The Opinions: A Pro-Life Case for Harris and a Writing Contest With ChatGPT
10Digest
This podcast episode begins with an advertisement for Squarespace, a platform for creating websites and engaging audiences. The episode then introduces "The Opinions," a new podcast from New York Times Opinion that brings the opinion page to life in audio format. The episode features a conversation with David French, a conservative columnist for The New York Times, who explains his decision to vote for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. French expresses concerns about Donald Trump's impact on the pro-life movement and the Republican Party's shift away from conservative principles. He believes that Harris represents a return to a more normal and calm American politics. The episode concludes with a discussion about an experiment conducted by The New York Times Opinion, pitting human novelist Curtis Sittenfeld against ChatGPT in a writing competition to create a "sexy beach read." The results highlight the differences in style and emotional depth between human and AI writing. While ChatGPT's story was grammatically correct, it lacked emotional depth and felt more generic and soulless. Sittenfeld's story, on the other hand, was considered more emotionally resonant and specific, with details that felt authentic and human.
Outlines
Introducing "The Opinions" Podcast and David French's Decision
This segment introduces "The Opinions," a new podcast from New York Times Opinion, and features a conversation with David French, a conservative columnist, who explains his decision to vote for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election.
AI vs. Human Novelist: A Writing Competition
This segment discusses an experiment conducted by The New York Times Opinion, pitting a human novelist, Curtis Sittenfeld, against ChatGPT in a writing competition to create a "sexy beach read." The results highlight the differences in style and emotional depth between human and AI writing.
Keywords
ChatGPT
ChatGPT is a large language model developed by OpenAI, capable of generating human-like text, translating languages, writing different kinds of creative content, and answering your questions in an informative way.
Pro-Life Movement
The pro-life movement advocates for the legal protection of unborn human life, opposing abortion and promoting alternatives to abortion.
Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris is the current Vice President of the United States and a Democratic politician.
Donald Trump
Donald Trump is a former President of the United States and a Republican politician.
Beach Read
A beach read is a light and entertaining novel, typically fiction, that is enjoyable to read during leisure time, often on vacation or at the beach.
Q&A
Why is David French, a conservative, voting for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election?
David French believes that Donald Trump has harmed the pro-life movement and that the Republican Party has shifted away from its commitment to conservative principles. He feels that Kamala Harris represents a return to a more normal and calm American politics.
What were the key differences between Curtis Sittenfeld's and ChatGPT's short stories?
Curtis Sittenfeld's story was considered more emotionally resonant and specific, with details that felt authentic and human. ChatGPT's story, while grammatically correct, lacked emotional depth and felt more generic and soulless.
Show Notes
Our Times Opinion colleagues recently launched a new podcast called “The Opinions.” It’s basically the Opinion page in audio form, so you can hear your favorite Times Opinion columnists and contributing writers in one place, in their own voices.
It’s an eclectic and surprising mix of perspectives, as you’ll see with these two segments we’ve selected for you to enjoy. The first is with the Times Opinion columnist (and friend of the pod) David French, a lifelong conservative who’s staunchly pro-life, on why he’s voting for Kamala Harris this November, and the second is with the novelist Curtis Sittenfeld, who enters into a writing competition of sorts against a new writer on the block — ChatGPT.
Mentioned:
“David French on the Pro-Life Case for Kamala Harris”
“Can You Tell Which Short Story ChatGPT Wrote?”
You can subscribe to “The Opinions” on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube, iHeartRadio — or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Soon, you’ll need a subscription to maintain access to this show's back catalog, and the back catalogs of other New York Times podcasts, on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Don’t miss out on exploring all of our shows, featuring everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts.
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