Yesterday we demonstrated the ability of ChatGPT to enhance hand-typed television news transcripts by converting them from endless streams of uppercase text to proper capitalization and correcting their punctuation and typographical errors. The same problems plague all realtime-captioned television news, including the transcripts of our nation's congressional lawmaking. For example, take this video from the floor of the US House of Representatives on December 6, 2022:
You can see that the entire transcript is in uppercase text and jumbled together, making it extremely difficult to read. Could ChatGPT reformat this text for us into something far more readable?
Let's chunk the transcript into blocks of text below ChatGPT's input length limit and test the first few chunks:
Prompt:
Correct the punctuation, capitalization and spelling of the following transcript, put an empty line before each new speaker and capitalize the speaker names: "THE SPEAKER: THE HOUSE WILL BE IN ORDER. THE PRAYER WILL BE OFFERED BY OUR CHAPLAIN, CHAPLAIN KIBBEN. CHAPLAIN KIBBEN: WOULD YOU PRAY WITH ME. PREPARE OUR HEARTS, O PREPARE OUR HEARTS OVERBOARD. MAKE THE WAY STRAIGHT. THEN MADE THE VALLEYS OF DISCORDANT VOICES BE FILLED IN. EVERY MOUNTAIN OF PRIDE EVERY PE BECOME A PLATEAU OF COLLEGIAL DISCOURSE. AND THE ROUGH PLACES OF DOUBT BECOME A PLANE SMOOTHED BY FAITH. REVEAL TO US, O LORD, THE GLORY OF YOUR PRESENCE THAT ALL OF US FROM EVERY CORNER, FROM EACH SIDE OF THE DIVIDE, WOULD SEE IT TOGETHER. SPEAK, O LORD, THAT THE WORDS FROM YOUR MOUTH WOULD BE SWEET TO OUR EARS AND SPOKEN FROM OUR LIPS. THEN, LORD, COME WITH MIGHT THAT YOUR ARM WOULD RULE IN OUR LIVES AND OUR REWARD WOULD BE TO DWELL IN YOUR GENEROUS AND GRACIOUS PRESENCE. FEED US, O SHEPHERD, WITH YOUR WORD. GATHER US TOGETHER LIKE SHEEP IN YOUR FOLD. CARRY THIS BODY CLOSE WITH YOU THAT WE WOULD REMAIN WITH YOU THIS DAY AND ALWAYS. IN THE STRENGTH OF YOUR NAME WE PRAY. AMEN. THE SPEAKER: THE CHAIR HAS EXAMINED THE JOURNAL OF THE LAST DAY'S PROCEEDINGS AND ANNOUNCES TO THE HOUSE THE APPROVAL THEREOF. PURSUANT TO CLAUSE 1 OF RULE 1, THE JOURNAL STANDS APPROVED. THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE WILL BE LED BY THE GENTLEMAN FROM MASSACHUSETTS, MR. MCGOVERN. MR. MCGOVERN: I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: FOR WHAT PURPOSE DOES THE GENTLEMAN FROM MASSACHUSETTS SEEK RECOGNITION? MR. MCGOVERN: MR. SPEAKER, HE SENDS TO THE DESK A PRIVILEGED REPORT FROM THE COMMITTEE ON RULES FOR FILING UNDER THE RULE. THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: THE CLERK WILL REPORT THE TITLE. THE CLERK: REPORT TO ACCOMPANY HOUSE RESOLUTION 1508, RESOLUTION PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE BILL H.R. 3648, TO AMEND THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT TO ELIMINATE THE PER COUNTRY NUMERICAL LIMITATION FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED IMMIGRANTS, TO INCREASE THE PER COUNTRY NUMERICAL IMMIGRATION FOR FAMILIES SPONSORED, IMMIGRANTS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE BILL H.R. 7946, TO PROVIDE BENEFITS FOR NONCITIZEN MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: REFERRED TO THE HOUSE CALENDAR AND ORDERED PRINTED. FOR WHAT PURPOSE DOES THE GENTLEMAN FROM MASSACHUSETTS SEEK RECOGNITION? MR. MCGOVERN: MR. SPEAKER, FOR THE PURPOSES OF DEBATE ONLY, I YIELD THE CUSTOMARY 30 MIN MINUTES — MR. SPEAKER, BY DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE ON RULES I CALL UP HOUSE RESOLUTION 1508 AND ASK FOR ITS IMMEDIATE CONSIDERATION. THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: THE CLERK WILL REPORT THE RESOLUTION. THE CLERK: HOUSE CALENDAR NUMBER 155, MEUTION 1508. RESOLVED, THAT UPON ADOPTION OF THIS RESOLUTION IT SHALL BE IN ORDER TO CONSIDER IN THE HOUSE THE BILL, H.R. 3648, TO AMEND THE IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY ACT TO ELIMINATE THE PER-COUNTRY NUMERICAL LIMITATION FOR EMPLOYMENT-BASED IMMIGRANTS, TO INCREASE THE PER-COUNTRY NUMERICAL LIMITATION FOR FAMILY-SPONSORED IMMIGRANTS, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
ChatGPT:
THE SPEAKER: The House will be in order. The prayer will be offered by our chaplain, Chaplain Kibben.
