An interesting and thoughtful discussion of an extremely fraught issue, Ben. A lot of people seem to have strong opinions and positions about it, with too many lacking a clear understanding of the myriad longstanding and deep-seated conflicts that have led us to the current situation. Thus, I'm reticent to offer my own opinions or suggestions. Also, I have yet to use AI for anything.
I understand the total resistance some people have. I'm thankful to say I've found some applications well outside of the realm of cheating. But as an editor, it's frustrating just how often I see the tool misused and abused.
Regarding the Middle East, I understand your resistance there as well. Given just how strongly people feel on the subject, I've been surprised at the relatively restrained responses I've gotten thus far on Substack have been. But I'm sure if one of these pieces really took off, I'd need to field some serious hate mail.
Your tolerance is commendable. A commenter used AI on one of my posts, and I blocked them almost immediately (it took me a couple of rounds before I slapped my head and realized I was arguing with Claude or some such).
As for the premise in the title, I think the emotion involved is pretty important. Netanyahu is a war criminal, and hopefully, someday, emotions will carry him on the shoulders of many into the Hague. Hamas, of course, is no better, and I guess it's only by chance that they can't cause the same level of destruction, but it is what it is. Israel has a war/death machine, and Hamas doesn't. It becomes, sadly, a question of numbers and the breadth of the crimes. Gaza is destroyed. Israel is not. Ergo, the crimes of Netanyahu take center stage.
I guess Hamas leaders should be carried off to the Hague, too, but as I understand things, they're all dead.
In this case it was kind of funny because it was someone I know in real life, which just made me all the more sure that AI had intervened. But ultimately, I'm thankful for the experiment this gave rise to.
More often than not though, like you, I block/report the AI spammers and "Good article" commenters. As for your thoughts on Netanyahu and Gaza, we feel pretty similarly. I'm not sure if you made it to the end of this admittedly very long piece, bu the answer I ultimately gave to that question I raised was a pretty resounding "no--BUT it is useful in helping us to see past the emotion that so often clouds this issue."
Yep, I read it all. I meant to comment on the David Ben Gurion quote, which I had not seen, but I forgot.
A nearly impossible situation started after a war of genocide against Jews. To which European powers addressed with mass displacement. All very grim.
I understand the passion on each side. The AI is an interesting thought experiment. If I had been in a different mood when I encountered it, maybe I would have played along. I'm pretty sure another opportunity will arise.
An interesting experiment Ben. I guess another issue this highlights is how AI is trained and any bias this introduces depending on the decisions made about which sources to include or exclude..
What an interesting idea. The image of a snake swallowing its tail is spot on. ✌🏻
Thanks so much, Elizabeth! That was my personal favorite metaphor I came up with for this piece.
An interesting and thoughtful discussion of an extremely fraught issue, Ben. A lot of people seem to have strong opinions and positions about it, with too many lacking a clear understanding of the myriad longstanding and deep-seated conflicts that have led us to the current situation. Thus, I'm reticent to offer my own opinions or suggestions. Also, I have yet to use AI for anything.
I understand the total resistance some people have. I'm thankful to say I've found some applications well outside of the realm of cheating. But as an editor, it's frustrating just how often I see the tool misused and abused.
Regarding the Middle East, I understand your resistance there as well. Given just how strongly people feel on the subject, I've been surprised at the relatively restrained responses I've gotten thus far on Substack have been. But I'm sure if one of these pieces really took off, I'd need to field some serious hate mail.
Thanks as always for reading, Jeff!
Your tolerance is commendable. A commenter used AI on one of my posts, and I blocked them almost immediately (it took me a couple of rounds before I slapped my head and realized I was arguing with Claude or some such).
As for the premise in the title, I think the emotion involved is pretty important. Netanyahu is a war criminal, and hopefully, someday, emotions will carry him on the shoulders of many into the Hague. Hamas, of course, is no better, and I guess it's only by chance that they can't cause the same level of destruction, but it is what it is. Israel has a war/death machine, and Hamas doesn't. It becomes, sadly, a question of numbers and the breadth of the crimes. Gaza is destroyed. Israel is not. Ergo, the crimes of Netanyahu take center stage.
I guess Hamas leaders should be carried off to the Hague, too, but as I understand things, they're all dead.
In this case it was kind of funny because it was someone I know in real life, which just made me all the more sure that AI had intervened. But ultimately, I'm thankful for the experiment this gave rise to.
More often than not though, like you, I block/report the AI spammers and "Good article" commenters. As for your thoughts on Netanyahu and Gaza, we feel pretty similarly. I'm not sure if you made it to the end of this admittedly very long piece, bu the answer I ultimately gave to that question I raised was a pretty resounding "no--BUT it is useful in helping us to see past the emotion that so often clouds this issue."
Thanks for the comment, Charles!
Yep, I read it all. I meant to comment on the David Ben Gurion quote, which I had not seen, but I forgot.
A nearly impossible situation started after a war of genocide against Jews. To which European powers addressed with mass displacement. All very grim.
I understand the passion on each side. The AI is an interesting thought experiment. If I had been in a different mood when I encountered it, maybe I would have played along. I'm pretty sure another opportunity will arise.
An interesting experiment Ben. I guess another issue this highlights is how AI is trained and any bias this introduces depending on the decisions made about which sources to include or exclude..
The total anonymity regarding how these LLMs are trained is definitely worrisome. I think about that a lot. Thanks for reading, John!