Back last June I was in the Manitowoc, WI area for my participation on the Cobia for Museum Ships weekend. Along with working on the sub, I also did a few Parks on the Air activations and posted a few images on my social channels. I like to take a few pictures and throw them online even if I’m not making a video, because people seem to enjoy my exploits.
But there is a bigger reason why I do that, and why I also include my face in many of the pictures. That’s for authenticity. So much of our world is being usurped by AI or artificial intelligence, so it becomes harder and harder to filter through what is real and what is slop.
I’m seeing more and more of it online: AI generated scripts and voices, AI images and videos based on those scripts, and AI titles and thumbnails to complement the garbage contained in those videos. It’s all one big circle jerk with no indication of who produced it and why.
And garbage it is. I recently saw a video shared online about a cold war communications system to send messages to submarines while they were submerged. The video was almost entirely AI generated. While the basic concepts may be accurate, it had no real historical or scientific basis. Which is a shame, because it is an interesting topic. One that I spent months researching and ended up making a road trip to visit the site of the transmitter. If I piqued your curiosity, you can watch it here: https://youtu.be/eC1cqwGkOwY?si=_AJKosMzt73JRtE4
I’ve seen other AI generated videos on ham radio topics. Things that could be interesting like history of SSB or the Heathkit brand, or why ham radio is supposedly failing. But these video rarely have any attribution to actual sources, so where did the information come from? is it accurate? Can you trust it?
That comment was generated from the pictures above. People want real images and real stories. They want authenticity and connection. They want information that is accurate and verified. AI slop can’t give that.
Now that isn’t to say that I am completely off of AI. AI has become unavoidable in daily life. I will use an AI search for low level basic research, but I then follow the primary sources for verification. All my script writing is 100% original with maybe AI checking grammar (and at that it is more wrong than right). I use some tools that lean on AI for title suggestions, but I manually tweak them. AI tools are built into my editing apps and help with image control and audio processing. But in every case, I am working with my original content. And what you see on the screen is original, as original as it can be.
AI can can be a powerful tool but it also can generate utter crap. Garbage in, garbage out. If you feel the need to use AI, do it responsibly. Verify what information it spits out at you. Especially if you are making educational content. What this world doesn’t need is more slop.
As for me, I’m keeping it real.
Finishing Up
We’re hitting the road again this weekend, this time to Baraboo and the Wisconsin Dells area to take in some kitsch and circus lore. I’ll be on the air off and on the weekend, so watch the spotting page. Band conditions permitting, that will include some low band digital.
I hope to get you in the log
Michael
KB9VBR
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