The Limitations of ChatGPT

by Madeleine Kando

I have a thought, which I want to convey to my Dutch friend. English is my language of choice, but then he asks me to say it in Dutch. I grew up in Holland, so you would think it wouldn't be such a difficult task. I find myself grappling for words, trying to construct logical sentences that mirror what I think. I feel like an arthritic contortionist. It doesn't meet my expectations but that's the best I can do. 'I could say this a lot better in English, you know' I tell him.

The same goes for French, another language I grew up with. French sounds melodious and the way it is constructed has a poetic aura about it as if a bunch of poets sat down and selected the most pleasant-sounding bits of human speech to form the French language. (German, tragically, suffers from an abundance of harsh phonemes, as if they were forged by a group of rough warriors who made their enemies run for cover, every time they opened their mouth). But is language the best conduit for the multi-dimensionality of our mental world? I have to transpose something that is happening on multiple levels into one linear dimension. A thought is not just verbal; it has colors, shape, smell, taste, speed and much more.

Wouldn’t it be truer to reality if we had a means of communication that includes all these dimensions in one package? True, we have art, music, dance and mathematics to convey these other dimensions of thought, but doesn’t their own range also limit those? Can I do justice to quantum mechanics when I express it in music? Can I express the beauty of a sunrise using mathematics?

The current rage is all about chatbots and other artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can have a conversation with a user in natural language. They can also debug computer programs, compose music, generate business ideas and play games.

But isn’t AI forcing our way of thinking into a one-dimensional ‘verbal’ groove? What about the other major component of communication, i.e. the nonverbal part? There is body language, facial expressions and the tone of your voice, the melody of language, the pauses, hesitations and intonations. All of these contain a huge amount of information, which can drastically alter the verbal content of what is said. If we become enamored with the simplicity and one-dimensionality of chatbots (the spoken word), much of our humanness is at risk of disappearing. Read more...

Size Matters

Tom Kando

What is the most universal form of discrimination and victimization? Has it ever occurred to you? 

We talk forever about race, ethnicity, gender, LGBTQ, physical handicap, religion, age, obesity, etc. 

But what about SIZE? What about being small? (as well as soft-spoken, which often goes with it)? 

At five foot eleven, I am average. (At my advanced age, I have shrunk about an inch). 

But I have lived in places where I was on the smallish side compared to most other men, and places where my height was average. And you know what? I had a worse time when I lived in places where I was surrounded by many people taller than me - in Holland, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania - than when I lived in places like France and California, where I was of average height. 

Say for instance that you go to a bar. You have to wade through a crowd towards the bar to order a drink. This is more annoying in Amsterdam and in Minneapolis than in Sacramento and in Paris. Same difference at airports, subways and other public settings. 

For men especially, size matters. 

Most US presidents have been taller than average. Trump is six foot three, which will be an electoral advantage.  Obama is six foot one - plus a stentorian baritone voice. These things work in his favor. Clinton was six foot two. The last seven US presidents have all been at least six foot tall.  Read more...

New Edition of my Autobiography

Tom Kando 

Dear People: 

I just published a second edition of my autobiography.. Much has changed. I removed some inappropriate  parts and  added several new chapters, to cover the fifteen years that have passed since the book’s first edition. 

As it did in the first edition, the book describes my eventful life surviving World War Two in Europe, emigrating to America and building a rich and interesting life in the new world while maintaining a multinational perspective. The book traces my childhood growing up in Hungary, France and Holland. It describes the world events that occurred during my life, and how I experienced and participated in them. It combines biography and history. 

I was born at the epicenter of the world’s greatest war. In Hungary, my family survived the Holocaust, the Nazi and Soviet occupations, the bombs, the genocide, and starvation. We escaped to Paris, living in abject poverty as stateless refugees. I roamed the streets, subways and slums, encountered violence and dangerous people. My family kept moving, gypsy-like, from country to country, hitch-hiking and sleeping on public benches and beaches. When I was fourteen, we settled in Amsterdam, where I grew up at risk. 

At eighteen, I earned the $50 fare for a one-way ticket on the boat to America, and ten days later I arrived in New York City, not knowing a single soul in the new world. Surviving life-threatening situations, I focused on the Fulbright scholarship which I received, and on admission to one of the country’s finest universities. Soon I learned what the American way of life is all about, the generosity and courage of the American people, the sports, the parties, the hard work and the competitive spirit. For the first time in my life, I became a citizen. After decades of refugee status and discrimination, I became an American. I finally belonged somewhere. 

Read more...