Saturday, December 30, 2023

Opinions count?

TL;DR -- We are going through our blog posts and marking those with opinions expressed as OpEd. This does not include instances where there were sources, however they might be considered after new data became available recently. Lots to do and discuss. 

--

This post is two pronged. First, we consider OpEd types of posts that have appeared here over the years. As we identify these, we'll put them into a special category (OpEd). Then, on the other hand, we will be updating the FAQ plus all of the other posts that might need to change. ... Notice that the post "The Old Planters Society" comes up in this list.


So, on looking at our OpEd collection, there are none with "new data" generated on the fly. So, we did nto discombulate anything. Our posts are purely reactionary with respect to the lack of data and wondering why (thinking out loud type of thing). 

Aside: This is apropos since we need to identify sources for things being stated with some certainty. The OpEds were not. Though, one might claim tongue-in-cheek. Okay? Juxtapose time. We have just had a year of almost countless "generative" modes pushing out "fakery" without end. It took us (humanity) a while to figure out the issues. Some, anyway, as the debate continues. Those who provide the means for the mischief are doubling down on their position, even though many, this year, have gone to Washington, DC begging (almost) for bureaucratic oversight and control. This little exercise of ours will be used for philosophical discuss (down below).

Let's start with a keyword search, as shown by these bullets. 

  1. Backbone - https://thomasgardnerofsalem.blogspot.com/search?q=backbone; you know, we already had a category for this - so, it's OpEd, too. 
  2. Now, Cape Ann is not an OpEd, since it was following prior knowledge. https://thomasgardnerofsalem.blogspot.com/search?q=cape+ann
  3. Forgotten is in a minor part; much of this does consider those left out of the equation. https://thomasgardnerofsalem.blogspot.com/search?q=forgotten So, we added OpEd where appropriate. 
  4. Planters is a core notion. https://thomasgardnerofsalem.blogspot.com/search?q=planters 
  5. ... 
  6. We'll continue. 
-------

With respect to "fakery" and such, we have a recent post about AI not being solely ML. It is the ML --> AI shift that is partly to blame for the messy situation. We can explain and will over time. 

What does this mean for the TGS, Inc. work? Like many would agree with, there have been tremendous changes in the internet over the past 2+ decades. Lots of this can be tracked and discussed. Too, during our decade of doing this work, we have seen old sites disappear and new ones appear. Not many of these were consistent. Even WikiTree has its problems. All of this goes back to humans and their ways. 

Computers replacing us? Fact or fiction? Notice, and opinion is not fiction. It's another type of cognitive state. Computers are going to help us discuss how we are. That is one huge potential benefit, since it can be considered objective. But, not, folks. We (people doing technical work) have been at this long enough to know that there's no "truthful" state involved with computational systems. If anything, truth is engineered. So, we'll discuss that. 

------

Aside: all good computer systems allow us to follow changes. Wikipedia does this. I can go back to the beginning of any page and watch the changes over the years. WikiTree adopted the same thing but scaled down. Here, we have used Remarks to note changes. And, with regard to the OpEd assignments as well as the subsequent changes that come about as we settle issues, we'll do modifications in a logged manner. ... At the same time, we will be picking up links for older research efforts so that we can describe the changes over time. Lots to discuss. 

Remarks: Modified: 01/13/2024

01/13/2024 -- Added image. 


Thursday, December 28, 2023

Thomas Gardner, a puzzle

TL;DR -- On Thomas, we have had lots of posts on various subjects. This year, new information came to fore which we will use to adjust our site(s) which includes the blog(s) and website(s). 

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This day, 29 Dec, of 1674? Thomas Gardner, the one we know of, died in Salem, MA. 

--

Consider this a brief look at status. Also, we will cover more in Gardner's Beacon, XIII, 2, shortly. In any case, we will use this post to organize material. 

---

Thomas Gardner of Salem? Was he at Cape Ann, too? Who was he? Were there two of this name, concurrently? Were they related? So many other questions asked over the years. In 2024, we will organize better what we know and what needs attention. 

Note: Declarations at WikiTree are without substance in some instances. We will get those corrected. 

This is what WikiTree says about the husband of Margaret Frier: Gardner-159. We have been looking at, and for, information on this gentleman for some time: Dec. 2011; Jan. 2019; Jun. 2019

If there was another, here is how WikiTree describes him: Gardner-924. On the two, these were our thoughts in November of this year: Gloucester, 2nd year

Of course, we know of Thomas Gardner of Roxbury

Too, there is the FAQ.     

