Artificial Ignorance

My breakfast-time routine has changed again, thanks to the relentless 'progress' of technology.  I last blogged about it in January 2020 (click here to see it) when the BBC discontinued their Red Button news service.

More recently, I discovered Google Routines, which are rather good. As I drank my morning coffee and downed my bowl of granola and yogurt, I would fire up my smartphone and say, "Good morning Google." It would greet me, display my Google calendar entries for the day and tell me whether I had any tasks.  It went something like this...

"Good morning Angela. The time is 7.35. You have 4 entries in you diary today; next up 'Lunch with Demelza at 12 noon.' You have one task; 'Feed next-door's cat.' Have a great day.  Here's the latest news from BBC News Headlines at 7am..." and it proceeded to play the news headlines.

A few days ago Google offered to upgrade me to Gemini – their latest Artificial Intelligence offering that can answer questions, summarise text and generate content.  I'd played around with its predecessor, Bard, and quite liked it, so decided to make the switch.

Yesterday morning I greeted Google in my accustomed manner. "Good morning Google," I chirped. This screenshot is its response. O dear!  Defeated, I went to my BBC Sounds app to hear the news headlines.

But perhaps the title of this post is a little unkind, especially as, by Google's own admission, Gemini  is still experimental and "may display inaccurate info."  In response to my prompts "Tyndale Monument" and "Who was Saint Petrock?" it did well, mostly drawing information from Wikipedia. However, it wasn't so great when asked about Lydney Harbour:

I'll forgive it the American spelling (center) and the ungrammatical 'a historic' (an historic). However, there is no canal linking Lydney harbour to the Severn; rather, the canal runs a mile inland, towards the town. As for the "narrow-gauge heritage railway and several restaurants and cafes", the mind boggles as to where that mis-information has come from. There is but ONE very nice café down there (outside seating only) that I can heartily recommend.  Oh, and don't go expecting to enjoy a boat trip.  There aren't any.

Finally, I thought it would be fun to try out Gemini's content generation abilities, so I typed: "Write a letter to my friend Lucy, who writes a blog and takes great photos."

Dearest Lucy,

It feels like forever since we last chatted! I wanted to reach out and see how your creative spark is flying. I've been absolutely glued to your blog lately – your writing always pulls me right in, and the photos are simply stunning!

[Specific compliment about a recent post]: That recent post about [topic of post] with the photos of [mention a specific detail from the photos] was particularly captivating. It really made me feel like I was there with you, experiencing [mention an aspect of the post].

Do you have any exciting adventures or projects lined up that you're itching to share on the blog? I'm always so inspired by your unique perspective and the way you capture the world through your lens. Speaking of which, have you stumbled upon any new photography techniques or editing tricks lately? I'd love to hear your secrets!

On my end, things have been [briefly describe what's been going on with you]. It's made me crave some fresh inspiration, and your blog always delivers. Maybe we could even brainstorm some ideas together sometime soon! Coffee, catching up, and bouncing around creative thoughts sounds like a perfect afternoon to me.

Write back soon and fill me in on all your latest endeavors!

Lots of love,

Angie

And so dies the gentle art of letter writing.