarkably human-like way, is available now in the U.S. App Store and will come to additional countries “in the coming weeks,” OpenAI said. Android users are promised their own ChatGPT app “soon.”

Read more
What is ChatGPT Code Interpreter and how to use it
ChatGPT plugin store.

The latest buzz around OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot is that it can now access the internet and run plug-ins. You need to be a ChatGPT Plus subscriber, but if you are, the feature is widely available, and it's gotten a lot of people very excited. Why? Because it lets ChatGPT do a whole lot more. In fact, some of its most dedicated users are already putting it to work in new and exciting ways.

From visualizing every lighthouse in America to converting images to text and even doing some video editing, ChatGPT's code interpreter gives it all kinds of exciting new abilities.
What is ChatGPT Code Interpreter?
The ChatGPT Code Interpreter is one of a handful of new plug-ins that you can add to the standard ChatGPT experience to augment and improve its abilities. It makes it possible to run Python code within a chat with ChatGPT, with additional options to upload and download files. You can then further adjust the code, or have ChatGPT make its own changes and suggestions.

Read more