But let’s not abuse the baby either. All I wish is that people were more conscious of the impact of one’s everyday actions,
To read, fill in and sign documents, I use Xodo, whose free features are more than enough. And Readera for reading. As I don’t have a computer, my smartphone serves multiple purposes.
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The environmental destructiveness of constructing large scale electricity generation in northern Iceland has been problematic for decades, but there remains little awareness of it in the wider world.
Back in 2006 at a U of Reykjavik environmental art conference, I met several artists who were raising international awareness of this ‘hidden’ problem. The environmental impact of these projects has been considerable, but Iceland only signed the Kyoto Treaty on condition thatthese large hydro and geothermal projects would be exempted from calculations
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Never mind AI, look where they’re trying to go with robotics
On the other hand, may be too soon to worry about being replaced
Maybe not to everyone’s liking but I find ChatGPT incredibly useful and far from “dumbing me down” I’m actually being taught new skills by an unbelievably patient, calm teacher. The big area for me is learning how to cope with modern technology. So far, it’s taught me how to use my robot mower, how to get internet from our house down to the cottage/gite via an ethernet and router connexion.
My latest positive experience is a three hour to and fro question and answer session this morning as we (and I mean we) worked out how to get a new Panasonic/Fire TV to connect to the internet and get me past a spurious PIN that was blocking me from having access to any settings and preventing me from changing the default language to English.
The TV had been delivered by the technical guy from our local TV shop. His French is deepest, darkest France profonde - in other words incomprehensible. He started to set up the TV in French, and I didn’t understand what he was doing. He then discovered there was no internet to the TV (our Home Network plug was playing up) and he was getting more and more flustered as he just wanted to be away on his next delivery. So we agreed we would leave it.
We’ve had no internet for four days, so I’ve only just come back to the problem. There was no point in going to the shop. I need everything set up in English. They only work in French. So I learnt to do it myself, with help from an AI engine. I now understand more about Fire TVs, the use of parental controls, how to set up and remove a PIN, and how to do a factory reset. None of this would have been possible without ChatGPT and I would have had to pay someone to do it and would have remained in blissful ignorance if anything had gone wrong again. I am wiser, for using AI. A small thing, but pleasing.
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It can be wonderful, and we use it for various things (including setting up a firestick!). To me it’s about being mindful about it, that’s all. For example I realised I had started to use it for recipes, when we have shelves of cookery books that are much more fun to look at.
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Yes, I downloaded the météo & radar France app, and it immediately recognised my basic English settings and renamed itself “weather & radar”.
If I find a recipe I like it goes in my recipe book (aka word file). However, I am very pedantic about the format it is in. I have told AI what that format is and to remember it. Now I just share an image or video or URL to AI and it converts everything just the way I like it.
Ahh getting warnings this morning, rain 10 miles away intensity 2 out of 10. Maybe I was being a bit harsh the other day. No painting shutters today 
Hello, the rainfall forecast map is pretty reliable here (and so is the weather report!), and you can zoom in on your shutters 
https://www.meteo-paris.com/ile-de-france/suivi-des-pluies
Best App I found is MyRadar - gives warning and can view the rain/clouds moving in your direction
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Ah, but can it block them?
One app to rule them all.
For those of us who are not aiphobic, many apps can be replaced with AI. Personally, I use Copilot because it seems to give me more free use time than other contenders.
I love @George1 idea of just chatting in French to Copilot. It is a very natural and easy way to improve your French without feeling embarrassed. It makes apps like Duolingo seem tedious and pedantic. (Although they may well have improved since I last looked)
My technique is to give AI a rule to remember. You simply have to define your rule and tell AI to remember it. As a matter of convention, I start all my rules with an “x”. Following are some examples of the rules I use:-
xEF and xFE translates any following text I type from English to French or vice versa. I can also ask for the style of the translation e.g. formal, friendly or humorous. Instead of text I can paste a photo of a page from a book, the internet of even a handwritten note and it will still translate.
xfood (ingredient) calculates per 100 gm the calories, carbohydrate and protein in that ingredient. Xfood (ingredient) (weight in grams) gives the same information but for that weight of ingredient
e.g. if I type “xfood flour 350” I get the answer “1310 kcal, 274 g carbs 36 g protein”
xconvert ( amount in units ) ( ingredient ) converts ANY units of an ingredient to grams
e.g. “xconvert 3 cups flour” I get “360 gm”
or “xconvert 1 tsp sugar” I get “8 gm”
I have rules for comparing prices on various Amazon sites, weather feature that interest me (such as any strong winds, significant rain, frost expected)
I also have a very important rule- xrule which lists all the rules I have made so I can remember them.
My particular favourite rule is xgram followed by a recipe from any source. It formats a recipe from any style and converts it to my own special format to use on a phone in the kitchen. I could just work from the page displayed but then I have another rule which reads that format out loud to me through my hearing aids while I am cooking, one simple line at a time. I simply say “next” for the next line or “repeat” if I did not hear it the first time.
Isn’t it great to be retired and to have so much time on your hands that you can dedicate it to saving time?
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WHAT???
All depends on whether you want to believe the ai stuff, its programming can easily be wrong. Take several of your lines of text above. We are not furnaces so perpetuating calories in calories out just holds back the real understanding of the hormone effect of foods. The carbohydrate levels, you cannot simply add up the carbohydrates on the plate and arrive at a correct answer. Some foods detract the effect, then its our gut bacteria, we are all different. One food may increase your blood sugar but may have the reverse effect on me or it may not change at all. Meanwhile whilst we are kept busy the ultra rich go about their nefarious business away from watchful eyes. Any company getting rid of staff to replace them with ai should pay a big premium to offset the unemployment benefits they cost the rest of us and that’s only going to get worse.
I agree with your comment on health Corona (you are much better informed on the subject of health than me 
) but you do need information on which to make your personal decisions. As far as I have tested,my rules work accurately enough for me.
Regarding AI putting people out of work we are back to the Luddite argument.
I go through life surprisingly unaware of what’s happening around me, so the PanneauPocket app can be a real boon. Pop in your postcode and it lists upcoming events in the area. Our village restaurant also posts its weekly menu there and the commune uses it as a communication tool. There’s occasional information from government and the utilities relevant to the area. Just found out there’s a pop-up drive-in movie with a meal later this month. Who would have thought it? Highly recommend PanneauPocket.
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I recently started Français sans fautes. An app for helping with written French, which I am very bad at since have learnt mainly through speech, and reading what others have written - correctly!
I just do the free elements about 10 minutes a day.
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