I’ve been playing with chatGPT, a machine-learning text model that converses with people quite well. It passes the Turing Test, from my POV.

Here’s an example.

Me: Please write a haiku poem about bacon.

chatGPT: Bacon sizzles bright,

Savory and salty delight

Breakfast’s shining star.

Yikes! It will gladly chat with you about anything, and it has rather comprehensive world knowledge up to 2021. The software isn’t connected to the Internet, but it’s only a matter of time. chatGPT is an impressive piece of work, and opens up huge new possibilities in human-to-machine interfaces. And ugly possibilities in terms of chatGPT-powered bots flooding any social media site with whatever propaganda its masters want, masked by a very human-like interaction model.

Machines that talk with us in a natural way, that never forget, and that have access to all the world’s knowledge. Dream or nightmare; friend or foe? Maybe all of the above.

Words of wisdom:

“As you grow older, your Christmas list gets smaller and the things you really want for the holidays can’t be bought.” – Anonymous

My workout today really kicked my butt. The trainer proves over and over why I haven’t gotten results on my own – unless you’re sweating and kinda gasping for air, you’re not really making progress. On my own I stop waaaay before that point.

Tonight’s dinner with the kids is at Square Cut Pizza, whose menu looks more like high-end Italian cuisine than a pizza joint. I do love the food scene in Louisville. Hence the need for the workout schedule.

This CNN story tracks with my own experience of Amsterdam this year. The city government think it needs to make some changes, and I agree. The touristy area has a distinctly creepy vibe – sex, drugs, and no rock ‘n roll. Litter everywhere, guys openly pissing on streets – it’s a little too crude for my tastes. I wish them luck in cleaning up.

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Today is a workout day with my trainer (via Zoom). I find myself dreading it – I hope for the day when I *want* to work out. I think that will be the tipping point. In my younger days, I enjoyed strenuous exercise. That’s a virtuous cycle, and I want to find it again. When did I get so lazy?

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I’m sorry I missed the live TV coverage of the Jan 6th Committee making criminal referrals on DJT. Now it’s up to the DoJ to indict. They probably won’t but one can always hope. Best we might expect is that DJT will have to spend the entire $250M-ish he’s raised from donations by idiots on lawyers.

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My rental car crapped out last night, so I found myself stranded on Goss Avenue in Germantown. Thankfully, AAA dispatched someone to restart the car quickly, so I trundled off to the airport to trade vehicles. We take so much for granted in the modern world – the car will (almost) always start, your phone will work, etc. Standing in the cold waiting for the AAA guy was a reminder to be prepared for the day when things break. Though I could have just walked into Hauck’s across the street and had a beer.

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UK plays Florida A&M tomorrow and I’m not really looking forward to it. Nothing much to win and everything to lose. We *should* beat them, and if we don’t it will be a disaster. This is how it goes when the team consistently disappoints – you start to expect the worst.