She who must be obeyed, the Cumbria Crack editor and my Dreamie withholding servant, has a new toy to play with.
It is called ChatGPT and is some artificial intelligence that can produce text just like that written by a real person.
What is more worrying is that she has also found a version of this spawn of the devil called CatGPT that can write a weekly opinion piece for Cumbria Crack and it doesn’t need the cheapest of cat foods, let alone my special treats, to do it.
This, dear readers, could be just one change you will see in 2023.
Now, let’s ignore those who rely on the writings of Nostradamus, Baba Vanga or Old Mother Shipton, or any such rubbish, but look on what is possible and even likely to happen in the next 12 months.
Social media and big tech
I get the ‘tech’ bit. A catflap that I can control from neural implants – yes, I have been chipped – is something I would welcome and, dare I say it, the servants would also welcome the idea that I don’t have to swipe them repeatedly with claws extended progressively, to wake them at 3.30am to let me out.
But as for unsocial media, please remind me why so many of you humans now live your lives around sharing the most boringly uninteresting parts of your lives with someone you met on holiday in Benidorm seven years ago. And pray, why do you not recognise that the social media companies use all your inane blatherings to flog you stuff you didn’t know you wanted?
PREDICTION: For them, 2023 will see their power curtailed by legislation and an international agreement that they will start to pay taxes!
Cars, especially electric vehicles (EV)
Well, you were conned by the Government in the early part of this century into buying diesel cars. Now these are virtually worthless as the Government now wants you to pile into EVs even though the infrastructure is all but invisible and the battery range means you will revert to the diesel if you want to go further than Lancaster.
PREDICTION: Sales of all new cars will continue to slow until we get some clarity from Government and the car manufacturers that we can believe.
Energy
Not cheap if the howls from the servants when they see their electric direct debit going north and there doesn’t appear to be any sign of the good/cheaper times returning.
PREDICTION: More focus on renewables and going beyond wind and solar. Longer term solutions, such as tidal and turning pulp residue into energy and, of course, for West Cumbria, work towards developing nuclear.
Health
While the current pandemic might seem to be over, we certainly need to ensure we are better prepared for whatever nature has in store for us. We also need to be much more determined to change unhealthy lifestyles, cut tobacco consumption even further and support everyone to have a healthier outlook in all areas of their lives.
PREDICTION: Doctors increasingly prescribing healthy activities – dance, signing and art, alongside the parkrun, and walking rugby/soccer for the less mobile, and less prescriptions for antibiotics and antidepressants.
Civil unrest
Fortunately, we are not a nation that goes in for mass protests and we still have a fundamental belief in democracy (although it is right to debate exactly what ‘democracy’ means) but we are increasingly concerned about inequalities in our society where we see the rich get richer and where corporate failure is rewarded, while the poor get poorer and are expected to suck it up.
PREDICTION: The current wave of strikes will continue until Government gets off its high horse and begins to meet with and understand the issues. By having an open dialogue we can reach a common ground to move forward where we will commit to reducing and eradication inequality. Yes, it will take time and won’t be completed in a year, but we must start now. If the workers can truly believe Government means it, we can end this damaging winter of discontent.
All in all, 2023 will be a pivotal year. The war in Ukraine must come to a head and, hopefully, that means an end to fighting on terms the Ukrainian people can accept, but also an understanding by the west of why other cultures around the globe, not just Russia or China, find western colonialism/imperialism/exploitation so worrying.
We have to move on climate change. It isn’t going away, but we must also recognise that we all live in the here and now and all of us deserve to be treated fairly. If this means keeping on with coal/gas then that is a price to pay if Governments around the world properly commit to funding for alternatives and helping poorer, exploited, countries, be part of the change.
In Cumbria, we will welcome new local government and I trust they will recognise that the new beginning provides councillors and staff to adopt new, equitable, thoughtful, ways of working.
But back to writing columns…… if ChatGPT or CatGPT is as good as some say, who needs an editor? Pass the Dreamies and I’ll get back to my cat keyboard – the scratching post.
About Cumbria Cat
Born in Cumberland and, from later this year, will be back living in Cumberland, having spent most of the past 50 years in some place called Cumbria, this cat has used up all nine lives as well as a few others.
Always happy to curl up on a friendly lap, the preference is for a local lap and not a lap that wants to descend on the county to change it into something it isn’t. After all, you might think Cumbria/Cumberland/Westmorland is a land forged by nature – the glaciers, the rivers, breaking down the volcanic rocks or the sedimentary layers – but, in reality, the Cumbria we know today was forged by generations of local people, farmers, miners, quarriers, and foresters.
This cat is a local moggy, not a Burmese, Ocicat or Persian, and although I have been around the block a few times, whenever I jump, I end up on my feet back in my home county. I am passionate about the area, its people, past, present and future, and those who come to admire what we hold dear, be it lakes and mountains, wild sea shores, vibrant communities or the history as rich and diverse as anywhere in the world.
