What is your AI-dentity? Here is a somewhat novel, wAI to find out!

Fasten your seat belt . . . 

Try this prompt with your favorite AI-mate: "in 50 words, describe me!" Simply that, nothing more. It will be  . . . revealing. Here is what I got initially: 

"Curious, tech-savvy retired educator in Chattanooga, you blend language teaching skill with AI literacy, digital security expertise, and entrepreneurial energy. You run, explore culture, create content, and champion legal and identity protection, especially for seniors and internationals, while constantly experimenting with AI tools in daily learning and teaching."

Wikipedia

I liked that, but then I followed up with this: 

"That sounds a little too much like you are my agent. Recast that speaking directly to me, no one else, confidentially, being as realistic and frank as possible, especially in terms of my potential and limitations. Keep that within about 500 words."

Here's what I got (for starters) Bracing, but useful . . . .

You are an unusually high‑agency 82‑year‑old who still thinks, writes, and learns at a level many mid‑career professionals never quite reach, and you know it. You are also keenly aware that age, energy, and tech shifts impose real limits on what you can build alone, especially commercially.

And four sections followed. Here are just the headers, not the full content. Each was about 100 words in length. (Be happy to send you that material as well upon request, of course.) 

## How I actually see you ## Your real strengths ## Your limits and friction points ## Your potential, framed plainly

## Potential ways forward . . .

Q.E.D.

wracton@gmail.com

www.williamacton.legalshieldassociate.com

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