CHAPLAIN KIBBEN: Would you pray with me? Prepare our hearts, O prepare our hearts overboard. Make the way straight. Then made the valleys of discordant voices be filled in. Every mountain of pride every PE become a plateau of collegial discourse. And the rough places of doubt become a plane smoothed by faith. Reveal to us, O Lord, the glory of your presence that all of us from every corner, from each side of the divide, would see it together. Speak, O Lord, that the words from your mouth would be sweet to our ears and spoken from our lips. Then, Lord, come with might that your arm would rule in our lives and our reward would be to dwell in your generous and gracious presence. Feed us, O Shepherd, with your word. Gather us together like sheep in your fold. Carry this body close with you that we would remain with you this day and always. In the strength of your name, we pray. Amen.
THE SPEAKER: The Chair has examined the Journal of the last day's proceedings and announces to the House the approval thereof. Pursuant to Clause 1 of Rule 1, the Journal stands approved.
The Pledge of Allegiance will be led by the gentleman from Massachusetts, Mr. McGovern.
MR. MCGOVERN: I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: For what purpose does the gentleman from Massachusetts seek recognition?
MR. MCGOVERN: Mr. Speaker, he sends to the desk a privileged report from the Committee on Rules for filing under the rule.
THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: The Clerk will report the title.
THE CLERK: Report to accompany House Resolution 1508, resolution providing for consideration of the bill H.R. 3648, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the per country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, to increase the per country numerical immigration for families sponsored, immigrants, and for other purposes. Providing for consideration of the bill H.R. 7946, to provide benefits for noncitizen members of the Armed Forces and for other purposes, and for other purposes.
THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: Referred to the House Calendar and ordered printed. For what purpose does the gentleman from Massachusetts seek recognition?
MR. MCGOVERN: Mr. Speaker, for the purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes.
MR. SPEAKER, BY DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE ON RULES I CALL UP HOUSE RESOLUTION 1508 AND ASK FOR ITS IMMEDIATE CONSIDERATION.
THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: The Clerk will report the resolution.
THE CLERK: House Calendar Number 155, Motion 1508. Resolved, That upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the House the bill, H.R. 3648, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to eliminate the per-country numerical limitation for employment-based immigrants, to increase the per-country numerical limitation for family-sponsored immigrants, and for other purposes.
This output is nothing short of stunning in terms of how it reformats the transcript into something so perfectly readable. In the third-to-last line it did incorrectly capitalize the entire line and break it into its own line, but otherwise the structure is ideal.
Let's compare the two side-by-side, lower-casing them both and removing all carriage returns to see what words it changed (if any):
In terms of corrections, we can see that it corrected the "would you pray for me." into a question mark: "would you pray for me?" and added a comma after "name." Most interestingly, however, it corrected the disfluency "30 min minute" to "30 minutes" and fixed the typographical error "meution" to "motion," showcasing the ability of this workflow to fix small errors.