Remarks: Modified: 12/29/2023

12/29/2023 --


Gardner's Beacon, Vol XIII, No 2

This issue of Gardner's Beacon continues with the context of our previous issue with respect to a regular presentation of ongoing work as well as reviews of common interests. ...

Topics:

What happened? 

...


GB XIII, 2 (PDF w/links)

GB XIII, 2  

See Vol. XIII, No. 2 of Gardner's Beacon for links to Sources.

Remarks: Modified: 12/30/2023

12/29/2023 -- Put draft PDF for review. 

12/30/2023 -- Publication release. 


 

Monday, December 25, 2023

Boston Tea Party

TL;DR -- This party got its name later. But, the event was 250 years ago. We know specifics about the event and its participants. Modern folks have an organization to fete these folks by identifying descendants. Overall, though, the times leading up the Revolution need more attention using the resources and technology of the modern age. 

--

The motivations for this post are several. For one, we're only nine days late. Then, we have been watching the approach of the 250th of the U.S. As well, since our start, we have had lots of posts dealing with D.A.R. and S.A.R. which are organizations, for females and for males, respectively, whose focus is the descendants of those who supported the Revolution. Dr. Frank's sister, Marion Gardner, was a member of D.A.R. through her Gardner great-grandfather. 

Of late, we have been distracted by technology but are back to the history and lineage focus. As well, we have spent time since the start of the pandemic on researching the other countries who were here: Spain, France and more. As we close out this year and start the next, we will be summarizing our work, recent and before. Then, we'll have categories of activities. This blog will continue as will our portal: TGSoc.org

Aside: Since April, we have quietly researched the topic discussed in the "In summary" post. As mentioned, WikiTree's profile on Thomas Gardner starts from 1636 when Seeth was born here. She was the last child. Lots of work needs to be done which we will help lead and get things resolved as we determine what the data shows. Otherwise, we'll adjust the narrative to illustrate unknowns needing attention. That seems to be an appropriate bit of work in 2024 as we commemorate the Cape Ann effott which was feted this year in Gloucester. Based upon our research, we have not real reason to declare that Thomas was not in Cape Ann in the early period as mentioned by  Rev. Hubbard in his book written in the latter half of the 1600s. 

---

Boston Tea Party
So, what and when was the Boston Tea Party? It was a protest about taxes in which a group poured tea in the water on 16 Dec 1773. There has been much written over the past 250 years. Now, we can look back and see how descendants of those who took part fared. Who were the participants? As expected, Samuel Adams was one. We will look at this topic later. For now, there is an organization aptly named Participants in the Boston Tea Party that we will pay attention to. 

The Daughters of the American Revolution held a tea in Washington, DC on the 16th of this month. We support this group's effort for over 125 years, in particular their focus on the upcoming 250th. 

Following are a couple links from organizations who provide good information. 

The Coming of the American Revolution: 1764 to 1776 -- Massachusetts Historical Society - This post is part of a regular series that started to look at the earlier situation. Also, it provides links to associated documents. The Port of Boston was closed for a while by London because of this incident. But, later, in Mar 1774, a brig came into Boston on the way to London. Turn out that it was carring tea. When the Sons of Liberty found out, they had another party and destroyed the shipment which was smaller but helped make the point clear.  

The Many Myths of the Boston Tea Party -- Smithsonian Institution - Not every one was happy with the event and its unfolding. It did make an impression as over 300 chests of tea were dumped. In today's dollars, the value would be about 1.5 million of U.S. dollars. 

One thing that we will consider over the next two plus years will be the state of the colonies prior to 1776. We can look at the general scope. But, family concerns will be addressed, as well. 

Remarks: Modified: 12/25/2023

12/25/2023 -- 

Friday, December 22, 2023

Dartmouth '99

TL;DR -- So, a new role? Nathaniel Fick's position is of interest, for several reasons. For one thing, he was at Dartmouth. Post the AI meeting, of course. Still. It has been a year now since he had his new role. We can start to look at the consequences of his work and of computational things, in general. 

--

He has graduate degrees from Harvard. He is of Darmouth, 1999. Who? 

  Dartmouth Alumni  Magazine - Nathaniel Fick '99

Going forward, we will not have a strictly technical focus with respect to technology. So, where to start? The Technical Czar of the U.S. He was appointed last year by President Biden. 

