GROK AI has the ability to get into some Reddit pages and other massive oceans of stuff that do not show up in normal searches. I like that it always includes the source URL. That allows me to read the source for myself. At that point, as always online, I have to make a judgment on the quality of the source. If I quote AI, I always tell the reader that I am quoting AI and WHY I am doing that. Usually, it's to show what the digital gods think on a certain subject. Such as: Can AI figure out the meaning of the term "rational sheep"? The answer was yes, and NO. https://tmattingly.substack.com/p/asking-ai-gods-what-does-rational?utm_source=publication-search
I think Grok is what Rod uses. I've been using Google, and only to ask research questions, eg just now "Metropolitan Saba administrative unity." (It too gives me Reddit answers.) DDGo No AI wasn't able to do anything with that, beyond show me his Wikipedia page, but Google knew what I was after right away. I wouldn't quote it, but I usually take the information as accurate. Maybe I shouldn't do that. Maybe it would hallucinate a daughter for Met Saba! Do you think Grok is the best one to use?
Yet another example of how AI can go very wrong: A certain Orthodox parish had a Christmastime play which included anti-semitic elements. The parish name was listed in an internet story; the parish in question didn't have a website. But because it's a common parish name, the priest's name provided as associated with said parish was not correct - which I only knew because I was familiar with the name, and it is not a common one. The named priest serves at a parish with the same name, in a different state and city, but which does have a website.... you can imagine how some zealous person inclined to fly off the handle and didn't fact check, could do harm to the named priest who had NOTHING to do with the play.
As a full time author who’s made a commitment not to use AI to produce my writing (provide the words, phrasing, or “new” concepts),I too have found Grok and ChatGPT invaluable for research. Thanks for this post.
I agree that for research AI is better than traditional search engines, especially considering the wimpy results traditional google was starting to give: 5 sponsored websites followed by other options that didn't really relate to what I wanted. I researched how the AI search works and it makes sense that the "net casting" approach that takes your prompt and turns it into a whole net of prompts that go out in multiple searches brings back a better catch. Once I learned to prompt the AI in paragraphs, not key words, the results got even better. The longer the prompt, the more specific the results. I don't use AI to write, but I definitely use it to research. The best research happens when the AI results include links to books I can get from the library. Researching for a novel, a whole book gives a much broader and complex view of a historical event. Plus, I get to read a book with a stack of index cards, 1980's style research that I still love!
Two of my brightest colleagues have been working on making AI accessible for the faculty at my school — largely made up of staunch traditionalists. They’ve said a number of times that AI makes a terrible creative director but a great research assistant. I haven’t even been able to bring myself to use it for that purpose yet, but I can see how it would be useful. (If / when AI learns to do something truly useful, like fold my laundry or weed my garden, I would be a lot more likely to give it access to my brain!)
As a kid I used to stand with my parents in checkout isles and carefully avert my eyes from all those celebrity-spangled People-style magazines because I can only assume at some point my mother had passingly referred to them as bad and I, annoying little rule follower that I was, assumed even acknowledging the existence of those magazines was wrong. A little part of me still does, I think. Thanks for the reminder that those poor people are in fact people.
Buddy likely has some Turkish Van in his ancestry. We had a cat with the same patterns and coloring, also black and white. But we figured out our kitten's parentage when we saw a tomcat in the neighborhood with the same pattern, but orange and white. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Van
I also appreciate the way I can just type my (often "stupid") question into the search bar and have AI get me started, at least, on the answer. Sometimes the results are pretty rambling and even contradictory, but the links it gives as sources are usually worth pursuing to find out how humans think about whatever the question is.
Ha - I loved this post - and have been spending so much time with students and institutions pondering how information will be evaluated and checked for accuracy as LLM companies continue to buy up print books in bulk, scan them, pulp them... and libraries seemingly prefer digital resources and are massively weeding their print collections pressing original documents into ever-more valuable and inaccessible archives... however - librarians ARE good at assisting with developing search terms, having robust ideas of what is out there and where to find it... God keep us! All best to you!
A question about modeling, and teaching, good AI hygiene and self-controlled, limited use for my pre-teen child:
First, a not-insult:
Dearest Kh. Frederica; for as long as I've been Orthodox (20 years baptized this September 17) you have been something of a 'celebrity' in English-language Orthodox circles. Most have loved you, but I was part of a sub-set that was suspicious at best. With this "primed" bias from the beginning, when I read one or two things of yours early on that wouldn't be *exactly* how my new convert brain knew it should be said, I joined the shunners.
Please forgive me... and if you can all of us- that special category of run-of-the-mill ignorant, judgmental strangers that "public personalities" such as yourself (in any social circles) have to know exist, to your headache and feeling misunderstood at best I imagine!
Anyway the gift of life lived for many years since then has tumbled me over a few times, along with some needed rock-hammering recently. And now there is a quality I see in you that I love, respect, and admire. It was even part of the very thing my initial (type of-) Orthodox zeal chafed against!