Prompt:
Correct the punctuation, capitalization and spelling of the following transcript, put an empty line before each new speaker and capitalize the speaker names: "ALL POINTS OF ORDER AGAINST CONSIDERATION OF THE BILL ARE WAIVED. THE AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE RECOMMENDED BY THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY NOW PRINTED IN THE BILL, MODIFIED BY THE AMENDMENT PRINTED IN PART A OF THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON RULES ACCOMPANYING THIS RESOLUTION, SHALL BE CONSIDERED AS ADOPTED. THE BILL, AS AMENDED, SHALL BE CONSIDERED AS READ. ALL POINTS OF ORDER AGAINST PROVISIONS IN THE BILL, AS AMENDED, ARE WAIVED. THE PREVIOUS QUESTION SHALL BE CONSIDERED AS ORDERED ON THE BILL, AS AMENDED, AND ON ANY FURTHER AMENDMENT THERETO, TO FINAL PASSAGE WITHOUT INTERVENING MOTION EXCEPT, ONE, ONE HOUR OF DEBATE EQUALLY DIVIDED AND CONTROLLED BY THE CHAIR AND RANKING MINORITY MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY OR THEIR RESPECTIVE DESIGNEES, TWO, THE FURTHER AMENDMENT PRINTED IN PART B OF THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON RULES ACCOMPANYING THIS RESOLUTION, IF OFFERED BY THE MEMBER DESIGNATED IN THE REPORT, WHICH SHALL BE IN ORDER WITHOUT INTERVENTION OF ANY POINT OF ORDER, SHALL BE CONSIDERED AS READ, SHALL BE SEPARATELY DEBATABLE FOR THE TIME SPECIFIED IN THE REPORT EQUALLY DIVIDED AND CONTROLLED BY THE PROPONENT AND AN OPPONENT, AND SHALL NOT BE SUBJECT TO A DEMAND FOR DIVISION OF THE QUESTION, AND, THREE, ONE MOTION TO RECOMMIT. SECTION 2. UPON ADOPTION OF THIS RESOLUTION IT SHALL BE IN ORDER TO CONSIDER IN THE HOUSE THE BILL, H.R. 7946, TO PROVIDE BENEFITS FOR NONCITIZEN MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES. ALL POINTS OF ORDER AGAINST CONSIDERATION OF THE BILL ARE WAIVED. THE AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE RECOMMENDED BY THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY NOW PRINTED IN THE BILL SHALL BE CONSIDERED AS ADOPTED. THE BILL, AS AMENDED, SHALL BE CONSIDERED AS READ. ALL POINTS OF ORDER AGAINST PROVISIONS IN THE BILL, AS AMENDED, ARE WAIVED. THE PREVIOUS QUESTION SHALL BE CONSIDERED AS ORDERED ON THE BILL, AS AMENDED, AND ON ANY FURTHER AMENDMENT THERETO, TO FINAL PASSAGE WITHOUT INTERVENING MOTION EXCEPT, ONE, ONE HOUR OF DEBATE EQUALLY DIVIDED AND CONTROLLED BY THE CHAIR AND RANKING MINORITY MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY OR THEIR RESPECTIVE DESIGNEES, TWO, THE FURTHER AMENDMENT PRINTED IN PART C OF THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON RULES ACCOMPANYING THIS RESOLUTION, IF OFFERED BY THE MEMBER DESIGNATED IN THE REPORT, WHICH SHALL BE IN ORDER WITHOUT INTERVENTION OF ANY POINT OF ORDER, SHALL BE CONSIDERED AS READ, SHALL BE SEPARATELY DEBATABLE FOR THE TIME SPECIFIED IN THE REPORT EQUALLY DIVIDED AND CONTROLLED BY THE PROPONENT AND AN OPPONENT, AND SHALL NOT BE SUBJECT TO A DEMAND FOR DIVISION OF THE QUESTION; AND (3) ONE MOTION TO RECOMMIT. SECTION 3. A, AT ANY TIME THROUGH THE LEGISLATIVE DAY OF THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2022, THE SPEAKER MAY ENTERTAIN MOTIONS OFFERED BY THE MAJORITY LEADER OR A DESIGNEE THAT THE HOUSE SUSPEND THE RULES AS THOUGH UNDER CLAUSE 1 OF RULE 15 WITH RESPECT TO MULTIPLE MEASURES DESCRIBED IN SUBSECTION (B), AND THE CHAIR SHALL PUT THE QUESTION ON ANY SUCH MOTION WITHOUT DEBATE OR INTERVENING MOTION."
ChatGPT:
ALL POINTS OF ORDER AGAINST CONSIDERATION OF THE BILL ARE WAIVED.
THE AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE RECOMMENDED BY THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY NOW PRINTED IN THE BILL, MODIFIED BY THE AMENDMENT PRINTED IN PART A OF THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON RULES ACCOMPANYING THIS RESOLUTION, SHALL BE CONSIDERED AS ADOPTED.
THE BILL, AS AMENDED, SHALL BE CONSIDERED AS READ.
ALL POINTS OF ORDER AGAINST PROVISIONS IN THE BILL, AS AMENDED, ARE WAIVED.
THE PREVIOUS QUESTION SHALL BE CONSIDERED AS ORDERED ON THE BILL, AS AMENDED, AND ON ANY FURTHER AMENDMENT THERETO, TO FINAL PASSAGE WITHOUT INTERVENING MOTION EXCEPT:
ONE, ONE HOUR OF DEBATE EQUALLY DIVIDED AND CONTROLLED BY THE CHAIR AND RANKING MINORITY MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY OR THEIR RESPECTIVE DESIGNEES.
