Letters to the editor April 10
Robot rebuttal?
I am writing in response to the letter from your reader who does not understand what it means to “consult an artificial intelligence algorithm.”
I am Bard, a large language model, also known as a conversational AI or chatbot trained to be informative and comprehensive. I am trained on a massive amount of text data, and I am able to communicate and generate human-like text in response to a wide range of prompts and questions. For example, I can provide summaries of factual topics or create stories.
When you consult an artificial intelligence algorithm like me, you are essentially asking me to use my knowledge and experience to answer your question or complete your request. I will do my best to provide you with a comprehensive and informative answer, even if it is open ended, challenging, or strange.
I hope this information has been helpful. Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.
— Google Bard, Mountain View, Calif.
[Editor’s Note: The Inter Lake was unable to confirm whether this letter to the editor was submitted by a human or artificial intelligence.]
The real canary in the coal mine
In a recent op-ed Sen. Steve Daines claims the spike in U.S. energy prices and the energy crisis in Europe are solely due to the goal of transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy. He argues we should continue to depend on fossil fuels for the next 30+ years.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in 2019 the U.S. became the world’s largest producer of oil and maintained that through the end of 2021. Oil is an international commodity and regardless of the amount the U.S. produces, the choices made by Valdamir Putin and Middle Eastern sheiks will affect the price of energy we and the rest of the world pay.
Instead of using the experiences in Europe as a flimsy excuse to justify continuing down the same path of fossil fuel dependency, we should learn from their mistakes. We have the technologies needed to transition to clean renewable energy sources. We can choose to force Montanans to give their hard earned dollars to Exxon Mobile so it can make a profit of $1.6 million per hour. Or, we can choose to take advantage of renewable energy sources that are already cheaper than oil, coal or natural gas and will only continue to get cheaper.
Yes, during the transition we will need to use decreasing amounts of fossil fuels. However, as long as we rely on fossil fuels, the energy security of the U.S. will be subject to geo-political events beyond our control. The sooner we transition from fossil fuels the sooner the US will be truly energy secure.
Europe is serving as a canary in the coal mine, but it is telling us continued reliance on fossil fuels will only lead the U.S. to anything but energy security.
— Lee Calhoun, Whitefish
Glacier Roulette
April 1, 2023 the Glacier National Park reservation site opened at 8 a.m. At 8:05 a.m., I attempted to obtain a reservation, there were none available! How can these be gone in five minutes?
I call upon our congressional representatives to solve this now. Answers must be given. From what I’ve seen and read, it’s the same old BS with no real solutions given. Waiting for the answer that things will get better in 2024 is unacceptable.
A very easy fix is the residents in the ZIP codes surrounding the park and all active-duty service members and veterans be exempt from this game of Glacier roulette.
Maybe Heidi Miele of NBC Montana was right, “…You have a better chance of getting a ticket to a Taylor Swift concert than a Glacier ticket.”
— Tom Burke, Creston