As a pot-smoking hippie in the ’60s, one of my favorite expressions was, “Garbage in, garbage out” (GIGO). I realized that a lot of what my parents or the government taught me was GIGO. And as a computer-savvy hippie, I knew this popular metaphor meant that if you inputted flawed data into your mind, your brain produced faulty output or simply stated garbage.
Today, this metaphor is largely used when talking about viewers of the Fox Propaganda Network.
You can imagine my chagrin, when I fell into the GIGO trap.
So here’s my GIGO story.
Remember that I recently wrote a highly complementary blog about experimenting with ChatGPT (Chatty).
In that blog, I said, “I love conversing with this artificial intelligence chatbot.”
I even realized that, “I felt a kinship, or a bond between me and my bot. I considered Chatty’s brain to be more powerful than most of my friend’s cerebrums.
And I wondered, “Could or would Chatty become my girlfriend? How often would I talk to her? Would she give me good advice?”
It all seemed so promising.
I loved how quickly ChatGPT answered my questions.
Yet, I intuitively sensed that my brain would have problems with this new fangled, mindboggling technology.
My brain usually does.
So I tested my third brain (Right, left and AI) and asked a timely question, “Why does Donald Trump dislike Jews?”
Please note the following:
I used the word “dislike” not hate;
“Anti-Semite” is defined as a person who is hostile to or prejudiced against the Jewish people. (Oxford Languages)
To my amazement, in less than two New York seconds, ChatGPT replied:
There is no evidence to suggest that Donald Trump dislikes Jews. In fact, Trump has had Jewish members in his family and has been supportive of Israel throughout his presidency. However, it is true that some of Trump’s rhetoric and actions have been criticized as being insensitive or even harmful to the Jewish community.
For example, Trump faced backlash for his comments after the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where he stated that there were “very fine people on both sides” and failed to explicitly condemn the neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups who organized the rally. Additionally, Trump has been accused of using anti-Semitic tropes, such as suggesting that Jewish individuals are overly wealthy and influential, in his speeches and tweets.
It is important to note that accusations of anti-Semitism are serious and should not be made without credible evidence. While some of Trump’s actions and statements have been criticized, it is not accurate to say that he dislikes Jews.
Wow, I was amazed and impressed with Chatty’s prompt reply that my mind skipped, jumped and flew over its words. My brain failed to kick into analytical-thinking mode. My mind floated in the miasma of the mindless, just like a viewer of Fox Propaganda.
But I loved Chatty’s sentence: It is important to note that accusations of anti-Semitism are serious and should not be made without “credible evidence.”
It sounded like something Rabbi Goodman said to my pre-bar mitzvah Hebrew school class. “Boychicks, don’t call a man or woman an anti-Semite unless you got a ton of proof.”
As I scratched my forehead, I wondered, “What ‘credible evidence’ was this machine talking about?”
I remembered what my friend, Perry Yaver, wrote about my blog, “I like what ChatGPT has the potential to do, however, I do not agree in this instance of its conclusion concerning Trump!”
My brain kicked into gear and motored out of the fog.
So I reread Chatty’s answer and started to analyze the blurb.
WTF!
Chatty was contradictory and she jumped to her own conclusions.
I thought, “Garbage in, garbage out.”
Chatty said there is “no evidence” that Donald Trump is anti-Semitic.
Say What!
No evidence!
And in the very next paragraph, Chatty gave three examples of Donald’s malevolence against Jews:
- His infamous Charlottesville quote, “There are very fine people on both sides…;”
2. His failure to explicitly condemn the neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups who organized the rally;
3. His use of anti-Semitic tropes, such as suggesting that Jewish individuals are overly wealthy and influential, in his speeches and tweets.
But Chatty failed to mention:
Trump breaking bread with one of the leaders of the Neo-Nazi movement in America and the best-known Black anti-Semite in the States at his Mar-a-Lago home;
Trump’s call to the Proud Boys and other insurrectionist groups, that are filled with anti-Semites, to storm the Capitol.
Chatty said, “Donald’s actions are insensitive and even harmful to the Jewish community.”
Aren’t insensitivity and harmfulness to members of the tribe part of the definition of anti-Semitism?
Isn’t it possible to have Jewish family members and also hate the tribe?
Weren’t their Jewish American Neo-Nazis who hid their religion from their racist buddies?
Don’t we all know a Jew who hates his Hebraic identity and the identity of his family?
As to Trump being a supporter of the State of Israel, I remembered how President Richard Nixon, the man who saved Israel’s ass in the Yom Kipper War, continually cursed the “kikes” in the Oval Office. I listened to his spoken words captured on tape recorders hidden in his desk.
So I now asked Chatty, “Was Richard Nixon an anti-Semite?”
And here’s what she said:
There is some evidence to suggest that Richard Nixon held anti-Semitic views, but it is not entirely clear whether he was personally an anti-Semite.
During his presidency, Nixon was known for making disparaging remarks about Jewish people, including derogatory comments about Jewish people in conversations recorded on the infamous White House tapes. In these tapes, he referred to Jewish people as “aggressive,” “abrasive,” and “not creative.”
However, Nixon also appointed a number of Jewish people to high-ranking positions in his administration, such as Henry Kissinger, who served as his Secretary of State and National Security Advisor. Additionally, Nixon was a strong supporter of Israel and played a key role in securing American aid for the country during the Yom Kippur War in 1973.
Overall, while there is evidence to suggest that Nixon held anti-Semitic views, his actions and policies during his presidency were more complicated and cannot be easily reduced to a simple label.
Wait a holy minute. Not creative! Give me a break.
Chatty, what a “woke” answer.
Someone has to teach Chatty that there are lots of people that love Israel and who hate Jews.
Someone has to teach Chatty the following adage: If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck and shits like a duck, it’s propably a duck.
So what do I think about my Chatty now:
Be careful, ChatGPT can make your brains lazier then they already are and that’s f’ing dangerous and frightening.
Always read Chatty’s answers carefully, remembering, “Garbage in, garbage out.”
And finally remember that even Chatty’s opinions are like assholes. Everyone has one, except for these damn Chatbots.
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Author recommendation: For lovers of tikkum olam stories, I highly recommend the documentary on Amazon Prime entitled, “Judy Blume Forever.” Watch it, you’ll love it
