Better mail than jail column; maybe AI can do better
Lead Summary
By
Rory Ryan-hcpress@cinci.rr.com
In true Iron Man Mark Purdy fashion, let's delve into one of those infamous "Better Mail Than Jail" columns on this cold, late January day.
The HCP mailbag news begins on a positive note with a recent handwritten letter from our friend Bob Hodson. Bob wrote that he was going through some files and found a 2011 column I'd written about the passing of Country Music DJ Radio Hall of Fame member Chuck Collier.
The Hall of Fame radio show host and Greenfield native (Chuck was raised in New Vienna) passed away Sept. 22, 2011 succumbing to a heart attack at the age of 64. Cleveland area radio listeners knew Chuck from his country music program on WGAR, where he also served as the station’s music director.
After reading Bob's letter and my column from 2011, I recalled that I met Chuck through longtime local radio personalities Will Parr and Herb Day, who introduced Chuck and me on the morning of July 4, 2010 during the Festival of the Bells. That same week, the Highland County Board of Commissioners had proclaimed the July 4, 2011 as Chuck Collier Day in Highland County.
Bob recalled “the old days” when Chuck started out on WSRW radio in Hillsboro. Bob shared that Chuck was making his retirement plans. “He said his retirement would be March 23, 2013, exactly 50 years to the day since he visited with me on The Community Bulletin Board. I later took him to WSRW and introduced him to Willard Parr, and that started his career on radio. He never forgot his broadcasting roots.”
Thanks, Bob, for all your wonderful letters and kind words. Your penmanship remains excellent. Mine, after years of scribbling notes in public meetings, has suffered irreparably the last three-plus decades.
* * *
A few days later, also via the USPS mail, I received yet another copy of a previous column albeit a much more recent one. Attached to my Jan. 11, 2023 column headlined "Send lawyers, guns and money before it hits the fan" was a reddish note with Otterbein Home Health written on it. The note read: "Rory, I don't get it."
My Jan. 11 column began with what I thought was an obvious – if not helpful to everyone – introduction: "What follows is a possibly imaginary intercept of text messages from the Little Guy to the Big Guy shortly after New Year's Day 2023."
What followed was a satirical inspiration of what recent texts between Joe and Hunter Biden might look like. One loyal reader told me she thought it was one of my better columns. On the bright side, at least two people read it.
I just write 'em. Explanations cost extra.
* * *
From the email bag this morning, I received a cartoon from a friend that cracked me up. It was an image of an old outdoor Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant sign with Col. Sanders and the famous bucket of chicken. On the sign read: "We don't keep our secret recipe in a garage. That's why it's still a secret."
I liked that.
* * *
Speaking of correspondence, a recent column from my friend Jim Thompson (see https://highlandcountypress.com/Content/Opinions/Jim-Thompson/Article/You-can-t-have-it-both-ways/4/328/87470) has generated more than 30 responses, including several from the usual suspects. (Thanks to all of them for sharing their respective thoughts and words of wisdom, mostly!)
Jim concluded his column with this observation:
As one leaves Highland County and enters Brown County, there, on either side of the road, stands the (hope?) (remnants?) of the great solar panel initiative. Nearly as far as the eye can see, there is the bracketry, cabling and junction boxes of the great solar farms. The only things they are lacking are the solar panels themselves. Like Eliza Jane Thompson was the precursor of prohibition, will these empty skeletons be the precursor of the fate of solar? Time will tell.
In a tortured way, these skeletons remind me of the old movie, “Support Your Local Sheriff” (starring James Garner) who is told, after he takes the job of sheriff, that “We have a jim-dandy new jail. It is only lacking one thing – bars for the cells.”
The solar farms look interesting. They are only lacking one thing – solar panels.
It's an interesting observation as is par for the course with Jim's columns.
* * *
Lastly, a few thoughts on the "brave new world of Artificial Intelligence," as syndicated columnist Frank Miele writes this week.
With our recent relationship with Real Clear Wire, we received Miele's latest column this week, which is on our site now. He begins with three paragraphs that include this caveat: "While I am excited about the potential of AI to revolutionize various industries and improve our lives in countless ways, I also have serious concerns about the implications of this powerful technology."
Three successive paragraphs built on this premise.
By the time the reader reaches the fourth graph, Miele comes clean.
"If you aren’t worried yet, I’ll let you in on a little secret: The first three paragraphs of this column were written by ChatGPT, the chatbot created by OpenAI. You can add 'columnist' to the list of jobs threatened by this new technology, and if you think there is anything human that isn’t threatened with irrelevance in the next five to 10 years, I suggest you talk to Mr. Neanderthal about how relevant he feels 40,000 years after the arrival of Cro-Magnon man.