He did ROTC at Dartmouth enough to get a commission out of college. It's interesting that he picked infantry for his service area. At that time, the web was bulging, ready to burst. And, it did. But, the crucial event of 9/11 was right around the corner. 

So, our interests are several, starting with technology as there have been recent announcements of late of the adults waking up and getting involved with the sandboxy affairs of AI et al. Someone has to take responsibility. For one, those doing anything "AI" now without proper attribution to the methods and their sources will have egg on their face in the future. But, also, pushing out crap-trained systems can be thought of as idiotic, for several reasons. 

But, there are New England connections. There was one part of the family that came into Virginia prior to the Revolution. Then, his family went west post the Revolution. We have not looked at this too closely, yet. 

For those wanting to research further, his parents were Nathaniel Crow Fick and Jane Ella Stimola

The office: Ambassador-at-Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy. Confirmed: 09/15/2022. Two months later? OpenAI's ChatGPT. A little bit later, 100M plus users for the chatty generative thingee. 

Remarks: Modified: 12/22/2023

12/22/2023 -- 

Tuesday, December 19, 2023

New Frontier, 21st Century type

TL;DR -- Technology is one of our themes. History and genealogy are a couple of others. General interests in the 400ths and the 250ths are others. Like, Gloucester MA did its 400th this year. There will be others over the next few decades. And, the Boston mayhem on a ship is now 250th.  

--

We were toying with various avenues of research which are endless in the modern age of the "cloud" despite its shortcomings which are many. For instance, in the western movement, we have looked in the vast interior and along the coasts. CA was a theme last year: LA and SF. We have looked at the middle of the country several times, in terms of the frontier and its settlement. In every case, we try to tie back to New England. As well, we are building a timeline by people and events that emphasizes individuals who are not in historical accounts and their families. That type of work will continue. 

So, today, let's take Minnesota (MN) and Kansas (KS). Both are west of the Mississippi River. MN is north of St. Louis which is, for us, the focal point of the dividing of the land. KS is about the same level. The northern realm has a different dynamic which we have started to study, through the Michigan Territory. KS was on the way west. For instance, the trails run through the State. Lewis & Clark (1804) came up the Missouri River on their way west. 

Cottage,
Round house,
Frontier in the making 
But, we are looking much later, after the Civil War. The image shows three things: a cottage in MN; a round house in KS; news of a new frontier. 

In MN, the town of White Bear Lake is named after its lake. We have run into MN several times in our research and skirted around details. But, for today, let's look at a famous cottage (ca 1868). It was built for Charles Phelps Noyes. His wife was Emily Hoffman Gilman. They're kin of lots of New England families that we are studying. That is the right time frame for some reflection on the Revolution (which was the 5th generation's deal) and on current themes. One thing to note is that Mark Twain liked the area so it got some press. 

Aside: recent post on Little Exeter NH (where two esteems of technology - and AI - went to school. The Society of Cincinnati has a house of repute in the area. 

In KS (and elsewhere), as technology, which is our focus, improved, the railroad replaced earlier modes of transportation. Several lines ran through KS from both directions. But, the photo is in the extreme southeast corner, in the little town of Cherokee. There were strip mines for coal in the area. What did these old iron horses run on? The photo is of a round house (ca 1888) which served several purposed. For one thing, one had to change from north to south, etc. Go to San Francisco and see these in action as the rail cars get switched to return. So, we'll have lots more about that area of the country that became the flyover country, later. We have shown, and will continue to do so, that the history of the country runs through the middle. 

Now history and genealogy? We are talking about an organization whose membership included John Quincy Adams. We had an earlier post about his cousin, Grizzly Adams, and a few others. They are offering a webinar on Using AI in  Family History Research

What they meant to say is that they are going to show technology that can be put to use. We are going to use AIn't to keep the discussion going that this state of affairs does not offer sentience nor intelligence in the important sense. It is very easy for the imagination to run wild with respect to these things; that is a human trait that we can value. 

But, as the NEHGS (their real initial) adds, in this: 

She will also address aspects of AI that genealogists should be cautious of, such as accuracy and copyright concerns. Join us as we explore this exciting new technological frontier!  

Okay, we'll take that. But, let's go further. The tricks are being done in a manner that we can understand as it's applied mathematics. People have been lazy and have let things get too loose. We will not use "fuzzy" as that is a legitimate logic and algebra. We will touch on that more. 

