Good morning,
Journalists are addicted to hyperbole - something is never a "problem", it's a "growing problem".
So let me talk about the "growing problem" of AI-generated opinion pieces submitted to EUobserver.
In fact, rather than a steady stream, it's a small trickle - so far.
To the best of my ability to spot them, I've received two or three opinion pieces in the past few months that were clearly (but how do you prove it?) written in the depths of some water-resource depleting data center (note US spelling of centre), not by human fingers attached to a human brain.
Give away signs, apart from arriving from coming from gmail or proton accounts, rather than think-tanks or NGO organisations (although that is not an instant red flag, as I will take op-eds from "real people" using their personal email) is the tone of voice.
Let me call it, for shorthand, the 'HAL 9000 voice', from Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey". Reassuring, ingratiating, flattering, smooth.
But also, insipid, bland, boring and banal.
Here's an example (anonymously). The piece's ostensible topic was the Trump/Putin showdown/suck-up in Alaska in August. Obviously, a big and topical story at the time, and the piece was supposedly singing the praises of face-to-face high-level contacts to prevent war. Worthy stuff.
But then re-read paragraphs like this a second time:
For that reason, intergovernmental meetings are extremely important for policymakers to exchange their interpretations of contemporary and past events, which in turn shape their worldview and, consequently, their political objectives.
That's not WRONG, of course....but it lulls you into not noticing it's saying something so banal and self-evident that it's simply not worth saying, let alone typing. And there were another 750 words of that. Nothing to trigger alarm bells, but also saying the square root of not much.
I had the lucky advantage 30 years ago of a very academic degree - and one of the final exams was a six-hour paper (!) with three anonymised and undated texts from English Literature. The test was to identify both the epoch and the author, through language, vocabulary, grammar and syntax alone, from a possible range of around 500 years. So I'm prepped and trained as you possibly can be* to see through anonymous AI-generated copy - but for how much longer?
- Matt Tempest, comment editor
* Or, you can apply the wise words of my boss, Alejandro Tauber's Golden Rule: "AI has no typos."
Advert
How can the EU Common Agricultural Policy deliver food security and climate resilience? Climate KIC’s Kirsten Dunlop outlines a 3-step roadmap for real transformation. Read the piece and join us online on 24 September at 16:00 CET to discuss how the new CAP can work for farmers and rural communities. Register here.
Opinion
Russia's post-imperial self-image holds key to peace in Europe
Ultimately, peace and stability in Europe can only be sustained when Russia accepts the loss of its empire and consolidates a clearly-defined set of national interests as a post-imperial country.
What else you need to know
EU asylum chief says member states 'challenged' by new border rules
EU states are struggling with upcoming border rules that critics say could led to detention-like centres. Under the new regime authorities will have only seven days to screen a prospective asylum seeker.Read on »
Brussels protest against Belgium's LNG imports funding Russia's war
Ukrainian activists from Razom We Stand protested on Monday in Brussels to demand Belgium bans Russian LNG and gas.Read on »
How Serbia could use EU Digital Services Act for state censorshipOpinion
The implementation of the EU's Digital Services Act in Serbia and other countries lacking an independent digital services coordinator risks becoming an EU-based tool for state repression, enabling ruling parties to suppress dissent under the guise of compliance. Read on »
Advert
EU urged not to abandon Somalia as funding row heads to UN
Kenya’s foreign minister has urged the EU not to abandon its support for an African defence and security mission against the Al Shabaab terror group.Read on »
Listen: Can Macron’s UN Assembly push for Palestinian statehood be a diplomatic win?Podcast
This week, the spotlight is on the United Nations General Assembly and France’s push for formal recognition of a Palestinian state. But will this move, backed by a handful of Western countries, actually change the political reality on the ground?Read on »
Russia's post-imperial self-image holds key to peace in EuropeOpinion
Ultimately, peace and stability in Europe can only be sustained when Russia accepts the loss of its empire and consolidates a clearly-defined set of national interests as a post-imperial country.Read on »
In case you missed it
Left behind — why the EU is not pursuing new trade deals with Africa Explainer
The EU says that Africa is its "sister continent". But African states are last on the list of countries with whom it has fast-tracked trade talks.Read on »
The EU's lust for Indonesia's nickel supplyOpinion
The EU’s position towards Indonesia in the negotiations over the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) is symbolic for the hypocritical approach that has marked the recent European rush for raw materials. Read on »
EU anti-deforestation law spares all major exporters, including Brazil
The European Commission has published its long-awaited anti-deforestation law, but left all EU countries, as well as deforestation hotspots like Brazil and Indonesia, off the high-risk list.Read on »
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten