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Have you met the AI lady?
She’s the Trend of our Times popping out answers to about anything you ask her. I thought I’d give the service a test drive and concluded that while the Artificial part of her abbreviation is unmistakably appropriate, the Intelligence part is a tad questionable.
I started off with one that I hoped would win the Echo’s annual Ice Out contest. dwl: “When will the ice go off Shagawa Lake?” AI: “It depends....”
Great, that helps. Maybe she doesn’t know about our area and the flora, fauna, and lakes nearby. Let’s try a wildlife question. dwl: “Should I expect an owl to provide appropriate advice on how to loosen a jar from the nose of a bear?” AI: “Avoid confronting the bear. Call local wildlife experts for assistance. They’ll safely release the jar.”
Well, that’s a little better. No mention of the owl I asked about, but probably good advice. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band didn’t resolve the question much better and sent Pooh and Eeyore back to the house on the corner. But, maybe Ms AI can be helpful.
Let’s give her a soft toss. dwl: “Where is Ely, Minnesota?
AI: “...in Northeastern Saint Louis County near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.”
Aha, My cynical mind detects some bias edging in. Ely’s near the BWCA?. I think the BWCA is near Ely. Ely was here first. And no mention of the Vermilion Iron Range? A little disappointing.
Let’s be a little more challenging in our questions here. dwl: “Why was Ely founded?” AI: “...due to the discovery of iron ore in the area....”
That’s better. OK. Glad to see some remnants of the reason Ely exists floating around the world’s collective knowledge. Now let’s try some pop culture stuff. dwl: “What tourist attractions does Ely offer?” AI: “...the International Wolf Center, North American Bear
Center, Dorothy Molter Museum and the BWCAW...”
What? No mention of Zaverl’s? Zup’s hot bologna on Thursdays? The Jeep Man?
Burnout Day? An extraordinary baseball facility that hosts major youth BB tourneys every summer? The fact that the only two negatives in the area are mosquitos and cold and you never face both on the same day? We need to probe a little deeper into this tourist angle. dwl: “What kinds of trails are in the area?” AI: “...1200 miles of canoe routes in the BWCAW and snowmobile trails...”
OK, wait a second. Again with the BW. No credits for the hours of planning, volunteer labor, and wrestling with agencies for access to develop the Prospectors Trail network for ATVs? And didn’t we taxpayers pay for a pretty snazzy bike trail leading west for a hundred miles? That I part of your name is a bit tarnished, Ms AI.
dwl: “Are there lakes in the
area outside of the Boundary Waters?” AI: “There are many lakes outside of the BWCAW near Ely.
Popular ones include Shagawa, Fall and Lake Vermilion.”
Wow! I remember the Chamber of Commerce once claimed that there were 500 lakes within 20 miles of Ely. She correctly named three but I can think of a few others that are fairly popular also that might have made the list. Although, some area residents might be wary of too much recognition for their lakes.
My dad often warned that one should never argue with someone who’s been there. Let’s see. dwl: “Have you been to Ely?” AI: “No. I’m an AI. I don’t have a physical presence but I can provide information about it.”
Not a surprise. But that response begs for a follow up question. dwl: “If you haven’t been there, where do you get the information about Ely that you are providing to me?”
AI: “I gather information from vast digital databases, online sources, and knowledge repositories. You can ask me anything.”
I’ll accept that challenge. dwl: “Who put the bomp in the bomp ba bomp ba bomp?.”
AI: “The origin is unclear.”
Well, I know. And I’d like to thank the guy.
So AI is fun, but maybe applying “Intelligence” is a little flattering. For now, I’ll think of her as Always Interesting.
And I mean it from the bottom of my boogety, boogety, boogety shoe.
Doug Luthanen grew up in Ely and graduated from Memorial High School in 1967. He wrote a weekly viewpoint column for the Northwest Arkansas Times for four years and is an occasional contributor to The Ely Echo.
