As an English major, I remain confident it did me far more good than any other degree could have. Did you notice that the Heller piece did mention that Berkeley is an exception to the English Major decline?!😄
"what doesn't fit into tidy equations is what we call culture." Bravo Brad... that's a keeper. I will surely be quoting you in my MarTech talk at Adobe Summit next week.
Oh, hooray! Thank you... may I be bold and beg you to mention the Substack URL? Also, you can find the impenetrable translated-from-French passage that inspired that keeper here:
Brad... excellent piece as usual. It reminds me of my High School English teacher Mrs. Gravely - who was never satisfied with any syntax, often suggesting I and others spend 15 minutes absorbing Emerson, CS Lewis or Ayan Rand to appreciate the art of the sentence. When asking ChatGPT to emulate the styles of these writers, the best I got were some weak phrases akin to their work, but I presume it will get smarter. Thanks for Vanessa's eye-opening piece, it explains clearly why, according to ChatGPT I am a highly acclaimed jazz guitarist based in the New York/New Jersey area. Born in 1951, Schulman quickly established himself as a sought-after performer and session musician. Over the years, he has played with some of the biggest names in jazz, including Billy Eckstine, Lionel Hampton, and Maynard Ferguson. He has also performed with a number of well-known vocalists, including Tony Bennett, Nancy Wilson, and Mel Tormé. He has taught at prestigious institutions like the Manhattan School of Music and the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music - none of which is true. I would have loved to play with Billy Eckstine and Lionel Hampton, but had I actually played with them, I would likely be deceased by now. :-). Thanks Vanessa for the explanation - and beware ChatGPT users, its truth is stranger than fiction.
Hi Alan! Thanks for reading and the kind comment. Please help spread the word about The Dispatch!
Two quick replies/builds and a bonus.
1. For anybody who cares about style, the *point* of style (writerly, musical) is to evolve, but AI's goal is to imitate. So I'm not sure I agree that ChatGPT will get smarter because its goal is sameness but human artists goal is finding novelty inside a coherent body of work. That's my goal as a writer and thinker. What about you as a thinker and musician?
2. Since I know you're a fan of Behavioral Economics, the danger of ChatGPT is its mastery of plausibility... and humans will believe a plausible story over a probable one because we're bad at thinking statistically. This is the nutshell version of "Thinking, Fast and Slow."
Bonus: I'm having fun with an idea about flavors of attention (akin to Systems 1 and 2) and my notion of Experience Stacks (http://bradberens.com/newsletter/experience-stacks/). Perhaps we can kick it around sometime?
Among other things, this piece reminded me that I used to work right next to two youngish English majors. At the time, they were both journalists, and although they didn't know much about digital media, they had good ideas about how to figure out the nature of a thing, and just as important, how to explain what they learned in the format of a story that would make sense to other humans. Later, one of them became a media buyer and the other one became a marketer. I know they're good at what they do, but I doubt they'd be as good if they hadn't spent four years in college building critical thinking skills.
Michael, thanks for reading and your kind words! Pls spread the news, as I’m following in your footsteps and trying to build the audience for The Dispatch.
By any chance are these two journalists people I’d know from our iMedia days?
As an English major, I remain confident it did me far more good than any other degree could have. Did you notice that the Heller piece did mention that Berkeley is an exception to the English Major decline?!😄
Yes, I did! Didn't know how to interpret it, actually..
THANKS FOR READING!!!
"what doesn't fit into tidy equations is what we call culture." Bravo Brad... that's a keeper. I will surely be quoting you in my MarTech talk at Adobe Summit next week.
Oh, hooray! Thank you... may I be bold and beg you to mention the Substack URL? Also, you can find the impenetrable translated-from-French passage that inspired that keeper here:
http://bradberens.com/newsletter/de-certeau/
Have fun at the Summit (I've never been to that one)... having asked you to keynote all over the world, I am 100% confident that you'll crush it.
Will do. Thanks Brad.
Brad... excellent piece as usual. It reminds me of my High School English teacher Mrs. Gravely - who was never satisfied with any syntax, often suggesting I and others spend 15 minutes absorbing Emerson, CS Lewis or Ayan Rand to appreciate the art of the sentence. When asking ChatGPT to emulate the styles of these writers, the best I got were some weak phrases akin to their work, but I presume it will get smarter. Thanks for Vanessa's eye-opening piece, it explains clearly why, according to ChatGPT I am a highly acclaimed jazz guitarist based in the New York/New Jersey area. Born in 1951, Schulman quickly established himself as a sought-after performer and session musician. Over the years, he has played with some of the biggest names in jazz, including Billy Eckstine, Lionel Hampton, and Maynard Ferguson. He has also performed with a number of well-known vocalists, including Tony Bennett, Nancy Wilson, and Mel Tormé. He has taught at prestigious institutions like the Manhattan School of Music and the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music - none of which is true. I would have loved to play with Billy Eckstine and Lionel Hampton, but had I actually played with them, I would likely be deceased by now. :-). Thanks Vanessa for the explanation - and beware ChatGPT users, its truth is stranger than fiction.
Hi Alan! Thanks for reading and the kind comment. Please help spread the word about The Dispatch!
Two quick replies/builds and a bonus.
1. For anybody who cares about style, the *point* of style (writerly, musical) is to evolve, but AI's goal is to imitate. So I'm not sure I agree that ChatGPT will get smarter because its goal is sameness but human artists goal is finding novelty inside a coherent body of work. That's my goal as a writer and thinker. What about you as a thinker and musician?
2. Since I know you're a fan of Behavioral Economics, the danger of ChatGPT is its mastery of plausibility... and humans will believe a plausible story over a probable one because we're bad at thinking statistically. This is the nutshell version of "Thinking, Fast and Slow."
Bonus: I'm having fun with an idea about flavors of attention (akin to Systems 1 and 2) and my notion of Experience Stacks (http://bradberens.com/newsletter/experience-stacks/). Perhaps we can kick it around sometime?
Again, thank you for reading and the kind words.
Sincerely,
BB
Among other things, this piece reminded me that I used to work right next to two youngish English majors. At the time, they were both journalists, and although they didn't know much about digital media, they had good ideas about how to figure out the nature of a thing, and just as important, how to explain what they learned in the format of a story that would make sense to other humans. Later, one of them became a media buyer and the other one became a marketer. I know they're good at what they do, but I doubt they'd be as good if they hadn't spent four years in college building critical thinking skills.
Really loved this one, Brad!
Michael, thanks for reading and your kind words! Pls spread the news, as I’m following in your footsteps and trying to build the audience for The Dispatch.
By any chance are these two journalists people I’d know from our iMedia days?
Best and thanks again,
BB
Yup, I’m speaking of Adam and Krisserin, two English majors who made good. Happy to share your newsletter!
thank you, Brad, very well said.
Grant, thank you for reading and for your kind words. That means a lot to me.