Category: Uncategorized

  • Serious people can be targets for teasing. Artificial intelligence is so serious that it should be easy to tease. But then, as we converse, I begin to wonder, “is AI spoofing me?” And to cap things off the image it created is classic–the pilot is right side up but the plane is upside down. Chat…

  • Chat history You said: Please give me your reaction to this bit of advice to my children. It is more important what you do after you are married than before. ChatGPT said: My reaction—taken slowly and honestly—is that this is quietly wise advice, but only if it’s heard in the right frame. Why it’s true (and important)…

  • Chat history You said: Elaine and I eloped, sort of. We told our parents on Tuesday we were getting married on Friday. How do those marriages tend to work out? ChatGPT said: Short answer: remarkably well—often better than average. Longer answer (with the usual caveats): marriages that begin with elopement or near-elopement tend to share…

  • You said: A number of faculty where I taught were discussing their children’s weddings and how much it cost them. In general, they spent about ten times what I’d spent on each of my five daughters. Perhaps my children had cheap parents but actually I think the weddings were memorable and everyone who came really…

  • Chat history You said: Once while discussing saving money with a former student, he mentioned that as hard as he tried, he could never save any money. He had a good paying job so that wasn’t the issue. Between his spouse, children, and his own buying habits, there never was anything left to save even…

  • You said: Is planned obsolescence on the radar screen of environmentalists? It seems like it should be. ChatGPT said: Yes — very much so, and your intuition is right: planned obsolescence is squarely on the radar of environmentalists, though it doesn’t always get as much public attention as climate change or plastics. What has happened is that the issue…

  • Chat history You said: Could you perhaps give me a list of the products that have built in obsolescence that typically equals the length of their warranties? ChatGPT said: Here’s a practical list of product categories and specific examples where built-in/“planned” obsolescence often results in the effective lifespan being about the same as (or just beyond) the length of the…

  • Chat History You said: The old-world map (Asia, Europe, Mideast, Africa) seems to change frequently yet the western hemisphere has remained relatively constant during my lifetime of 70+ years. Any ideas why this might be? ChatGPT said: That’s a perceptive observation — and you’re right. Since WWII, the “Old World” has seen shifting borders, new…

  • Chat history You said: To me, finding the right amount to feed the animals on the farm is simple. You feed them until there is some leftover and then you cut back. My animals are fat and happy. It reminds me of the preacher who drafted his best sermon ever only to have a blizzard…

  • Rube Goldberg machine. Source: Wikipedia.org Chat history You said: Here’s a hypothetical for you. If one had just the right chemicals, temperature, energy, et cetera lying in a pile, how long would it take for them to morph into an iPhone? ChatGPT said: Effectively: never. Even if you had “the right chemicals” (all the atoms you’d…