In the meantime, our thrust over the past decade is to fill in the 400 years of all sides (New Spain, New France, New Sweden, ..., Native Americans, ..., New England). Plus, the 250th of the U.S. is coming up. What happened recently? The 250 of the Boston Tea Party. Nope, it wasn't with china and crumpets. 

No, we're talking illegalities. Dumping someone else's product in the water. BTW, Samuel Adams, cousin of John whose son is mentioned above, was a participant. You know, later, we had John Brown. Guess where he was? KS. Also, who were his supporters? New England. So, we have a post on that as the Secret Six had to hide out when the Uncle Sam found out that the rebel was being kept by a few brave souls, one might say. 

So, yes, we will do history. But, too, we will continue our support for discussing and using STEM plus. What is the plus? Kant, for one. If you don't know him, you'll hear from us. Stay tuned. 

Aside, again, some think that the revolution was done by rabble rousers. Well, not. If we look, the King trained the men who took him on via their support of his French Indian affair. That was the 4th generation who supplied the leadership for the most part. But, the 5th bore the brunt. 

Remarks: Modified: 12/20/2023

12/20/2023 -- Ramsey County History - Fall 1997 - The Women's Institute and How It revived Downtown St. Paul - 'A Beautiful, High-Minded Woman' Emily Gilman Noyes and Woman Suffrage. She was a daughter of Charles P. and Emily H. Noyes. 

Sunday, December 17, 2023

What do we know?

TL;DR -- So, what happened in 2023? Lots. The world has changed, and it has not. People showed their seemingly limitless capacity to bow to the machine. 

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This post serves two purposes. For one, it looks at AI (usual sense) over the past year and collects material pertinent to ongoing discussion and work. The first list contains links with some commentary for each of item. This collection points to different periods over the last year. OpenAI made their announcement on 30 Nov 2022. At that time, we had these two posts which pertained to our continuing topics of research which includes technology.

  • Family Search (29 Nov 2022) - we have used this site form the beginning. It represents the efforts of descendants of those who went west. Over the past few years, our focus was on the Interior of the country for several reasons.   
  • Perspective, a necessity (1 Dec 2022) - the post looked at veterans from Ipswich, MA (after the Revolution) who went out to Ohio and created a settlement. The trip was well-documented and even repeated later in the 1900s. At the time, that was Michigan Territory. It was only 40 years later that the Santa Fe Trail was formed out of St. Louis, MO. A mere half-century after that, the railroad allowed easier coast to coast travelling. 

The image shows a copy of the "All time, popular" count by post. The topmost, related to the marriage of Thomas and Margaret, comes from the 2014 timeframe. The next one is 2021 as is the one titled "St Louis MO to San Francisco CA" which has spawned several of posts and discussions. The "San Francisco" post is from 2023. 

So, we will continue this area of research as there is plenty questions that are open. Our FAQ will be updated in 2023 to account for new information. In the post titled "A(rtificial) I(Intelligence) researched properly", we go through our own work over the past decade and make some predictions about the future. Given that this work carries on prior research allows a longer time frame that seems to be normal now. So, we will continue to describe things from the historical viewpoint, both technolically and phenomenonally (which is how we view the U.S.). 

Disclosure: We did not get involved with the xnn/LMM, generative material until after a couple of months had elapsed.  As noted above, our timeframe is much longer than normal; and, we need to slow things down in order to establish a little bit of maturity. All of this will be discussed. 

So, going forward, the second list deals with the major change in 2023. We will also use this to start a summarization of our positions on the subjects. The list follows a sequential timeline and uses posts from this blog and related material. 