TWO, THE FURTHER AMENDMENT PRINTED IN PART B OF THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON RULES ACCOMPANYING THIS RESOLUTION, IF OFFERED BY THE MEMBER DESIGNATED IN THE REPORT, WHICH SHALL BE IN ORDER WITHOUT INTERVENTION OF ANY POINT OF ORDER, SHALL BE CONSIDERED AS READ, SHALL BE SEPARATELY DEBATABLE FOR THE TIME SPECIFIED IN THE REPORT EQUALLY DIVIDED AND CONTROLLED BY THE PROPONENT AND AN OPPONENT, AND SHALL NOT BE SUBJECT TO A DEMAND FOR DIVISION OF THE QUESTION.
THREE, ONE MOTION TO RECOMMIT.
SECTION 2. UPON ADOPTION OF THIS RESOLUTION, IT SHALL BE IN ORDER TO CONSIDER IN THE HOUSE THE BILL, H.R. 7946, TO PROVIDE BENEFITS FOR NONCITIZEN MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
ALL POINTS OF ORDER AGAINST CONSIDERATION OF THE BILL ARE WAIVED.
THE AMENDMENT IN THE NATURE OF A SUBSTITUTE RECOMMENDED BY THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY NOW PRINTED IN THE BILL SHALL BE CONSIDERED AS ADOPTED.
THE BILL, AS AMENDED, SHALL BE CONSIDERED AS READ.
ALL POINTS OF ORDER AGAINST PROVISIONS IN THE BILL, AS AMENDED, ARE WAIVED.
THE PREVIOUS QUESTION SHALL BE CONSIDERED AS ORDERED ON THE BILL, AS AMENDED, AND ON ANY FURTHER AMENDMENT THERETO, TO FINAL PASSAGE WITHOUT INTERVENING MOTION EXCEPT:
ONE, ONE HOUR OF DEBATE EQUALLY DIVIDED AND CONTROLLED BY THE CHAIR AND RANKING MINORITY MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY OR THEIR RESPECTIVE DESIGNEES.
TWO, THE FURTHER AMENDMENT PRINTED IN PART C OF THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON RULES ACCOMPANYING THIS RESOLUTION, IF OFFERED BY THE MEMBER DESIGNATED IN THE REPORT, WHICH SHALL BE IN ORDER WITHOUT INTERVENTION OF ANY POINT OF ORDER, SHALL BE CONSIDERED AS READ, SHALL BE SEPARATELY DEBATABLE FOR THE TIME SPECIFIED IN THE REPORT EQUALLY DIVIDED AND CONTROLLED BY THE PROPONENT AND AN OPPONENT, AND SHALL NOT BE SUBJECT TO A DEMAND FOR DIVISION OF THE QUESTION.
THREE, ONE MOTION TO RECOMMIT.
SECTION 3.
A,
This time ChatGPT failed to see that there was no speaker delineation in the chunk of text and simply capitalized the entire passage. Moreover, it truncated it without any notice.
What if we ask it to regenerate its response?
ChatGPT:
All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. The amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on the Judiciary now printed in the bill, modified by the amendment printed in Part A of the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution, shall be considered as adopted. The bill, as amended, shall be considered as read. All points of order against provisions in the bill, as amended, are waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill, as amended, and on any further amendment thereto, to final passage without intervening motion except:
-
- One hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the Chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary or their respective designees;
- The further amendment printed in Part B of the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution, if offered by the member designated in the report, which shall be in order without intervention of any point of order, shall be considered as read, shall be separately debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question; and
- One motion to recommit.
SECTION 2. Upon adoption of this resolution it shall be in order to consider in the House the bill, H.R. 7946, to provide benefits for noncitizen members of the armed forces, and for other purposes. All points of order against consideration of the bill are waived. The amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the Committee on the Judiciary now printed in the bill shall be considered as adopted. The bill, as amended, shall be considered as read. All points of order against provisions in the bill, as amended, are waived. The previous question shall be considered as ordered on the bill, as amended, and on any further amendment thereto, to final passage without intervening motion except:
-
- One hour of debate equally divided and controlled by the Chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary or their respective designees;
- The further amendment printed in Part C of the report of the Committee on Rules accompanying this resolution, if offered by the member designated in the report, which shall be in order without intervention of any point of order, shall be considered as read, shall be separately debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question; and
- One motion to recommit.