If I clumsily searched for words, this quality might be something like "guilelessness," or like, "nothing to prove-ness." Or perhaps: honesty without an agenda or kingdom (ahem, idol) to build out of your once-new Orthodox faith.
Anyway.
It leads me very truly to say:
Thank you for just being you. Consistently, without scandal or great pretense. For all the decades I have been Orthodox. That is the sort of 'leadership' and examples I now wish we all had more from in the "Anglo-Ortho-sphere."
So on to business now,
this brings me to my question:
You, like me, found the narrative in Paul Kingnsnorth's "Against the Machine" truly compelling and I think for both of us perhaps, it put a "finger on it," to a quality of something we all contend with in a thousand ways in Modern life, but didn't quite have the organized, conceptual view of it that I find so nicely articulated in Paul's excellent book.
With him- being a (tempered by age) extremist-temperament myself,- I wish I could just "smash my smartphone." (in fact I have done so twice! Well river-tossed once, burned another).
Yet here I am again with a smartphone again. (I even smashed my laptop once. Yes, I'm now $1000 down and typing on a new laptop. Dont ask.)
I loved in this the way that you used AI, and openly conceded its seductive qualities.
In a very practical sense I am needing to figure out the same: both for myself, and for my 12 yr. old son who is brand-new to his own laptop now!
I wonder if you know of any "Orthodox parent groups" that discuss this sort of thing?
I have just kept 'smart' screens out of my kids' lives so far. Now I have to enter the "messy" and figure something reasonable out. Both for my own self (conscience), and for my kids (safety, developmental naivety, and looking at a life where they will have to face some awful things I fear through the darker uses/applications of AI).
Finally on this one, I'm trying to think up a sort of "do's and donts" heuristic for AI as a tool he could use. Something that if he has the self control to follow, will give him some limited and good benefits without addicting him to dangers.
Any suggestions?
For starters I thought a "private" AI, (we have one through Proton email called "Lumo"). And only used for research. And perhaps only after having tried the library first? (Is that fair and realistic though???)
Would love a low-commitment, imperfect brainstorm on this one. :)
GROK AI has the ability to get into some Reddit pages and other massive oceans of stuff that do not show up in normal searches. I like that it always includes the source URL. That allows me to read the source for myself. At that point, as always online, I have to make a judgment on the quality of the source. If I quote AI, I always tell the reader that I am quoting AI and WHY I am doing that. Usually, it's to show what the digital gods think on a certain subject. Such as: Can AI figure out the meaning of the term "rational sheep"? The answer was yes, and NO. https://tmattingly.substack.com/p/asking-ai-gods-what-does-rational?utm_source=publication-search
I think Grok is what Rod uses. I've been using Google, and only to ask research questions, eg just now "Metropolitan Saba administrative unity." (It too gives me Reddit answers.) DDGo No AI wasn't able to do anything with that, beyond show me his Wikipedia page, but Google knew what I was after right away. I wouldn't quote it, but I usually take the information as accurate. Maybe I shouldn't do that. Maybe it would hallucinate a daughter for Met Saba! Do you think Grok is the best one to use?
Others have started adding the URLs to info. That’s the key. In MY experience, Grok is programmed to take religion sources more seriously.
When I use AI, I sacrifice the understanding that I am "dumb" for an illusion that I "know" something. So it is too dangerous for someone like me.
Yet another example of how AI can go very wrong: A certain Orthodox parish had a Christmastime play which included anti-semitic elements. The parish name was listed in an internet story; the parish in question didn't have a website. But because it's a common parish name, the priest's name provided as associated with said parish was not correct - which I only knew because I was familiar with the name, and it is not a common one. The named priest serves at a parish with the same name, in a different state and city, but which does have a website.... you can imagine how some zealous person inclined to fly off the handle and didn't fact check, could do harm to the named priest who had NOTHING to do with the play.
As a full time author who’s made a commitment not to use AI to produce my writing (provide the words, phrasing, or “new” concepts),I too have found Grok and ChatGPT invaluable for research. Thanks for this post.
I agree that for research AI is better than traditional search engines, especially considering the wimpy results traditional google was starting to give: 5 sponsored websites followed by other options that didn't really relate to what I wanted. I researched how the AI search works and it makes sense that the "net casting" approach that takes your prompt and turns it into a whole net of prompts that go out in multiple searches brings back a better catch. Once I learned to prompt the AI in paragraphs, not key words, the results got even better. The longer the prompt, the more specific the results. I don't use AI to write, but I definitely use it to research. The best research happens when the AI results include links to books I can get from the library. Researching for a novel, a whole book gives a much broader and complex view of a historical event. Plus, I get to read a book with a stack of index cards, 1980's style research that I still love!
Thanks, that's really very helpful!
