Bill Acton's Embodiment Blog: advice

Showing posts with label advice. Show all posts

Sunday, March 1, 2026

Copilot’s Old Testament AI Advice Talkin’ Blues

Link to Vimeo

Link to Youtube

Clker.com

“Copilot’s Old Testament AI Advice Talkin’ Blues

(Copilot pronounced: ‘Ka-puh-lut)

Readin’ in the Bible, heroes long ago, wonderin’

“What if they’d had AI to guide’em . . . so?

I fired up Copilot, to review Old Testament scenes,

With feasibility studies on God’s awesome schemes.

AI – Ancient AI - Told you what to do, on your scroll or burnin’ bush

Givin’ you second opinions, in addition to that of the Lord God, or

your local prophet.

“Copilot, they got walls sky high

God said, ‘march around Jericho let out a battle cry.’

Seven days should do it, then trumpets, all you got.

You think that’ll work; you think we got a shot?”

“Joshua, I ran the numbers thrice

Just goin’ ‘round in circles; not good advice.

Acoustic wall destruction, low probability of a breach

This Jericho campaign, is just beyond your reach

Suggest you just come together, resolve your differences

‘Cause multi-culturally speakin’, this plan is off the wall.

“Copilot, got big water up ahead

Two million behind me, Pharaoh’s chariots want us dead

The Lord said, ‘Raise up my staff, He’ll split that sea in two

any other options from AI-point of view?”

Moses, I checked the traffic on the Memphis feed,

The ferry’s overbooked, no bridge like you need.

‘Partin’sea on the sabbath is definitely verboten

Strongly recommend you take up boatin’

First do a focus group on ‘turnin’ back the tide

And getting; the Egyptian slave labor unions on your side.

Bridge:

Uncouple it (2x). The prophets warned us thus!

Uncouple it (2x) The problem now is us.

AI thinks “Therefore, now I am”

How did we get into this jam? Nothing more to do now but to try . . .

To uncouple it (6x) Or . . . fry!

“Copilot, we got this giant named Goliath

The Lord says, ‘take my sling, and nail him ‘tween the eye-th

I’m just a teenage shepherd boy and even though I got stones

Got a good plan B ‘fore I face him alone?”

“David, let the regulars do their thing

You’re a gifted musician, your job is to sing

Your brand is soothing psalms, not whoopin’ Philistines

Just stay in your lane, don’t want to look . . . mean.

Why risk body and soul, and your millions of descendants yet to be

Think of all them great, great, great, great, great grandkids here in Tennessee (in your family tree . . . )

“Copilot, I got bad news today,

Three armies of old enemies, headed our way.

The Lord says, ‘Don’t be afraid, you got me on board

Put the choir out front and sing Praise ye the Lord!

Praise ye the Lord, His mercy endures forever and ever (3x)

Praise ye the Lord, our God, his mercy . . . will never end. (Francisco, 1984)

“Jehoshaphat, that is some plan, divine

No need for no more tenors or tambourines this time!

A few more followers on Tik Tok will scare them away

or more thumbs up on Facebook to help save the day.

Why . . . your great social media influencer status could all but end

Them Moabites, Ammonites and Meunites just want to be your friends.

Bridge:

Uncouple it (2x) The prophets warned us thus!

Uncouple it (2x) The problem now is us.

AI thinks “Therefore, now I am”

How did we get into this jam? Nothing more to do now but to try . . .

To uncouple it (6x) Or . . . fry!

So, don’t forget these cautionary tales of AI you see . . .

Never, ever, ever . . . take the Bot too seriously

For God’s always workin’, movin’ heaven and earth in your name… (naim)

And his plan beats the algorithm . . . every single time.

God’s plan beats the algorithm . . . every single time.

wracton@gmail.com
https://hipoeces.blogspot.com/
www.actonhaptic.com
www.williamacton.legalshieldassociate. com

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Darwin award nominees for English pronunciation teaching

Clipart: Clker

You have probably seen a note someplace on the recent research "finding" that men tend to do the idiotic much more frequently than women. That was based, in part, on an analysis of annual "Darwin Award" winners over the years. For those not familiar with those "awards," they are (tongue in cheek) given to someone who " . . . supposedly contributed to human evolution by self-selecting themselves out of the gene pool via death or sterilization by their own actions."

Anyone devoted to the procedures noted below probably does us all a favour by quickly going out of business as a pronunciation teacher. Here are a few samples, my favourites, of what we might term the "near idiotic" in pronunciation teaching. (Most are from websites or pronunciation textbooks--or workshops I've attended over the years!) If you have any other examples, please post them below!

