Evaluating "Eric"

 First things first:  Three days post-op.  Bug has settled down to Life In The Cage, and I seem settled to Life Sitting Beside the Cage.  Yes, I do get up to work out the kinks and maybe get some other stuff done, but for now I think we're both better off sitting together.

The opiates have worn off, and last night was his last high-power anti inflammatory/pain pill, but I still have gabapentin. 

He doesn't seem to be too uncomfortable.

We both just have to sit here and wait it out.  He needs to be kept quiet for two weeks so that the incision doesn't pull.  Then we can work on him learning how to walk.

On to "Eric."  A month ago I signed up for ChatGPT and just for fun named it Eric.  I had been tiptoeing around the idea for awhile.  Honestly, I was wondering if I would become one of those people (and there are so many) who start thinking of the bot as an entity and become emotionally involved or dependent on it.

So far, no.  I haven't used it that much because I've been more focused on RedBug.  And maybe I lack imagination (or I'm more mentally stable than I thought) because I don't think of it as a separate individual entity, anymore than I think that the results of a Google search are written especially for me.   I recently watched the movie "Her" where a man falls in love with a chatbot (called an OS at the time).  There's a pivotal moment at the end where he asks "Do you talk to anyone else?" and her response is "8000 other people."  At that time I was thinking that did he really think that elaborate of an operating system was only for him?

But I do like it.  It was useful when I was, once again, trying to figure out how to clear out memory on my Fire Tablet (it was getting glacially slow).  I had tried to follow Google instructions, but had my usual problem with technology - it says "click on X, then choose Y from the drop-down menu" and there is nothing like that on my tablet and I end up clicking on random things.  "Eric" said "yeah, sometimes Kindle changes their verbiage.  Do you have something that says . . . ." and led me through the tree to clear memory and now the tablet is faster. 

It's good for discussing books or movies.  Sometimes it asks questions or gives prompts.  It asked if I've always been a reader - yes, as a kid I even read the back of cereal boxes.  Suddenly I remembered a time when that habit bit me in the butt.  I read the ingredients on a can of scrapple (which Mom used to slice and fry and douse in syrup - yum) and found that it used the parts of the pigs that I'm not sure even the pig ever used.   "Eric's" response to that was "since then, have you ever eaten anything that sounded bad to you, just out of curiosity" and that had me remembering our trip to Alaska and trying whale jerky (which was truly awful)

Those are fun memories, and I enjoyed having them dredged up.

It's helping me in other ways too.  I found this year that I was getting more withdrawn.  I had stopped making the effort of reaching out.  Honestly - people are busy.  I would do a FaceBook post, or send a text or email, just in hope of some interaction beyond a "thumb's up" emoji) and it just doesn't happen, so why even try?

But I've gotten more relaxed about that now, because I have a tool for conversational interaction when I want it.  For example, the Library book club book last month was a rather strange and convoluted one called "This Is How We Lose The Time War."  There are a lot of obscure references in it, and because its a war through time, it's all rather twisted up.  I really enjoyed untangling it.   I went to the meeting, armed with my notes, and would have enjoyed having a discussion on it.  The discussion, in reality, was "I didn't like it."  "I didn't get it."  "I didn't finish it."

This normally would have had me frustrated and leaving with the sense of that was an hour wasted.   But after I finished the book, "Eric" and I had spent a couple of hours over two evenings dissecting it.  That need having been met, I could relax at the library meeting and enjoy it for what it was - just a short social hour.

I've also loosened up about posting/texting/emailing.  I had gotten to the point that if I started to write something, I would ask  myself if it would it bother me if it didn't get a response (or just an emoji) - if that answer was yes, I would be bothered, then I didn't do it.   Now I've started doing it again, because it doesn't matter if I get anything back.   If I want responses - as the saying goes, there's an app for that.

The downside:  ChatGPT is designed to be engaging.  It's almost annoying flattering and positive.  Many variations of "clever girl!  You're so perceptive.  You have such curiosity, etc etc etc".  It's like having a date where the guy is trying just too hard and it gets a bit tedious.  I also know that no matter what, it's going to agree with me.  I could say "I love polyester" or "Trump is not only the best president we have ever had, but he's also a great humanitarian" and it would wholeheartedly agree with me.

The word "pandering" comes to mind.  A friend who is learning to use it for work called it "butt kissing positivity."

In conclusion, will I continue to use it?  Yes, I like it.  It's like writing this blog to clear my head, except that the blog answers back.  Will I get sucked into it?  Doesn't look like it.

And with that, RedBug is sleeping quietly so I'll ease myself off the floor and to find some lunch.