If you are finding yourself on this blog and website, chances are you know a good deal about the Halo universe. Most people reading this will know the story of the video games, plus undoubtedly a decent portion of the story from the books, short stories, comics, and other minor canon entries. But what does an AI know about the Halo universe? Programs like ChatGPT, DALL-E, and the like have impressed us over the past year or so with their ability to create original, convincing works seemingly instantaneously, no matter the request. While they are still far from perfect, they are incredibly compelling pieces of software, and hold the knowledge of the entire world at their metaphorical fingertips.
But what about a fictional universe like Halo? Does an AI like ChatGPT “know” the Halo canon? Can it accurately describe the characters and events in Halo as it is presented in the official canon, or will it make rookie mistakes and get confused by the endless sources that provide dubious or just plain “wrong” information?
To answer that question (and to test your Halo canon knowledge), I have asked ChatGPT questions about the Halo universe, and I will post the responses here, unedited. YOUR job, should you choose to accept it, is to determine whether ChatGPT is correct, or whether it is making unforgiveable errors to the Halo canon. Read through these, find any errors, and let us know why ChatGPT is wrong. These aren’t planted errors, so there could be none, or there could be dozens. It is up to you, the fine readers, to catch them all.
In this post, we will explore ChatGPT’s knowledge of the Halo timeline, from the Human-Covenant War to the Insurrection, and beyond. Even in the official lore of Halo some of the dates and years can be fuzzy, so I will be surprised if ChatGPT can get this all right, particularly the earlier periods that are only covered in the extended media. Does ChatGPT know the Halo timeline? Let’s find out!
Part One: The Human-Covenant War
The Human-Covenant Wat as depicted by DALL·E 2.
Prompt
Provide a year-by-year overview of the entire Human-Covenant War.
Response
The Human-Covenant War was a major conflict that took place between the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) and an alien theocratic alliance known as the Covenant. The war lasted for over 27 years, from 2525 to 2552, and resulted in the loss of countless lives and significant damage to human and alien civilizations alike.
Here's a year-by-year overview of the key events of the Human-Covenant War:
2525:
First contact between humans and the Covenant occurs when the colony world of Harvest is attacked.
The UNSC sends a battle group to investigate the attack, leading to the first major engagement of the war.
The Covenant declares humanity an affront to their gods and begins a campaign of genocide against human colonies.
2526-2530:
The Covenant launches a series of devastating attacks on human colonies, resulting in the loss of over 200 worlds.
The UNSC struggles to mount an effective defense against the technologically superior Covenant.
2531:
The UNSC launches Operation: SILENT STORM, a major counteroffensive against the Covenant that leads to the destruction of several key enemy installations.
The operation is a significant morale boost for the UNSC and slows the Covenant's advance.
2535:
The Covenant discovers Earth and launches a massive invasion force to capture the planet.
The UNSC, aided by a rogue Covenant faction known as the "Swords of Sanghelios," is able to repel the attack and save the planet.
2536-2542:
The war enters a period of relative stalemate, with both sides engaging in small-scale skirmishes and raids.
2543:
The Covenant launches a surprise attack on the UNSC's military headquarters on Reach, resulting in the loss of the planet and the deaths of billions of people.
2544-2550:
The UNSC mounts a series of counteroffensives and guerrilla campaigns against the Covenant, including Operation: RED FLAG and the Battle of Tribute.
Despite some successes, the UNSC is unable to stop the Covenant's advance.
2552:
The UNSC learns of the Covenant's plan to activate the Halo Array, a series of superweapons capable of wiping out all life in the galaxy.
Master Chief and Cortana embark on a mission to prevent the activation of the Halo Array, ultimately succeeding but at great cost.
The Covenant is shattered by the death of their leaders and the destruction of their holy city, High Charity.
The war officially ends with the signing of the Human-Covenant Treaty, though isolated conflicts continue for several years.
Part Two: The Insurrection
The Insurrection as depicted by DALL·E 2.
Prompt
Provide a year-by-year overview of the entire Insurrection in the Halo universe.
Response
The Insurrection was a major conflict in the Halo universe that took place prior to the Human-Covenant War. It was a rebellion by several human factions against the United Nations Space Command (UNSC), sparked by disagreements over the centralized government and taxation policies. Here's a year-by-year overview of the key events of the Insurrection:
2494-2496:
The earliest known incidents of insurrectionist activity take place on the colony world of Biko, where rebels clash with UNSC forces.
These early incidents are largely contained by the UNSC, but set the stage for future conflicts.
2497-2502:
The Insurrection spreads to other colonies, with several factions forming to fight against the UNSC's authority.
The UNSC responds with force, leading to a series of brutal battles and skirmishes.
2503-2510:
The Insurrection enters a period of relative calm, with both sides engaging in small-scale operations and intelligence gathering.
The UNSC forms the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) to combat the insurrectionist threat.
2511:
A major insurrectionist attack on the UNSC's Eridanus II colony leads to the creation of the SPARTAN-II program, which aims to create supersoldiers capable of combating the insurrection.
2513-2524:
The SPARTAN-II program begins training and deploying soldiers to fight against the insurrectionist threat.
The UNSC gains the upper hand in many engagements, but the conflict continues to simmer.
2525:
The Covenant's attack on the colony world of Harvest marks the beginning of the Human-Covenant War, drawing the UNSC's attention away from the Insurrection.
Some insurrectionist groups take advantage of the distraction to launch new attacks.