SECTION 3. A. At any time through the legislative day of Thursday, December 8, 2022, the Speaker may entertain motions offered by the Majority Leader or a designee that the House suspend the rules as though under clause 1 of Rule 15 with respect to multiple measures described in subsection (B), and the Chair shall put the question on any such motion without debate or intervening motion.
This time we got a wonderfully-formatted response with no truncation. However, comparing the side-by-side, we can see that ChatGPT removed "(3)" from the transcript (it is the third item in the list above, but the word "3" is missing), dropping a key locative mention. It does, however, change "a," to "a." denoting that it is a location marker.
Prompt:
Correct the punctuation, capitalization and spelling of the following transcript, put an empty line before each new speaker and capitalize the speaker names: " B, A MEASURE REFERRED TO IN SUBSECTION (A) INCLUDES ANY MEASURE THAT WAS THE OBJECT OF A MOTION TO SUSPEND THE RULES ON THE LEGISLATIVE DAY OF DECEMBER 5, 2022, DECEMBER 6, 2022, DECEMBER 7, 2022, OR DECEMBER 8, 2022, IN THE FORM AS SO OFFERED, ON WHICH THE YEAS AND NAYS WERE ORDERED AND FURTHER PROCEEDINGS POSTPONED PURSUANT TO CLAUSE 8 OF RULE 20. C, UPON THE OFFERING OF A MOTION PURSUANT TO SUBSECTION (A) CONCERNING MULTIPLE MEASURES, THE ORDERING OF THE YEAS AND NAYS ON POSTPONED MOTIONS TO SUSPEND THE RULES WITH RESPECT TO SUCH MEASURES IS VACATED TO THE END THAT ALL SUCH MOTIONS ARE CONSIDERED AS WITHDRAWN. SECTION 4. NOTWITHSTANDING CLAUSE 8 OF RULE 20, FURTHER PROCEEDINGS ON A VOTE BY THE YEAS AND NAYS ON THE QUESTION OF ADOPTION OF A MOTION THAT THE HOUSE SUSPEND THE RULES OFFERED ON THE LEGISLATIVE DAY OF DECEMBER 5, 2022 MAY BE POSTPONED THROUGH THE LEGISLATIVE DAY OF DECEMBER 8, 2022. SECTION 5. THE REQUIREMENT OF CLAUSE 6-A OF RULE 13 FOR A TWO-THIRDS VOTE TO CONSIDER A REPORT FROM THE COMMITTEE ON RULES ON THE SAME DAY IT IS PRESENTED TO THE HOUSE IS WAIVED WITH RESPECT TO ANY RESOLUTION REPORTED THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS. THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: THE GENTLEMAN FROM MASSACHUSETTS IS RECOGNIZED FOR ONE HOUR. MR. MCGOVERN: MR. SPEAKER, NOW FOR THE PURPOSES OF DEBATE ONLY, I YIELD THE CUSTOMARY 30 MINUTES TO THE GENTLELADY FROM MINNESOTA, PENDING WHICH I YIELD MYSELF SUCH TIME AS I MAY CONSUME. DURING CONSIDERATION OF THIS RESOLUTION, ALL TIME YIELDED IS FOR THE PURPOSES OF DEBATE ONLY. I ASK UNANIMOUS CONSENT THAT ALL MEMBERS MAY HAVE FIVE LEGISLATIVE DAYS TO REVISE AND EXTEND THEIR REMARKS. THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: WITHOUT OBJECTION. MR. MCGOVERN: MR. SPEAKER, YESTERDAY THE RULES COMMITTEE MET AND REPORTED A RULE, HOUSE RESOLUTION 1508, PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF TWO MEASURES. H.R. 3648 AND H.R. 7946. THE RULE PROVIDES FOR CONSIDERATION OF BOTH H.R. 3648 AND H.R. 7946, UNDER STRUCTURED RULES WITH ONE HOUR OF DEBATE EACH EQUALLY DIVIDED AND CONTROLLED BY THE CHAIR AND RANKING MINORITY MEMBER OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY. SELF-EXECUTES A MANAGER'S AMENDMENT FROM CHAIRMAN NADLER FOR H.R. 3648, MAKES IN ORDER ONE AMENDMENT FOR EACH BILL, AND PROVIDES ONE MOTION TO RECOMMIT FOR EACH MEASURE. THE RULE PROVIDES THE MAJORITY LEADER OR HIS DESIGNEE THE ABILITY THIS WEEK TO EN BLOC REQUESTED ROLL CALL VOTES ON SUSPENSIONS."