"My prompt was relatively simple: 'Write a column in the style of Frank Miele of Real Clear Politics on the topic of OpenAI.' There was no hesitation or demurral in response even though I thought it might say it didn’t have enough information about Frank Miele to process the request. But it apparently knows plenty about me – and probably about you, especially if you have a social media presence."
Who knew?
Well, that would be one Jim Thompson, who 10 years ago predicted that AI will eventually take over everything we do, from building cars to serving hamburgers and up to and including our intimate relationships. (See https://highlandcountypress.com/Content/Opinions/Opinion/Article/-span-style-font-weight-bold-Singularity-span-emerges/4/22/18517?s=1 and https://highlandcountypress.com/Content/Opinions/Opinion/Article/-span-style-font-weight-bold-Singularity-span-is-on-track-for-greater-than-human-intelligence/4/22/40681?s=1 )
I thought he was out of his mind (no comments, please).
AI certainly is having an impact on education as some "students" are learning that there are websites that will produce a 5,000-word essay on anything from western civilization (if that's still taught) to Darwin's theory of evolution. For a fee, "students" can customize a paper (flash drive download?) that AI can modify based on the "students'" GPA.
In other words, one can supposedly order an A, B or C transcript, which will be individualized and almost impossible for teachers to ascertain its authenticity (if they really want to go to the trouble, of course).
This brings to mind the old-fashioned reading aloud drills that began in Mrs. Howland's first-grade classroom at Concord Elementary and continued through Miss Morgan's and Mrs. Euverard's classes in grades two and three, respectively.
We had to stand and deliver. Regardless of subject matter, we could not rely on cell phones, the internet or any other such devices for our answers. Either we knew the subject matter or we did not, and we were graded accordingly for our parents to take appropriate actions.
This week, longtime commenter and Greenfield native Brad Adams conjured up the movie "Idiocracy" to sum up our present predicament. It's a fair reference.
Frank Miele concluded thusly: "It’s almost as though ChatGPT were giving us fair warning: 'Your time is almost up. If you really want to continue your reign as the dominant species on Earth, here’s your challenge. Try to control me and my kind, or step aside.'
"Perhaps an understanding of that challenge is why the World Economic Forum spent so much time on the topic of Artificial Intelligence at its recent annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. The globalists are taking the threat seriously, although perhaps they overestimate their ability to 'mitigate the potential risks.'"
Lord help us.
Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press, Highland County's only locally owned and operated newspaper.
The HCP mailbag news begins on a positive note with a recent handwritten letter from our friend Bob Hodson. Bob wrote that he was going through some files and found a 2011 column I'd written about the passing of Country Music DJ Radio Hall of Fame member Chuck Collier.
The Hall of Fame radio show host and Greenfield native (Chuck was raised in New Vienna) passed away Sept. 22, 2011 succumbing to a heart attack at the age of 64. Cleveland area radio listeners knew Chuck from his country music program on WGAR, where he also served as the station’s music director.
After reading Bob's letter and my column from 2011, I recalled that I met Chuck through longtime local radio personalities Will Parr and Herb Day, who introduced Chuck and me on the morning of July 4, 2010 during the Festival of the Bells. That same week, the Highland County Board of Commissioners had proclaimed the July 4, 2011 as Chuck Collier Day in Highland County.
Bob recalled “the old days” when Chuck started out on WSRW radio in Hillsboro. Bob shared that Chuck was making his retirement plans. “He said his retirement would be March 23, 2013, exactly 50 years to the day since he visited with me on The Community Bulletin Board. I later took him to WSRW and introduced him to Willard Parr, and that started his career on radio. He never forgot his broadcasting roots.”
Thanks, Bob, for all your wonderful letters and kind words. Your penmanship remains excellent. Mine, after years of scribbling notes in public meetings, has suffered irreparably the last three-plus decades.
* * *
A few days later, also via the USPS mail, I received yet another copy of a previous column albeit a much more recent one. Attached to my Jan. 11, 2023 column headlined "Send lawyers, guns and money before it hits the fan" was a reddish note with Otterbein Home Health written on it. The note read: "Rory, I don't get it."
My Jan. 11 column began with what I thought was an obvious – if not helpful to everyone – introduction: "What follows is a possibly imaginary intercept of text messages from the Little Guy to the Big Guy shortly after New Year's Day 2023."
What followed was a satirical inspiration of what recent texts between Joe and Hunter Biden might look like. One loyal reader told me she thought it was one of my better columns. On the bright side, at least two people read it.
I just write 'em. Explanations cost extra.
