ChatGPT – Am I Redundant?

by Alan Cole · Published Friday, March 3rd, 2023 · Updated Friday, March 3rd, 2023

I’ve been experimenting with ChatGPT. If you haven’t heard about it then it’s a text-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) and it’s surprisingly clever! You can ask it questions, ask it to generate text for you and even ask it to write blog posts and essays (which is proving a bit of an issue for those in the university dealing with students that might use it to cheat!). In fact, ChatGPT itself can probably; explain what it is better than I can so…

ChatGPT: “What is ChatGPT?”

Hello! I am ChatGPT, a large language model developed by OpenAI. I am designed to understand and generate human-like language in response to various prompts and questions. I have been trained on a vast amount of text data and have learned to generate responses that are contextually relevant and grammatically correct. My purpose is to provide assistance and engage in conversation with people, helping to answer their questions, provide advice, and offer insights on a wide range of topics.
ChatGPT

As I said, not a bad explanation, but you’d expect that. Can it however make me, as a blogger, redundant? One of my recent blog posts was about my Coast Path Run from Pembroke to Milford Haven.

So, I asked

ChatGPT: “Write a blog post about running along the Wales Coast Path from Pembroke to Milford Haven”

Here’s what it came up with – with my comments below each paragraph.

Running along the Wales Coast Path from Pembroke to Milford Haven is a beautiful and scenic adventure that offers breathtaking views of the Pembrokeshire coastline. The route is approximately 14 miles in length and follows the path of the coast, offering runners an opportunity to experience the rugged beauty of Wales.
ChatGPT

Well, that’s a pretty good start. It was actually just less than 12 miles but I guess we can let it off there – maybe it took some wrong turns along the way! The views aren’t the best on this part of the Coast Path and it’s not the most rugged part either but that makes sense for much of the Coast Path and I didn’t ask it to compare it to other parts of Wales.

Starting in Pembroke, the route begins at the iconic Pembroke Castle, a medieval fortress that dates back to the 11th century. From here, the route follows the coast path to the nearby village of Monkton, before continuing through the beautiful coastal landscape towards Angle Bay.
ChatGPT

Yep, it starts at Pembroke Castle which is indeed a medieval fortress from the 11th Century. But, ChatGPT, where are you going? Milford Haven is in the other direction you’re going the wrong way!!

The first few miles of the route are relatively flat, making it a great warm-up for the rest of the run. As you approach Angle Bay, the terrain becomes more challenging, with steep hills and rocky paths. However, the stunning views of the sea and the coastline more than make up for the effort required to navigate these obstacles.
ChatGPT

Hmm, it’s still going the wrong way, but I guess the details are fairly accurate so if we ignore the obvious navigational errors it’s doing quite well!

One of the highlights of the route is the beautiful beach at Freshwater West, which was featured in the film ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.’ This is a great place to take a break and enjoy the scenery before continuing the run towards the picturesque village of Bosherston.
ChatGPT

OK, Freshwater West is beautiful and featured in the Harry Potter Film and Bosherton is a picturesque village. However, if you’ve run all the way from Pembroke to Bosherton on the Coast Path then you will have covered more than 30 miles. I think ChatGPT is getting carried away!

As you approach Bosherston, the terrain becomes less challenging, and the path opens up to provide stunning views of the coast. Here, runners can take a short detour to explore the famous St Govan’s Chapel, a small, historic church built into the cliff face.
ChatGPT

St Govan’s Chapel is definitely worth exploring but why no mention of The Green Bridge of Wales before you get here? And, what about the impressive high cliffs around here. I wouldn’t say the terrain was less challenging either – I ended up in hospital and on crutches after running on this stretch of the Coast Path!

From Bosherston, the route continues along the coast path towards the finish line at Milford Haven. This section of the route offers runners the chance to enjoy the spectacular views of the cliffs and the sea, while also taking in the beauty of the Welsh countryside.
ChatGPT

I have no idea how it gets to Milford Haven from Bosherton! I guess we’ve already established that its geography isn’t great!

Overall, running along the Wales Coast Path from Pembroke to Milford Haven is a challenging but rewarding experience that offers runners the chance to explore the stunning coastline of Wales. Whether you are a seasoned runner or a beginner, this route is sure to provide a memorable and enjoyable experience that will leave you with lasting memories of this beautiful part of the world.
ChatGPT

A nice little generic summary I guess, but that could be the end of any Wales Coast Path run blog post.

Can ChatGPT replace me as a Blogger?

Overall, it’s pretty impressive for many things but I don’t think it’ll make me redundant from a blog writing point of view yet. No doubt it’ll get better pretty quickly though and it could be a useful tool for certain aspects of writing. But a personal weblog such as this needs that personal touch and storytelling that the AI can’t quite manage yet.

On the other hand, for more technical, generic articles without that personal touch then it could prove very useful indeed. The difficulty is going to be deciding how we use it as a tool. When do we need to acknowledge that content has been written by AI and how we do that. In many ways it feels like cheating, but it’s a tool that’s available so people will be using it. I guess when calculators were first invented then it felt as though using them was ‘cheating’. We’re going to have to learn how to use content generated by artificial intelligence in much the same way that we use calculators and computers to aid our everyday life.

Oh, and just for fun, the image I used as the featured image for this post (also shown below) was generated by an Artificial Intelligence called Mid Journey using the terms “ChatGPT Artificial Intelligence replaces blogger”

Mid Jounrey Generated Image - ChatGPT AI replaces blogger — Generated by Mid Journey

ChapGPT: What is Mid Journey

“Mid Journey” is an AI-based image generator developed by OpenAI, a research organization that focuses on developing artificial intelligence technologies.

Mid Journey uses a machine learning model called DALL-E, which is capable of generating high-quality images from textual input. The system can understand and interpret text descriptions and then generate images that match the description. For example, if given the phrase “a bird made of flowers,” Mid Journey would generate an image of a bird-shaped object made of flowers.

The Mid Journey system is notable for its ability to create highly detailed and complex images, which makes it useful for a range of applications such as in advertising, design, and art. However, as with any AI system, it is important to note that the images generated by Mid Journey are only as good as the data used to train the system, and there may be limitations or biases in the generated output.
ChatGPT