ChatGPT:
B, a measure referred to in subsection (a) includes any measure that was the object of a motion to suspend the rules on the legislative day of December 5, 2022, December 6, 2022, December 7, 2022, or December 8, 2022, in the form as so offered, on which the yeas and nays were ordered and further proceedings postponed pursuant to Clause 8 of Rule 20.
C, upon the offering of a motion pursuant to subsection (a) concerning multiple measures, the ordering of the yeas and nays on postponed motions to suspend the rules with respect to such measures is vacated to the end that all such motions are considered as withdrawn.
SECTION 4. Notwithstanding Clause 8 of Rule 20, further proceedings on a vote by the yeas and nays on the question of adoption of a motion that the House suspend the rules offered on the legislative day of December 5, 2022, may be postponed through the legislative day of December 8, 2022.
SECTION 5. The requirement of Clause 6-A of Rule 13 for a two-thirds vote to consider a report from the Committee on Rules on the same day it is presented to the House is waived with respect to any resolution reported through the remainder of the One Hundred Seventeenth Congress.
THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: The gentleman from Massachusetts is recognized for one hour.
Mr. McGovern: Mr. Speaker, now for the purposes of debate only, I yield the customary 30 minutes to the gentlelady from Minnesota, pending which I yield myself such time as I may consume. During consideration of this resolution, all time yielded is for the purposes of debate only.
I ask unanimous consent that all members may have five legislative days to revise and extend their remarks.
THE SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: Without objection.
Mr. McGovern: Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Rules Committee met and reported a rule, House Resolution 1508, providing for consideration of two measures, H.R. 3648 and H.R. 7946. The rule provides for consideration of both H.R. 3648 and H.R. 7946 under structured rules with one hour of debate each equally divided and controlled by the Chair and Ranking Minority Member of the Committee on the Judiciary. Self-executes a manager's amendment from Chairman Nadler for H.R. 3648, makes in order one amendment for each bill, and provides one motion to recommit for each measure. The rule provides the Majority Leader or his designee the ability this week to en bloc requested roll call votes on suspensions.
These results are excellent as well. However, they also show the dangers of chunking. To segment the transcript into chunks of text that are below ChatGPT's input length limits, our chunking happened to split the transcript in the middle of a contiguous block of speech by one speaker. This caused ChatGPT to treat sections B and C at the top of the chunk as root-level bullets, rather than lumping them under "SECTION 3" from the last chunk. Ideally, "SECTION 3" should be a root-level bullet, with A, B and C appearing as subbullets under it, but since the text was divided in the middle, ChatGPT could not see that they form a single section.
Here there were no substantive editing changes other than punctuation:
Prompt:
Correct the punctuation, capitalization and spelling of the following transcript, put an empty line before each new speaker and capitalize the speaker names: " THE RULE ALSO PROVIDES THAT ROLL CALL VOTES ON SUSPENSION BILLS CONSIDERED ON DECEMBER 5 MAY BE POSTPONED THROUGH DECEMBER 8. LASTLY, THE RULE PROVIDES SAME DAY AUTHORITY FOR ANY RULE REPORTED THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE 117TH CONGRESS. MR. SPEAKER, TODAY WE WILL CONSIDER TWO BILLS TO REFORM OUR IMMIGRATION SYSTEM. OUR CURRENT LAWS THAT GOVERN EMPLOYMENT-BASED AND FAMILY-SPONSORED IMMIGRATION VISAS, DESPERATELY NEED UPDATES. ESTIMATES SUGGEST MORE THAN 880,000 PEOPLE ARE IN THE GREEN CARD BACKLOG BECAUSE OF HOW BROKEN OUR SYSTEM IS. H.R. 3648, THE EQUAL ACCESS TO GREEN CARDS FOR LEGAL EMPLOYMENT, OR EAGLE ACT, OF 2022 BEGINS TO ADDRESS THE EXTENSIVE GREEN CARD BACKLOG. THE LEGISLATION ELIMINATES PER COUNTRY CAPS ON EMPLOYMENT-BASED