THE BIG MISH-MASH

What can AI do for you? Many people demonise it. As an AI language trainer, I feel like I’m siding with the enemy to build a Trojan horse that will destroy us. But what if we try and find ways in which it can boost our abilities? Here's a practical example of how AI can help us.

Would you rather be intelligent or brave? You might lean toward intelligence —knowledge is power, after all— or gravitate towards bravery —fortune favours the bold—, but what if the most honest answer was actually "neither, unless they go together"?

We cannot be judged by others for the things we don't say, so whatever thoughts and opinions we keep to ourselves, we will still hold control over them. But we are slaves to our words, spoken or written, no matter how long ago they were uttered or written down. They come back to haunt us from the past, or to hit us on the head, like a boomerang.

The tragedy of our times is that most of us no longer know what to believe in or even if we should believe at all. One has the sense that everything was simpler, less complicated, when as children we accepted things as they were—or as we were told they were—even if they later turned out to be otherwise. Today, you can’t be certain whether a food makes you gain weight or not, or whether God exists or we came about through a cosmic explosion.

A few years ago, I settled a debt with my conscience: I sent New Year’s greetings to each of my favorite university professors and to my high school Geography and History teacher. Truth be told, wishing them a happy New Year was just an excuse to thank them for what they’d taught me and for the passion they brought to their classes.

If life was a song, what kind of song would yours be? Have you ever felt stuck in the chorus of your life, waiting for the bridge to something better? That's what Music & Lyrics (2007), one of my fave films, is about. It’s a tale of two persons who feel stuck and, when their paths meet, realize that it’s never too late to rewrite your song.

The tiniest details hide profound secrets, but we rush past them every day. In the novel The 79 Squares, by Michael J. Bosse, a rebellious teenager discovers this truth through an unexpected challenge that transforms his life. Everything irritates and bores Eric, he feels his parents don’t understand him, and he hangs out with some troublemakers. One day he's caught trespassing in the garden of 82-year-old Mr. Beck, a former convict who served 40 years in prison.