  • Introducing ChatGPT (30 Nov 2022) - there is a thorough overview of the motivation and what was being offered. But, access to the OpenAI system was announced. It did not take long for millions of people to sign up. We did see references to this activity on sites like Quora (who offered POE, later; the head of this organization is on the Board of OpenAI - mentioned them, in yesterday's post - Little Exeter NH).
  • ChatGPT (2 Feb 2022) - we heard of the system from a colleague (a linguist) in late Jan and finally got around to doing a query on the 2nd (Groundhog Day). We asked about Thomas Gardner and thought that we were enlightening the thing with a suggestion. In this post, we mentioned that the output did not read correctly. That is a result of the techniques used and can be controlled, somewhat. On the other hand, there is a "omni" and "know-it-all" nuance that is obvious. The New York Times review, How ChatGPT Kicked Off an A.I. Arms Race (3 Feb 2023), looked at some of the issues which were to get increasing attention over the year.  
  • Square one? (19 Mar 2023) - Gloucester MA had kicked off their 400th. We were supporting from a distance without bringing in the crew as that would be a 2024 issue, we thought. Our thought was, too, to emphasize Margaret (Fryer) Gardner's contribution. We had not been paying attention to the feeds from WikiTree, however a researcher in Feb of 2023 went through the load of images from the digitized files of Sherborne, Dorset. In doing so, he discovered birth records for about all of the Gardner children, as having been born in the old country. Seeth was born in Salem. So, the family did come over. Did Thomas come over to support the Cape Ann effort? Rev. Hubbard suggested such. Remember, he talked to the principals. But, one thing noticed a while ago was that the Conant family's book did not mention Gardner. Nor did the Woodbury writeup. This feat of technology is interesting in itself, for various reasons. The current state of affairs? There are two Thomas Gardner profiles on WikiTree. One is our Thomas; the other has no information about him. So, one or two? It's like being back at the questions of two or three wives. We settled that in 2012 using the same records. So, Gardner Research opened the door. In the meantime, we did research on California families (the long reach of New England). 
  • Research notes (2 Apr 2023) - using our new WP site, we summarized the situation and provided a copy of the list of names and births. There is a gap between the birth of John and Samuel which might show Thomas being away. John was born in December. Thomas could have left without knowing that Margaret was with child. Supported conjecturing will be allowed and supported by technology. Note: at some point, let's discuss how an imaginary basis (of several types) supports science.  
  • Technology, computing (May 2023) - after some reading and discussion, I contacted the head of the former Sperry Univac Knowledge Systems Center. He wrote a brief article on how Univac got involved with the effort in the mid-1980s. Lately, one hears more of this, but our contention then and now was that the machine learning solely approach is unbalanced. Hence, we see that the output is not to be taken without some bit of salt (perhaps, a whole lot). But, that is not how it ought to be. Stay tuned. There are several other approaches that can bring maturity. A recent survey points to the diminishing in trust which has been ongoing for a while. But, ChatGPT and its ilk are accelerating the downward slide. Fact? Not there. Fiction? Have at it. Except, one caution (rule) would suggest that "fake" results be tagged as such (analog, truth in advertising). 
  • Intro to Bard (7 Jul 2023) - after some time with ChatGPT and looking at issues all around, we finally tried Bard. That activity was all research including things like evaluating how the generative approach performed with mathematical problems. One thing to note is that Wolfram tied this approach to his mathematics system early one, mostly to have more full interchange with users. We need to see how this work is progressing. But, there is a lot more. Bard, basically, was more palatable as it did not try to be argumentative nor did it spout out just to hear itself speaking, so to speak. The post, To Bard or not, summarized some of the issues. For instance, we ran into a PhD thesis that looked at concepts from Kant (the philosopher) being brought bear during training. A known downfall is that the xNN, as being used, squashed nuance. One cannot expect to retract either input or its influence; definitely, there is a need to honor the requirements for footnotes and other referencing modes. In Dec of 2023, Bard was updated significantly. We tried it, but the issue of more fiction than fact remained. One noted improvement was that Bard now stresses teaming, human and machine (rather the "omni" status mentioned above). That was significiant as it changes the tone of the interchange. 
  •  ChatGPT a year on: 3 ways the AI chatbot has completely changed the world in 12 months (30 Nov 2023) - we don't agree with the list, as a huge result is trust and its diminishing. What to believe? All of these purveyours suggest checking the results give by their system. Oh, we all have time and energy for that? 
  • AI not solely ML (4 Dec 2023) - this is our retort and focus for the future. We need to bring to awareness the knowledge work done in the industrial world. There are many varieties. But, the focus needs to be on humans and their abilities. Enhancements would not be of the machine and its dominance; no, human would obtain an extremely useful tool if this were to be done right.  
So, themes abound. But, what is America about? The dream? Technology can be both a boon and a bane. Why has the latter been more prevalent? We still say AIn't about the emergence of "intelligence" of note. On the other hand, phenomenal mathematical processing has been done by the computer. That could be and ought to be our focus going forward. 

