Allison Williams ChatGPT Obsession Is Peak Millennial Culture

From M3GAN to Marnie Allison Williams Tech Connections

While I missed the boat on the M3GAN films, a recent rewatch of Girls has me invested in its cast, including Allison Williams. Interestingly, Williams has some notable connections in the tech world. During the M3GAN 2.0 press tour, she revealed in a Guardian profile that she knows Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI. Apparently, Altman even connected her with a robotics expert for her role research.

If you're wondering how the actress known as Marnie Michaels knows the man behind ChatGPT, there are a few plausible threads. In a fictional Girls universe, her ex Booth Jonathan would undoubtedly be creating AI "art." In reality, Williams has a history with tech figures, having been married to Funny or Die founder Ricky Van Veen. Plus, as a Yale graduate, she's likely been around wealthy, nerdy types for years.

A Very Millennial Conversation with ChatGPT

Williams has developed a real fondness for ChatGPT. This was a central topic during her recent appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Over the weekend, she shared an Instagram clip from the show, diving into the specifics of her "relationship" with the large language model.

"I use it all the time for things, and I finally was like, can you write a few paragraphs of what you think you know about me," Williams explained. She wasn't looking for what the internet thinks of her; she wanted to know what the AI deduced based solely on her prompts, as it has "no idea that I’m anyone that would be accessible on the internet."

The AIs Hilarious Roast You Are Millennial Beige

ChatGPT's response was hilariously blunt. Williams recounted, "It was like, you are very boring. It was like, you live in the Northeast and you like beige." The timing was perfect, as Williams was wearing a stunning, head-to-toe beige outfit during the interview.

In her Instagram caption, she encouraged her followers to try the same experiment: "Ask your ChatGPT to write a paragraph about what it thinks it knows about you. … Are you, like me, millennial beige…as a person!?!?"

A Generational Tech Throwback

If "millennial beige" is code for being a bit old and predictable, then the AI might be onto something. The act of interacting with ChatGPT like it's a personality, much like millennials did with SmarterChild on AIM, and then sharing it publicly, is a deeply millennial behavior. It's a throwback to the early days of conversational bots, now updated for the AI era.

I felt compelled to write this post because Williams ended her caption with, "if you came here to tell me not to use ChatGPT…save your thumb energy." That was all the invitation I needed to fire up my full-sized keyboard and share my thoughts.