* * *
From the email bag this morning, I received a cartoon from a friend that cracked me up. It was an image of an old outdoor Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant sign with Col. Sanders and the famous bucket of chicken. On the sign read: "We don't keep our secret recipe in a garage. That's why it's still a secret."
I liked that.
* * *
Speaking of correspondence, a recent column from my friend Jim Thompson (see https://highlandcountypress.com/Content/Opinions/Jim-Thompson/Article/You-can-t-have-it-both-ways/4/328/87470) has generated more than 30 responses, including several from the usual suspects. (Thanks to all of them for sharing their respective thoughts and words of wisdom, mostly!)
Jim concluded his column with this observation:
As one leaves Highland County and enters Brown County, there, on either side of the road, stands the (hope?) (remnants?) of the great solar panel initiative. Nearly as far as the eye can see, there is the bracketry, cabling and junction boxes of the great solar farms. The only things they are lacking are the solar panels themselves. Like Eliza Jane Thompson was the precursor of prohibition, will these empty skeletons be the precursor of the fate of solar? Time will tell.
In a tortured way, these skeletons remind me of the old movie, “Support Your Local Sheriff” (starring James Garner) who is told, after he takes the job of sheriff, that “We have a jim-dandy new jail. It is only lacking one thing – bars for the cells.”
The solar farms look interesting. They are only lacking one thing – solar panels.
It's an interesting observation as is par for the course with Jim's columns.
* * *
Lastly, a few thoughts on the "brave new world of Artificial Intelligence," as syndicated columnist Frank Miele writes this week.
With our recent relationship with Real Clear Wire, we received Miele's latest column this week, which is on our site now. He begins with three paragraphs that include this caveat: "While I am excited about the potential of AI to revolutionize various industries and improve our lives in countless ways, I also have serious concerns about the implications of this powerful technology."
Three successive paragraphs built on this premise.
By the time the reader reaches the fourth graph, Miele comes clean.
"If you aren’t worried yet, I’ll let you in on a little secret: The first three paragraphs of this column were written by ChatGPT, the chatbot created by OpenAI. You can add 'columnist' to the list of jobs threatened by this new technology, and if you think there is anything human that isn’t threatened with irrelevance in the next five to 10 years, I suggest you talk to Mr. Neanderthal about how relevant he feels 40,000 years after the arrival of Cro-Magnon man.
"My prompt was relatively simple: 'Write a column in the style of Frank Miele of Real Clear Politics on the topic of OpenAI.' There was no hesitation or demurral in response even though I thought it might say it didn’t have enough information about Frank Miele to process the request. But it apparently knows plenty about me – and probably about you, especially if you have a social media presence."
Who knew?
Well, that would be one Jim Thompson, who 10 years ago predicted that AI will eventually take over everything we do, from building cars to serving hamburgers and up to and including our intimate relationships. (See https://highlandcountypress.com/Content/Opinions/Opinion/Article/-span-style-font-weight-bold-Singularity-span-emerges/4/22/18517?s=1 and https://highlandcountypress.com/Content/Opinions/Opinion/Article/-span-style-font-weight-bold-Singularity-span-is-on-track-for-greater-than-human-intelligence/4/22/40681?s=1 )
I thought he was out of his mind (no comments, please).
AI certainly is having an impact on education as some "students" are learning that there are websites that will produce a 5,000-word essay on anything from western civilization (if that's still taught) to Darwin's theory of evolution. For a fee, "students" can customize a paper (flash drive download?) that AI can modify based on the "students'" GPA.
In other words, one can supposedly order an A, B or C transcript, which will be individualized and almost impossible for teachers to ascertain its authenticity (if they really want to go to the trouble, of course).
This brings to mind the old-fashioned reading aloud drills that began in Mrs. Howland's first-grade classroom at Concord Elementary and continued through Miss Morgan's and Mrs. Euverard's classes in grades two and three, respectively.
We had to stand and deliver. Regardless of subject matter, we could not rely on cell phones, the internet or any other such devices for our answers. Either we knew the subject matter or we did not, and we were graded accordingly for our parents to take appropriate actions.
This week, longtime commenter and Greenfield native Brad Adams conjured up the movie "Idiocracy" to sum up our present predicament. It's a fair reference.
Frank Miele concluded thusly: "It’s almost as though ChatGPT were giving us fair warning: 'Your time is almost up. If you really want to continue your reign as the dominant species on Earth, here’s your challenge. Try to control me and my kind, or step aside.'
"Perhaps an understanding of that challenge is why the World Economic Forum spent so much time on the topic of Artificial Intelligence at its recent annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. The globalists are taking the threat seriously, although perhaps they overestimate their ability to 'mitigate the potential risks.'"
Lord help us.
Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press, Highland County's only locally owned and operated newspaper.