The collapse of the Woodbrooke Quaker center (err, “centre”) in October 2023 was a big deal, but a shock cushioned for most American Friends by the Atlantic. .Recently there was a notice online that someone is compiling entries for a projected book of memories by staff, students, and other participants . I wish the … Continue reading Sex, Jesus, Woodbrooke, & Finland: Memories & Epiphanies . . .
There’s a story about an earnest young Quaker grad student and a wise and wizened elder scholar. One day they were working in one of the best Friends archives, and — “I’m having trouble making sense of this old Quaker journal,” said the graduate student to the venerable Quaker historian. “The Friend who wrote it … Continue reading Elias Hicks: It’s All His Fault (Until ChatBot Came Along)
This past week, this blog held two conversations with a ChatBot, the vanguard of supposedly all-knowing software which some believe is destined to soon take over our world and make many crucial functions (including blogging) unnecessary antiques.
Yesterday, we asked ChatBot to identify the five biggest issues facing Quakers today, and posted the query and the full text of its reply. Then, as promised, we followed up by asking ChatBot (CB for short) to sketch out practical solutions to these problems, again based on its familiarity with the presumably vast resources of … Continue reading AI Quakerism, Part Two: ChatBot Delivers Solutions for Our Five Biggest Problems. (Or Does It?)
March 14, 2023 It had to happen, right? Someone was sure to try to find out if/when Chatbot will make Quaker blogs, journals, and all other pre-AI communication as outmoded and unnecessary as, you know, Wiliam Penn, or Philadelphia. And now it’s happened. The results are here, in full, and unexpurgated. Well, not quite in … Continue reading Exclusive: Chatbot Names Top Quaker Issues; Makes Blog Obsolete?