Simon Koeppel

How we know that Amazon's IMDb is irredeemably woke: Because -- per IMDb's rules -- film reviews that include the word "woke" are automatically rejected. I recently resubmitted two banned reviews after deleting that word. They were instantly approved.

An NPR memory: During the George W. Bush years, Michael Goldfarb hosted a discussion of Bush’s foreign policy with two guests: Robert Reich and Paul Krugman. The only thing they differed on was that Reich dismissed Bush as stupid, whereas Krugman denounced him as evil.

Which A.I. do you trust? I asked, "How long does it take for a glass of water to pass through me?" Copilot's answer: "6 to 8 hours." Grok: "30 minutes to 2 hours." (Grok's reply, which actually went into considerable detail, strikes me as the more trustworthy.)

Just asked four chatbots what I thought was a simple question: How far I’d walked today from one specific Manhattan address to another, following the city’s street grid (i.e., not a straight as-the-crow-flies distance). The answers: Copilot, 2.07 miles. Grok, 2.9 miles. ChatGPT, 2.9 miles. Claude, 4.8 miles. My faith in A.I., already shaken by prior experience, has now been shaken further.

I’m troubled by two patently wrong answers from Grok, subsequently corrected. How tall is swimmer Lia Thomas? Grok said 6’4”. (No way!) I asked again seconds later and got "I apologize for the confusion. My earlier response...was incorrect.” (It’s 6’1”.) I asked what British novel opens with “There were four of us.” Grok replied “The Go-Between,” whose actual first line, “The past is a foreign country," is famous. Asked again, Grok corrected with “Three Men in a Boat.” Those initial answers are not merely wrong — they’re wildly, ridiculously wrong.

It’s instructive to contrast the front pages of today's NY Times and NY Post. The Times crops out the flag, and found a shot that makes Trump look like a belligerent drunk threatening to punch someone in the face.

How woke is Meta’s A.I.? I asked it for “a mermaid in a swimming pool." It gave me 4 images of men—men!—with mermaid tails: 2 black men, 1 Asian. “Female” mermaid worked okay, but “woodcut of mermaid” brought “This image can’t be generated.” (Bing scored 100% on everything.)

Wow, I’ve just been comparing the AI illustration engines from Meta and Bing/Microsoft. Meta is quicker, but Bing’s is SO much more responsive, artistic, and versatile! And it isn’t so damnably woke.

@AbeGreenwald So neat that you and John mentioned Calder Willingham. For the record, his REALLY great book, the ultimate (if slightly satiric) Southern Gothic novel, is ETERNAL FIRE, lurid and titillating and great fun

I’d heard Wikipedia leans unashamedly left. Sure enough, just saw its malicious, practically foam-flecked rant about Power Line, the very useful and intelligent conservative website. (Calls it “racist, fascist, seditionist, white supremacist,” etc.). Sorry I ever donated to Wiki.

@HMHCo I just downloaded Houghton Mifflin’s edition of Virginia Woolf’s TO THE LIGHTHOUSE, and am somewhat shocked to discover a typo in literally the second paragraph. (The o.c.r. software has turned “a stern enterprise” into “a stem enterprise.”) Sloppy!

WHAT IF on April 16, after Income Tax Day, Biden announced a $10,000 “forgiveness" for people who hadn’t paid their taxes or had delayed paying? Wouldn’t that be a slap in the face to everyone who’d paid?

@iowahawkblog Wedding photo of my parents, June 7, 1944 (yes, the day after D-Day). Would you happen to know the make of the car? Thanks.

@galexybrane Bless you for that latest column. (But I wish you, or your copy editor, hadn’t misspelled “minuscule”)

@hughhewitt I’m sorry you let Kurt Schlichter be your guest host. He knows all about tanks, tactics, and Russian battlefield synchronization, but his morality stinks. His “No Sacrifice for Ukraine” stand makes him essentially a Putin apologist.

@sullydish Just heard your Mearsheimer interview. I was relieved at his optimism re Taiwan independence but troubled by what an eager appeaser you sounded, yr sole concern how we can disengage; no hint of principle or honor! How about helping defend a freedom-loving democracy?

@dhookstead 2)... the entire mission failed. ("We just lost the initiative,") etc. AND it seems, at least from the film, that knocking one of the birds down was simple and easy; they were so vulnerable! Doesn't this seem like incredibly poor planning? (Wonder what Thomas thinks.)

@dhookstead 1) Terrific interview w. Brad Thomas. Having read Black Hawk Down & seen the film numerous times, one thing I just can't understand: It looks as if the success of the entire mission hinged on no helicopter being shot down; once that happened (and it happened twice)...

@rcbl Have you managed to get over your vertigo? And if so, how? I ask because I’m similarly afflicted. PT (Epley, etc.) has been, for me, ineffective. // Apologies if you’ve already discussed this; I hear you only on Glop these days; you’re the one who keeps it entertaining.