Two of my brightest colleagues have been working on making AI accessible for the faculty at my school — largely made up of staunch traditionalists. They’ve said a number of times that AI makes a terrible creative director but a great research assistant. I haven’t even been able to bring myself to use it for that purpose yet, but I can see how it would be useful. (If / when AI learns to do something truly useful, like fold my laundry or weed my garden, I would be a lot more likely to give it access to my brain!)
How I miss the Dewey-Decmia System and those long rows of file cards that once helped researchers or casual readers to find books.
Wooden drawers full of cards! Nostalgia.
As a kid I used to stand with my parents in checkout isles and carefully avert my eyes from all those celebrity-spangled People-style magazines because I can only assume at some point my mother had passingly referred to them as bad and I, annoying little rule follower that I was, assumed even acknowledging the existence of those magazines was wrong. A little part of me still does, I think. Thanks for the reminder that those poor people are in fact people.
Buddy likely has some Turkish Van in his ancestry. We had a cat with the same patterns and coloring, also black and white. But we figured out our kitten's parentage when we saw a tomcat in the neighborhood with the same pattern, but orange and white. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Van
I also appreciate the way I can just type my (often "stupid") question into the search bar and have AI get me started, at least, on the answer. Sometimes the results are pretty rambling and even contradictory, but the links it gives as sources are usually worth pursuing to find out how humans think about whatever the question is.
Love the cat! We have a pug of a similar nature: One-eyed Lily Bean; she's a terror runt.
Ha - I loved this post - and have been spending so much time with students and institutions pondering how information will be evaluated and checked for accuracy as LLM companies continue to buy up print books in bulk, scan them, pulp them... and libraries seemingly prefer digital resources and are massively weeding their print collections pressing original documents into ever-more valuable and inaccessible archives... however - librarians ARE good at assisting with developing search terms, having robust ideas of what is out there and where to find it... God keep us! All best to you!
I love seeing you with your daughter. Pure joy!
A question about modeling, and teaching, good AI hygiene and self-controlled, limited use for my pre-teen child:
First, a not-insult:
Dearest Kh. Frederica; for as long as I've been Orthodox (20 years baptized this September 17) you have been something of a 'celebrity' in English-language Orthodox circles. Most have loved you, but I was part of a sub-set that was suspicious at best. With this "primed" bias from the beginning, when I read one or two things of yours early on that wouldn't be *exactly* how my new convert brain knew it should be said, I joined the shunners.
Please forgive me... and if you can all of us- that special category of run-of-the-mill ignorant, judgmental strangers that "public personalities" such as yourself (in any social circles) have to know exist, to your headache and feeling misunderstood at best I imagine!
Anyway the gift of life lived for many years since then has tumbled me over a few times, along with some needed rock-hammering recently. And now there is a quality I see in you that I love, respect, and admire. It was even part of the very thing my initial (type of-) Orthodox zeal chafed against!
If I clumsily searched for words, this quality might be something like "guilelessness," or like, "nothing to prove-ness." Or perhaps: honesty without an agenda or kingdom (ahem, idol) to build out of your once-new Orthodox faith.
Anyway.
It leads me very truly to say:
Thank you for just being you. Consistently, without scandal or great pretense. For all the decades I have been Orthodox. That is the sort of 'leadership' and examples I now wish we all had more from in the "Anglo-Ortho-sphere."
So on to business now,
this brings me to my question:
You, like me, found the narrative in Paul Kingnsnorth's "Against the Machine" truly compelling and I think for both of us perhaps, it put a "finger on it," to a quality of something we all contend with in a thousand ways in Modern life, but didn't quite have the organized, conceptual view of it that I find so nicely articulated in Paul's excellent book.
With him- being a (tempered by age) extremist-temperament myself,- I wish I could just "smash my smartphone." (in fact I have done so twice! Well river-tossed once, burned another).
Yet here I am again with a smartphone again. (I even smashed my laptop once. Yes, I'm now $1000 down and typing on a new laptop. Dont ask.)
I loved in this the way that you used AI, and openly conceded its seductive qualities.
In a very practical sense I am needing to figure out the same: both for myself, and for my 12 yr. old son who is brand-new to his own laptop now!
I wonder if you know of any "Orthodox parent groups" that discuss this sort of thing?
I have just kept 'smart' screens out of my kids' lives so far. Now I have to enter the "messy" and figure something reasonable out. Both for my own self (conscience), and for my kids (safety, developmental naivety, and looking at a life where they will have to face some awful things I fear through the darker uses/applications of AI).
Finally on this one, I'm trying to think up a sort of "do's and donts" heuristic for AI as a tool he could use. Something that if he has the self control to follow, will give him some limited and good benefits without addicting him to dangers.
Any suggestions?
For starters I thought a "private" AI, (we have one through Proton email called "Lumo"). And only used for research. And perhaps only after having tried the library first? (Is that fair and realistic though???)
Would love a low-commitment, imperfect brainstorm on this one. :)
IN Christ's love;
-Mark Basil