Category: The World

Life, the Universe, and everything in it.

The World

ChatGPT, ChatGPT write me a post

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As noted previously, ChatGPT is a pretty amazing AI chat bot with some very human limitations (basically, it’s kind of a bore and a blowhard).

For fun, I decided to have ChatGPT write me a blog post for my quotes section. I mean, maybe the bot can just take over here. 🤷🏻‍♂️

> write a brief, inspiring blog post with a famous quote

After spitting out several posts about Steve Jobs quotes, I had to clarify… while Steve Jobs had some great things to say, let’s try something new.

> write a brief, inspiring blog post with a famous quote not from Steve Jobs

The result is definitely Michael Scott certified.

"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." - Wayne Gretzky

This quote from legendary hockey player Wayne Gretzky reminds us that in order to succeed, we have to take risks and be willing to step out of our comfort zone. It's easy to play it safe and stick with what we know, but it's only by taking chances that we can truly grow and reach our full potential.

It's okay to be afraid of failure, but we have to remember that failure is a natural part of the journey towards success. Every missed shot is an opportunity to learn and improve. And even if we do fail, we can take comfort in knowing that we tried our best and that we have the chance to try again.

So don't be afraid to take that shot, whatever it may be. Whether it's pursuing a new career, starting a business, or trying something new, have the courage to step out and take a chance. You never know what amazing things you'll accomplish when you embrace the unknown.

So, mission accomplished: it is brief and inspiring and it does have a quote.

I don’t remember asking it to be comically generic and cliched. I guess it took its own initiative on that. 😆

The World

ChatGPT is amazing, yes, but it’s also a bit too human 🤷🏻‍♂️

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ChatGPT is software that is designed to chat with you like a really smart person. It can make up a story, convert it to a Shakespearean poem, and then solve a math problem all automatically and all within seconds. 🤯

The Daily covered it nicely on the episode Did Artificial Intelligence Just Get Too Smart?

ChatGPT is pretty incredible, especially for students trying to fake a term paper. But the ChatGPT blog itself calls out some interesting and very human-like limitations. In particular, it’s sort of a bore and a blowhard. 😆

  • It has a tendency to respond with “plausible-sounding but incorrect or nonsensical answers”
  • It is “often excessively verbose” and “overuses certain phrases”
  • It often fails to “ask clarifying questions when the user provided an ambiguous query”, opting instead to “guess what the user intended”
  • And my favorite, “it will sometimes respond to harmful instructions or exhibit biased behavior.”

So it is overconfident and under-reliable, repetitive, a bit of a motormouth, makes assumptions, is biased, and sometimes lacks moral backbone. Does this sound like anyone you know? 😆

Still, this software an amazing accomplishment. Kudos to the team for being open about its limitations and good luck making it better (and hopefully not evil 🤷🏻‍♂️).

The World

Fellow Americans: remember to vote 🇺🇸 (and make it count)

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I was out for walk last night when a neighbor called out from his yard, “Hey, are you gonna vote tomorrow?” “Yep,” I said. “Okay, cool. Just don’t screw it up,” he said. 😆

He didn’t tell me who to vote for, and I won’t tell you. But I will ask some pretty pointed questions.

Do you think we should do something real about the global climate crisis, or do you think we should sit on our hands and just hope things get better while the world burns?

Do you think we should make our own life-altering decisions or do you think the government should make these decisions for us?

Do you think we should take steps to keep our kids from getting murdered in their schools, or do you think that is just the price of freedom?

Do you respect our elections or do you support officially overturning a free and fair election using made-up claims?

Do you believe in civil discourse or do you believe in undermining political foes in their most tragic moments?

I could go on about how Republican policies are damaging lives. 😩. They also seem oddly scared of you voting and aim to keep that from happening.

If you believe in personal rights, respect for democracy, and solving problems in America, it looks like you may be down to one real option*.

*Libertarians seem consistent and ethical but don’t have a great answer to “things that affect everyone” like climate change and gun violence.

If you disagree, then vote your conscience and let’s get through this together. ✌️

From Ken Burns Tells America’s History Through Six Photographs

Quotes · The World

“A universal visual language”

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Right in the middle of this episode of The Daily podcast, there’s a little plug for the New York Times’ photographers, noting that they travel to dangerous places and learns skills like scuba diving just to get the right shot for the story.

I love that they describe photography as “a universal visual language”. I mean, it’s true! You can show a photograph to literally anyone in any part of the world, and they would surely get its meaning.

A photograph can do a lot of different things. It can connect us. It can bring us to places we’ve never been before. It can capture a story in a universal visual language.

NYTimes “intriguing photographs to help students practice visual thinking“

👉 In my dream life, I’d be a part-time Times photographer, but for now I do my best around Austin. 😆