Sunshine and roses and such. Some thoughts on the use of AI. And notebooks.

 One of the benefits of the dry and sunny spring that we’ve been having is that the roses in my garden are actually coming properly into flower. As a rule, because of too much rain, they have become so waterlogged by now that they are just a mess.  We’ll see how things go over the next week, when “showers” are forecast. 

In a strange reversal of what usually happens with weather, we have sunshine but I hear that parts of southern Spain are on orange alert for very heavy rain. 

But in the meantime we are enjoying the sunshine and the flowers. Round the corner from our house is a horse chestnut tree with pink blossom.

And we’re starting to see foxgloves as well. 

I’ve commented recently on AI and the arts. Here’s a link to an article by the writer Luke Beesley, who is adamantly in favour of writing in pencil, rather than writing directly on the computer. It was the joy of notebooks that started him writing as a child. (More on notebooks shortly.) Here’s something he wrote that struck me, an example of AI taking over:

“A writer friend recently posted that after updating her version of Microsoft Word, it invited itself to collaborate on her novel in progress, offering to work on 2,000 words at a time.” 

Hmmm! Is it your writing if Microsoft word has “fiddled” with it? 

He also writes about submitting poems to a magazine and fining a box to tick declaring, “I haven’t used AI”. 

My daughter, on the other hand, more or less confessed to me to having used AI to produce a document outlining the pros and cons of certain practices in primary education. She knew what she wanted to say, was pressed for time and used a bit of appropriate AI help, tweaking the wording slightly to match her own style. A bit of time-saving. That’s what AI should do, rather than producing so-called “works of art”.

As regards notebooks, yesterday over a family tea we discussed paper diaries versus diaries on the mobile phone. Phil produced an unused 2024 -2025 academic year diary which he gave to Granddaughter Number One (the oldest grandchild), promising to provide her with a replacement when this one runs out in August. He also gave her an unused notebook and offered one to Granddaughter Number Four (the next to youngest grandchild)  as well. My daughter stepped in at that point with a cry of, “Oh, no!” It turns out that Granddaughter Number Four has a drawer full of as yet unused notebooks. Like both her older sisters, like her mother and like her grandmother, she loves notebooks. Her mother also has a drawer full of notebooks, it seems, a larger drawer than her small daughter’s, at least according to the small daughter. Sometimes it’s almost a shame to start using a notebook; the promise of the as yet unused, pristine page is too great! 

Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!