We have a super abacus and slide rule at our disposal now. That is, if only we can understand the need for maturity and the capabilities that it brings. 

Remarks: Modified: 12/22/2023

12/22/2023 -- Dartmouth '99; New Frontier, 21st Century Type. ... THE FUTURE OF AI IN SCIENCE AND MEDICINE, talk at Gairdner Foundation, Oct 25, 2023. 


Saturday, December 16, 2023

Little Exeter NH

TL;DR -- Exeter NH has been on our plate from day one. But, we had lots of Massachusetts material to digest, including that from elsewhere. So, while redoing our site, we thought to venture into the surrounding area. A WSJ article on OpenAI's Board got us started by mentioning Phillips Exeter Academy. That ties together several themes for this year. 

--

In an earlier post, we mentioned that we need to look at New Hampshire more often. We now have additional motivation for that effort. The earlier post was about the Dudley family. But, the State celebrated their 400th this year, through honoring Portsmouth

We have touched upon people, such as Rev. Bachiler (who could not abide Winthrop and went north), General Aldophus Greeley (led the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition), Nicholas Gilman, Jr (signer of the United States Constitution). and others. One of the places mentioned was Exeter, NH which town was home to many ancestors found in Ann's tree. 


One of two houses

Today, we saw another name to look at further: John Taylor Gilman. He was born in Exeter; we got to him in a roundabout manner that ties together several themes. We have been seeing references to this site for years but had a Massachusetts focus for obvious reasons. Though, we learned early, that northern and western movemernt started very early on. 

So, how did we get to John? He attended Phillips Exeter Academy which was founded by John Phillips who was descendant of Rev. George Phillips of Watertown, MA. So, we find several tie-ins here with the major theme of the times. Rev. George was on the first Board of Harvard about which we have had several posts. Of his many descendants, one was Bill Gates of Microsoft. 

Finally, how did we get here? We saw in a report in the WSJ that the head of Meta (Facebook) and Quora had been students at Phillips. And, our technology theme pertains specifically to new ways, of which the computational is a major part. The reference we saw was in a WSJ article about a member of the Board of OpenAI.

We have made use of Quora since 2015. With respect to OpenAI, their release last November of their ChatGPT did not get our attention until February of this year. Somehow the hype associated with these things escaped our awareness. But, since then, we have taken a "deep" look at the "generative" movement of the machine learning crowd. 

Let's just say, the jury is out along several axes. We will discuss this further, see: AI not solely ML. But, tying the new back with the old in this regard makes a lot of sense. After all, the focus of AI (however fruited) ought to be people and their freedoms. 

Not some dominance posturing (and following through) that is problematic even when not out of control. But, then, politics? We avoid that. 

 Remarks: Modified: 12/16/2023

12/16/2023 --


Monday, December 4, 2023

AI not solely ML

TL;DR -- AI is more than ML. For one thing, people need to be included. A bucket-of-bits oracle never was the goal for reasonable folks. 

-- 

AI was pirated by the machine learning people. Forget AGI. AI is good enough if we remember that "intelligence" is more than we have seen represented on the planet. 

    Artificial intelligence, not solely machine learning

Too forward thinking? Nope. We will get to discussing "truth engineering" at some point. ML optimizes without caring. 

Engineeing and economics go hand in hand. 

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Aside: After posting the above article, there was a comment from Tomek which touts being an "AI" company. Will look into this further, but Tomek Venture came up with "whois" as well as several others who have Tomek as a name. With respect to the extension ".ai", Wikipedia is a good source. Have not been paying attention, though I did run into this earlier), ".ai" has been a popular extension, since 2009, for its possible association with "AI" the subject of the above article. Tomek is leveraging on that with an automated interface. Perhaps, will look at it further. Otherwise, doing a survey of this type of activity would be more beneficial as it's going to get more prevalent. GitHub's pilot is an example of enablers. To think, in 2012, I was looking at coding manually. Still will. See Content vs configuration. For now, AI, of all sorts digital, arises from buckets-of-bits whose latest magical behavior with respect to text processing has no intent behind it. We're talking a "stochastic parrot" (in the words of some) and similar. That does not mean that meaning may not formulate from the mix, whether good or bad. But, reasoning as enlightenment liked to tout? Not. On the other hand, knowledge-based approaches do a better approximation, with a good example being knowlege-based engineering (KBE).  

Remarks: Modified: 12/30/2023

12/30/2023 -- Added image.