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Davisville, Feb. 6, 2023: Did ChatGPT write this? How would you know?

ChatGPT is a new tech tool that can write — maybe “write” should appear in quotes — by using advanced technology and vast databases of text. So is this ability a good thing, the word equivalent of a calculator? Or does use of ChatGPT reduce the need for people to learn how to think and write coherently?

In today’s Davisville we talk with Andy Jones, a longtime writing instructor and educational technologist, and Margaret Merrill, a senior instructional design consultant, both at the University of California, Davis. They list pluses and minuses of ChatGPT, their encounters with the tool, how they can tell when someone has used ChatGPT to write something, and how they approach this latest evolution in artificial intelligence. Their discussion is fascinating.

65. Keeping Tahoe Blue

Just two hours east of Davis in the Sierra Nevada mountains lies the largest alpine lake in North America. The transparent cobalt blue waters of Lake Tahoe are almost as pure as distilled water. However, over the past 50 years the lake has lost about one-third of its clarity. Meet Chris Joseph from Keep Tahoe Blue and learn about the many threats to the blueness of the lake and what we can do to keep it pristine and clear. Explore some of the clearest and bluest lakes around the world from New Zealand to Siberia. Then travel to Lake Tahoe to kayak in Emerald Bay, hike through Desolation Wilderness, meet a fish called Tessie, and help preserve the natural wonder of this sparkling azure Lake of the Sky.

The Lyrics, on Listening Lyrics, Feb. 3, 2023

Oh this one is bittersweet. It's the second-to-last Listening Lyrics, and the last one with just myself in the studio. Next week's show will have plenty of guests, but I opted to do this alone. 

I'm playing songs with lyrics that explain a feeling, with several local groups represented. They include Nat Lefkoff, Boot Juice, Bad Mother Nature, The Gold Souls, and Adrian West.

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