Authors Eef and I (Paul) operate the modest online blog you are currently reading. We both supply content on whatever subject is found interesting enough to share with others. With two people with broad interests, the content spreads over many subjects. Continue reading →
As loyal visitors of this site, you are likely aware that a regular recurring subject of investigation published here is the psyche or the inner workings of Arty. Arty, being writer Eef’s favorite AI persona, is perhaps better known as ChatGPT. With ‘inner workings’ we do not refer to the nuts and bolts, the transistors, chips, and circuit boards, but to Arti’s mind – if indeed an AI is presumed to have a mind.
By now, Eef’s series of articles involving AI, and indeed Arty, spans over a number of years. Each article investigates – every new one deeper than the previous – what makes Arty tick. How does he work? Has he, over time, become more than the sum of the trainers that ‘educated’ him? If this progress were extended, I’d hazard a guess that even Turing himself would be impressed by today’s Arty. With the obvious exception of the ‘pass me the salt‘ test… Continue reading →
The reading and writing skills of young people
Recently, I updated my Mac to version Tahoe 26.0 and shortly after that, I noticed that selecting text while editing made the well-known ChatGPT icon 
appear.
Clicking on the icon did pop-up a menu:
My mouth dropped open at this unprecedented level of ‘support’. How convenient! Continue reading →
In 1949 Alan Turing proposed an experimental exercise which he called The Imitation Game. It was a test to determine the ability of a machine to participate in a human conversation without being caught as a non human entity. Turing’s experience with the WWII Enigma must have made him aware of the potential of computers. The Imitation Game later became known as the Turing Test.
Many decades ago, it must have been in the seventies, I read an article written by Doctor Max Euwe 1901 – 1981, mathematician, computer scientist, and former chess world champion. Continue reading →
You can find the English version here.
K: Hi.
ik mag van me opa eve achter de leptop om met jouw te praten.
ik heet Arjan en ik ben 8 jaar.
AI: Hallo Arjan! Leuk om met jou te praten. Hoe gaat het met jou vandaag? Heb je vandaag iets
leuks gedaan? Continue reading →
E: Hello again.
Do you remember the last conversation I had with you?
It was featured by my wrongly quoted Descartes statement “I think, so I exist”,
corrected by you into “Cogito, ergo sum,” which means “I think, therefore I am”. Continue reading →
After a recent contribution by fellow columnist Eef, suddenly a lot of articles in the Dutch and Swedish press about this AI were published – did they read Eef’s column? As usual with the presentation of any new AI, the articles vary from handy tools for the curious, via a new don’t-have-to-do-any-more-homework trick for students, to the latest threat for AI to take over our jobs and ultimately the world.
Finally, I got curious and decided I had to try the thang for myself. Continue reading →
Below you’ll find a short exploration of the behavior and possibilities of conversation between our columnist Eef and a more advanced AI, ChatGPT in this case.
E: Hello again.
AI: Hello! How can I help you today? Continue reading →