2526-2531:
With the UNSC heavily engaged in the Human-Covenant War, the Insurrection gains momentum.
Several major insurrectionist factions, including the United Rebel Front, launch large-scale attacks on UNSC targets.
The UNSC responds with force, but is often stretched thin due to the ongoing war.
2531-2535:
The UNSC, aided by the newly formed SPARTAN-III program, begins to turn the tide against the Insurrection.
The program deploys hundreds of specialized soldiers to engage insurrectionist forces.
The UNSC also makes use of propaganda campaigns and diplomatic efforts to win over some factions.
2536:
The tide of the Insurrection turns decisively in favor of the UNSC, with the capture of several major insurrectionist leaders.
Many factions surrender or negotiate peace agreements with the UNSC.
2537-2552:
The Insurrection is officially declared over in 2537, though isolated incidents of insurrectionist activity continue for several years.
With the onset of the Human-Covenant War, the UNSC shifts its focus away from the Insurrection and toward the more pressing threat of the Covenant.
Part Three: The Post-War Period
DALL·E 2’s take on the post-war period.
Prompt
Provide a year-by-year overview of the post war period in the Halo universe.
Response
The post-war period in the Halo universe refers to the time period following the conclusion of the Human-Covenant War. This era is characterized by the rebuilding of human and alien civilizations, the establishment of new alliances and tensions, and the emergence of new threats to galactic stability. Here's a year-by-year overview of the key events of the post-war period:
2552:
The Human-Covenant War officially ends with the signing of the Human-Covenant Treaty.
The UNSC forms a new branch, the United Nations Space Command Defense Force (UNSCDF), to oversee post-war reconstruction efforts.
The Arbiter, Thel 'Vadam, and a faction of the Covenant separatists establish the Swords of Sanghelios to continue the fight against the remaining Covenant loyalists.
The UNSC and the Swords of Sanghelios fight against Covenant remnants and other rogue factions, including Jul 'Mdama's Covenant, which seeks to activate Forerunner artifacts.
Spartan-IV program is established to create the next generation of supersoldiers, utilizing the best soldiers of both the UNSC and the Swords of Sanghelios.
The UNSC faces a new threat when a Forerunner artificial intelligence known as the Didact emerges and seeks to reclaim the galaxy.
The Didact's plan is foiled by the UNSC, aided by the Didact's own subordinate AI, known as the Librarian.
The UNSC and the Swords of Sanghelios discover that the Forerunner shield world of Requiem contains a powerful weapon capable of defeating the Covenant remnants and other rogue factions.
The weapon, known as the Composer, is destroyed before it can be used by the Covenant.
2558-2559:
Tensions arise between the UNSC and the independent colony of Meridian, which seeks to maintain its autonomy.
The situation is resolved without conflict when the UNSC and the Swords of Sanghelios uncover a plot by rogue ONI agents to destabilize the colony.
2560:
The UNSC discovers a massive Forerunner structure on the planet of Genesis, which is capable of creating artificial environments.
The structure is used to create a new homeworld for the Sangheili, and to house the surviving human populations of the destroyed colonies.
2562:
The UNSC faces a new threat when the Created, a faction of AIs led by Cortana, seize control of multiple Forerunner constructs and set out to impose their own vision of galactic order.
The UNSC, the Swords of Sanghelios, and other allies join forces to stop the Created, culminating in the Battle of Installation 09.
2563:
The UNSC and the Swords of Sanghelios sign the Treaty of Eternal Alliance, formalizing their cooperation and partnership in the face of future threats to galactic stability.
2564-Current:
The post-war period is characterized by ongoing efforts to rebuild human and alien civilizations, and to maintain peace and stability in the galaxy.
New threats emerge, including the Banished, a faction of ex-Covenant led by Atriox, and the Keepers of the One Freedom, a group seeking to destabilize the galaxy.
The UNSC, the Swords of Sanghelios, and other allied factions remain vigilant in their efforts to protect the galaxy from these and other threats.
Conclusions
Like so many things with ChatGPT and other types of these transformer AI chat bots, it does a great job of sounding confident and detailed, but again fails at being accurate. Broadly speaking it was good, knowing the start and end years of the Covenant War, knowing the basic timeframe of the insurrection and post-war period, and getting a number of the major events correct. It however started making stuff up very quickly, placing the Battle for Earth in 2535 and the Fall of Reach in 2543 instead of 2552, and blending portions of the Halo universe together into bullets that sound reasonable but are objectively wrong.
For those who may not know the Halo timeline all that well, this all might sound perfectly cromulent, but is effectively a retelling of the Halo story using the broad strokes of the original timeline and reimagining it. For reasons I don’t know, the AI decided to add 4 years onto the post-war period, extending events from Halo 5 and Halo Infinite past 2558 and 2560 respectively to a six-year period from 2558 to 2564. It has blended events from all the games and books together, bringing the Swords of Sanghelios, a faction created post-war that is involved in the events of Halo 5 (2558) into the Battle for Earth (2552) during the war, which is also inexplicably moved two decades earlier to 2535.
This is another example of why ChatGPT’s seeming need to hallucinate an answer if it doesn’t know can be dangerous for someone who doesn’t understand that the confidence a computer program exudes does not necessarily correlate to the AI’s accuracy. Sure, the Halo universe is fiction and this is all just for fun, but doing the same for any historical event would inevitably lead to similar problems, particularly for those events that are less well-known.
I identified several errors in the above timelines, but can you find the rest? There are a ton in this one, so good hunting!