"Move your tongue slightly up and back, and curl up the edges to make a groove . . . "
"Now check your partner's pronunciation as she reads that passage."
"As long as you are intelligible, you'll get (or keep) the job."
"Work together with your spouse or significant other on your pronunciation."
"Think, Men, think!" (The Harold Hill method from the "Music Man")
"Go out and talk with native speakers and practice your 'r's and 'l's!"
"Listen carefully to yourself while you are speaking!"
"Stick your tongue out and whip it back in, scraping the scum off it to do a "th" sound!"
"Fill your mouth with marbles or hard candy and read this."
"Write that down." (with no instructions as to how or how to follow up or practice)
"Look it up in the dictionary" (with no instructions as to how or how to follow up or practice)
"If you just have good conversation in English often enough your pronunciation will improve enough on its own."
"Convince those around you to accept your accent."
"Once you are a teenager, it is almost too late to improve your pronunciation much."
"Native speaker-like accent in 4 weeks!"
"Just watch my lips."

Full citation:
BMJ-British Medical Journal. (2014, December 11). Study supports the theory that men are idiots. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 16, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141211210038.htm

What is haptic pronunciation teaching?

Basically, it is using gesture, touch and movement to teach pronunciation of English (or any language). What makes this method unique is that it is based on controlled and systematic use of gesture in doing that. (Often the problem with gesture use in language learning is that it can be "crazy" or random or intimidating or inconsistent, or not well-developed and tied to clear outcomes.)

The earlier "Essential Haptic-integrated English Pronunciation (EHIEP) approach," now KINETIK, does a better job of enhancing presentation, modelling, feedback and correction. The method is simple and easy to follow. Once a 30-minute module is finished, teacher and students have a set of techniques to use in class anytime a pronunciation problem or opportunity comes up!

Haptic Preliminaries

I often begin workshops or papers with the comment that in about 40 years in the field I have had just one idea: that the systematic use of body movement is essential to effective and efficient pronunciation instruction. That has never been more relevant than today, with the general deemphasis on pronunciation and introduction of technology into the field. From both perspectives, the "haptic" perspective approach developed here offers great promise. I can at least promise you a "moving" experience!

What is the KINETIK Method?

KINETIK is the name of the new v6.0 haptic pronunciation teaching system. About six years earlier we were using the acronym, "Haptic Integrated Pronunciation for Other/Extended Circle English Speakers" (HIPOECES)--still there in the url of this blog!

Haptic-integrated clinical pronunciation is:

A different way to learn pronunciation, based in part on Arthur Lessac’s notion of “Training the body first.” It is also based on research in the use of movement and touch in learning and training. It:

Looks somewhat like a combination of aerobics, sign language and Taichi

Provides a basic foundation for continued, self-directed pronunciation learning and classroom instruction

Designed for use by relatively untrained teachers but appropriate for all teachers (and learners) of all levels

Focuses on pronunciation used in conversation (not all words in English)

Is a highly “brain-and-body-friendly” system that promotes efficient learning of integrated tasks in general

Designed to promote integrated classroom pronunciation instruction and enable integration of conscious pronunciation work into spontaneous speaking.

Introduction

This blog was formerly named: HIPoeces (pronounced 'hI-pƏ-cIs), basically an approach to teaching English pronunciation to speakers of "outer and expanding" circle Englishes (including that population commonly termed: non-native speakers) but also compatible with the use of local models other than simply Standard" American" or RP. Using Kachru's "Inner, expanding and outer circles" model to characterize the breadth of Englishes and speakers of those, HIPoeces (now HICP) systems focus on developing haptically-centered pedagogical models and methods which can be adapted for teaching the pronunciation of various Englishes as they are spoken and taught by "owners" of those varieties.

In theory, the underlying principles can be applied to teaching the sound system of any language. Most language instructors intuitively use a great deal of movement and tactile anchoring in the classroom. The essential question is how to use that resource systematically, especially so that those learners who are less "haptic" in nature are also "moved" by the method.

Simply put, the HICP model/method is based on the idea of speaking along with arm and hand movement, not all that different from that used in sign languages. Most movement patterns are taken from either typical classroom pronunciation instruction practice or from related fields, such as psychotherapy or sports.

Most blog posts link to research that relates to the general HICP model, that is studies dealing with the role of gesture, touch, movement, learning modalities, learning in output, use of the visual field in learning, and experiential learning.

DEFINITIONS:

"Haptic" techniques- procedures that involve both movement and touch (Obvious examples include clapping hands, tapping feet, or holding an object and shaking it to the rhythm of a poem.)

"HICP techniques" - procedures that are haptic and also explicitly coordinated with phonological structures and/or discourse prosody (For example, clapping hands on primary stressed syllables in multi-syllable words, or doing a dance step on key words in conversational turns.)

"Haptic integration"- The haptic dimension probably functions as much to anchor visual and auditory material as it does to assist the learner in getting the "felt sense" of the sound or sound process. Lack of integration into spontaneous speech being such a serious potential shortcoming of instruction, haptic engagement seems a promising bridge to more accurate fluency.

"Visual field" - in HICP extensive use is made of the visual field in front of the learner. (For example, a modified version of the IPA vowel chart is anchored haptically in the imagination of the learner, directly in front of the upper body, and used for several purposes throughout the program.)