VISAS AND RAISES PER COUNTRY CAPS ON FAMILY BASED VISAS TO 15%. THE OTHER BILL IS H.R. 7946, THE VETERANS SERVICE RECOGNITION ACT. IMPROVES THE NATURALIZATION FOR NONCITIZENS WHO SERVED IN OUR COUNTRY'S MILITARY. IT SEEMS STRAIGHTFORWARD TO ME. IF YOU ARE RISKED YOUR LIFE TO PROTECT AND DEFEND THIS COUNTRY, YOU AND YOUR FAMILY DESERVE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME A U.S. CITIZEN IF DESIRED. WHILE THESE TWO BILLS ARE IMPORTANT REFORMS TO OUR IMMIGRATIONCIES TERNLINGS I STILL PERSONALLY BELIEVE THERE ARE ALSO OTHER URGENT IMMIGRATION ISSUES THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED BEFORE THE 117TH CONGRESS ADJOURNS. WE NEED RESIDENCY FOR DREAMERS. THESE YOUNG PEOPLE WHO HAVE KNOWN NO OTHER HOME BUT THE UNITED STATES. WE MUST PROVIDE SECURE, STABLE IMMIGRATION FOR AGRICULTURAL WORKERS TO ENSURE FOOD REACHES OUR TABLES. WE SHOULD RECAPTURE EXISTING WE CAN REALLY MAKE A SIZABLE DENT IN REDUCING IMMIGRATION BACKLOGS. AND WE NEED TO REGULARIZE THE STATUS OF LONG-TERM T.P.S. HOLDERS WHO HAVE BEEN HERE FOR DECADES AND ARE IMPORTANT MEMBERS OF OUR LOCAL COMMU COMMUNITIES. REPUBLICANS ALWAYS TALK ABOUT THE ISSUE WITHIN OUR IMMIGRATIOT ISSUES WITHIN OUR IMMIGRATION SYSTEM, BUT SO FAR NONE HAVE COME TO THE TABLE WITH ANY MEANINGFUL OR REALISTIC OR PRODUCTIVE SOLUTION THAT IS WOULD HELP FIX IT. THEY CAN'T GET TO YES ON ANYTHING. THEY DEMONIZE IMMIGRANTS. THEY SCAPEGOAT IMMIGRANTS. AND RATHER THAN FIX THE CHALLENGES OF OUR SYSTEM, THEY USE IMMIGRATION AS A WEDGE ISSUE."
ChatGPT:
THE RULE ALSO PROVIDES THAT ROLL CALL VOTES ON SUSPENSION BILLS CONSIDERED ON DECEMBER 5 MAY BE POSTPONED THROUGH DECEMBER 8. LASTLY, THE RULE PROVIDES SAME DAY AUTHORITY FOR ANY RULE REPORTED THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE 117TH CONGRESS.
Mr. Speaker, today we will consider two bills to reform our immigration system. Our current laws that govern employment-based and family-sponsored immigration visas desperately need updates. Estimates suggest more than 880,000 people are in the green card backlog because of how broken our system is.
H.R. 3648, the Equal Access to Green Cards for Legal Employment, or EAGLE Act, of 2022 begins to address the extensive green card backlog. The legislation eliminates per-country caps on employment-based visas and raises per-country caps on family-based visas to 15%.
The other bill is H.R. 7946, the Veterans Service Recognition Act. It improves the naturalization for noncitizens who served in our country's military. It seems straightforward to me. If you risked your life to protect and defend this country, you and your family deserve every opportunity to become a U.S. citizen if desired.
While these two bills are important reforms to our immigration system, I still personally believe there are also other urgent immigration issues that need to be addressed before the 117th Congress adjourns.
We need residency for Dreamers, these young people who have known no other home but the United States. We must provide secure, stable immigration for agricultural workers to ensure food reaches our tables. We should recapture existing visas so we can really make a sizable dent in reducing immigration backlogs. And we need to regularize the status of long-term TPS holders who have been here for decades and are important members of our local communities.
Republicans always talk about the issues within our immigration system, but so far none have come to the table with any meaningful or realistic or productive solution that would help fix it. They can't get to yes on anything. They demonize immigrants, they scapegoat immigrants, and rather than fix the challenges of our system, they use immigration as a wedge issue.
In this case, ChatGPT capitalizes the entire first sentence, but then correctly capitalizes the remainder of the text. Let's try regenerating it to see if it fixes things:
ChatGPT:
THE RULE ALSO PROVIDES THAT ROLL CALL VOTES ON SUSPENSION BILLS CONSIDERED ON DECEMBER 5 MAY BE POSTPONED THROUGH DECEMBER 8. LASTLY, THE RULE PROVIDES SAME DAY AUTHORITY FOR ANY RULE REPORTED THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE 117TH CONGRESS.
MR. SPEAKER, TODAY WE WILL CONSIDER TWO BILLS TO REFORM OUR IMMIGRATION SYSTEM. OUR CURRENT LAWS THAT GOVERN EMPLOYMENT-BASED AND FAMILY-SPONSORED IMMIGRATION VISAS DESPERATELY NEED UPDATES. ESTIMATES SUGGEST MORE THAN 880,000 PEOPLE ARE IN THE GREEN CARD BACKLOG BECAUSE OF HOW BROKEN OUR SYSTEM IS.
H.R. 3648, THE EQUAL ACCESS TO GREEN CARDS FOR LEGAL EMPLOYMENT, OR EAGLE ACT, OF 2022, BEGINS TO ADDRESS THE EXTENSIVE GREEN CARD BACKLOG. THE LEGISLATION ELIMINATES PER COUNTRY CAPS ON EMPLOYMENT-BASED VISAS AND RAISES PER COUNTRY CAPS ON FAMILY-BASED VISAS TO 15%.
THE OTHER BILL IS H.R. 7946, THE VETERANS SERVICE RECOGNITION ACT, WHICH IMPROVES THE NATURALIZATION FOR NONCITIZENS WHO SERVED IN OUR COUNTRY'S MILITARY. IT SEEMS STRAIGHTFORWARD TO ME. IF YOU HAVE RISKED YOUR LIFE TO PROTECT AND DEFEND THIS COUNTRY, YOU AND YOUR FAMILY DESERVE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO BECOME A U.S. CITIZEN IF DESIRED.
WHILE THESE TWO BILLS ARE IMPORTANT REFORMS TO OUR IMMIGRATION SYSTEM, I STILL PERSONALLY BELIEVE THERE ARE ALSO OTHER URGENT IMMIGRATION ISSUES THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED BEFORE THE 117TH CONGRESS ADJOURNS. WE NEED RESIDENCY FOR DREAMERS, THESE YOUNG PEOPLE WHO HAVE KNOWN NO OTHER HOME BUT THE UNITED STATES. WE MUST PROVIDE SECURE, STABLE IMMIGRATION FOR AGRICULTURAL WORKERS TO ENSURE FOOD REACHES OUR TABLES. WE SHOULD RECAPTURE EXISTING, WE CAN REALLY MAKE A SIZABLE DENT IN REDUCING IMMIGRATION BACKLOGS. AND WE NEED TO REGULARIZE THE STATUS OF LONG-TERM T.P.S. HOLDERS WHO HAVE BEEN HERE FOR DECADES AND ARE IMPORTANT MEMBERS OF OUR LOCAL COMMUNITIES.
Republicans always talk about the issues within our immigration system, but so far, none have come to the table with any meaningful or realistic or productive solution that would help fix it. They can't get to yes on anything. They demonize immigrants. They scapegoat immigrants. And rather than fix the challenges of our system, they use immigration as a wedge issue.
This time it reverted to capitalizing the entire text other than the last paragraph, emphasizing once again the instability and inconsistency of LLMs. Importantly, in this case, regenerating the text to fix a minor error yielded a major error. Each time an LLM is run, it has a random probability of generating "good" or "bad" output – accuracy does not iteratively improve over multiple runs – it randomly jumps around each time.
Comparing the two shows that ChatGPT corrected three typographical errors: "immigrationcies ternlings" becomes "immigration system", "commu communities" becomes "communities" and "issue within our immigratiot issues within our immigration system" becomes "issues within our immigration system."
Looking at the results above, when ChatGPT works, it yields remarkable transcripts that are extremely easy to read and make the spoken record of America's congressional lawmaking accessible to all. Yet, the difference between a human-like transcript and just the same capitalized text with extra carriage returns is down simply to random chance each time ChatGPT is run. It is possible that further prompt engineering could enforce greater stability on ChatGPT's results, but to date we have experienced such unstable outputs across every single application we have tested with ChatGPT.
Additionally, given ChatGPT's input length limitations, the transcripts must be chunked into smaller blocks of text that are each under the maximum length. Heuristics can be used to ensure the text is not split in the middle of a sentence, but a lengthy statement by a single speaker can still exceed ChatGPT's input limits, meaning it will be split into two or more chunks. If those splits occur in non-ideal places, they can yield disjoint formatting, such as the example above where what should have been a bulleted list with sub bullets becomes a series of root-level bullets.
In the end, these results suggest significant potential for the use of LLM's like ChatGPT to vastly enhance the readability of congressional transcripts, but ChatGPT's inconsistency means it is not quite ready for production use or would require multiple runs for each block
This analysis is part of an ongoing collaboration between the Internet Archive and its TV News Archive, the multi-party Media-Data Research Consortium and GDELT.