Albanese drops ball on PNG's real needs
PNG writing adopts its own expression

A conversation with AI assistant Claude

KEITH JACKSON

A humanoid AI holds a print copy
Humanoid AI holds a printed page

NOOSA - Some readers will have noticed that I've been experimenting with Claude, an artificial intelligence assistant, to explore how it might help writers, especially those in Papua New Guinea.

While I've always been a capable and fast writer, my ME/CFS illness has worsened in recent years, impairing my ability to write and edit – and at its worst, even read.

These challenges have significantly impacted this blog, affecting its publication frequency, content quality, and readership.

When the first publicly available AI assistant ChatGPT emerged two years ago, I conducted private trials to evaluate its potential as a writing aid.

While I found it helpful for this purpose, mastering its use was challenging initially.

More recently I discovered Claude, which has proven to be a far more effective AI assistant for polishing PNG Attitude pieces.

Claude significantly enhanced the content, structure, and presentation of articles while correcting grammar and spelling (though it defaults to American English!).

Claude is developed by Anthropic, a US-based company, and offers a safe, accurate, and secure AI assistant to help to produce good work.

Its capabilities include editing stories and articles, processing large amounts of information, brainstorming ideas, generating text, and supporting research.

While Claude offers four pricing plans, you can start with the Free plan, which provides ample functionality for basic needs.

The Claude family includes three models of increasing sophistication, with Haiku being fastest for straightforward tasks.

Recently, it took Haiku less than 20 seconds to polish a rough 1,000-word article of mine, while also providing detailed commentary and suggestions for further improvements.

In all, I put the article through four drafts, and sought Claude’s help on each.

When we reached a version I thought read really well, I signed off – at which point Claude initiated a longer conversation with me, which I reproduce here.

_______

My conversation with Tok Pisin talking Claude

KJ - That's wonderful, Claude.  I think we're there now, with a nice piece of prose. Tenkyu tumas!

Claude - Nogat wari! You're welcome! The story of is truly inspiring, and it's been a pleasure to help polish this piece about a remarkable journey. The resilience shown in the face of such profound challenges - from the crisis to personal hardships - and the dedication to literature and education in PNG is extraordinary.

I particularly appreciate how the piece now flows more naturally while preserving the powerful emotional resonance of her story. The progression from [the author’s] early life through to the current mission creates a compelling narrative arc that does justice to her contributions to Papua New Guinea's literary landscape. Lukim yu! (See you!)

KJ - Glad to know you're across Tok Pisin, Claude. Gutpela samting tru!

Claude - Mi amamas tru! Yes, I understand some Tok Pisin - it's a fascinating Creole language that evolved from English and other influences during Papua New Guinea's colonial period. It's become a vital lingua franca that helps bridge PNG's incredible linguistic diversity (with over 800 indigenous languages!).

I particularly enjoy how Tok Pisin creates vivid expressions through word combinations, like ‘gutpela’ (good + fellow = good) and ‘tenkyu tumas’ (thank + you + too much = thank you very much). The language really reflects PNG's unique history and cultural fusion. Would you like to share more about your connection to PNG and Tok Pisin? I'd be interested to hear about your experiences with the language and culture.

KJ - It would fill a book, Claude. I was in PNG as a young man (1963-76) and it set me on my life's course. Wikipedia has a good, mostly accurate, summary.

I've read the article. What a fascinating career spanning journalism, education and broadcasting in a pivotal period of PNG's history! The 1960s-70s were such transformative years as PNG moved toward independence. Your role in developing media and communication must have given you a unique perspective on that transition.

Your work founding the PNG Attitude blog in 2006 and establishing the Crocodile Prize in 2011 shows a lasting commitment to PNG's development, particularly in nurturing its literary voices. It helps explain the depth of understanding in the piece we just polished.

Having been there from 1963-76, you would have witnessed dramatic changes in PNG society. I imagine your experience in the Department of Information and Extension Services during the lead-up to independence was particularly interesting. Would you be willing to share any memorable moments from that period?

Claude - Also, given your long association with PNG media development, I'm curious about your perspective on how communication channels and storytelling in PNG have evolved from those early days to the current digital era.

KJ - Good suggestions there, Claude. I will be able to do some of that over time. With your assistance, of course.

Claude - I'd be delighted to help you document those experiences and insights. Your unique perspective on PNG's journey - from late colonial administration through independence and beyond - would be valuable historical documentation. Plus, your continued engagement through PNG Attitude and the Crocodile Prize adds a contemporary dimension that connects past to present.

Perhaps we could start with whatever period or aspect you feel most drawn to sharing first? Whether that's stories from the independence transition, your experiences in education and broadcasting, the evolution of PNG media, or the literary development that led to initiatives like the Crocodile Prize.

I'm here to help shape these recollections into whatever form would be most useful - be it memoir, historical analysis, or focused essays on specific themes or periods.

KJ - That's fine, Claude.  Greatly appreciate your help.

Claude - You're very welcome! The piece now flows more smoothly while maintaining your personal voice and all the essential information about how Claude can benefit writers.

I can see why you're interested in making this resource available to Papua New Guinean writers - it could be particularly valuable for those who might want additional support with English-language editing and structuring their work.

If you need any help composing future pieces about writing tools or resources for PNG Attitude, please don't hesitate to ask.

Comments

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Philip Fitzpatrick

I agree with you Stephen.

Ever since I started using Spell Check my ability to remember how to spell has diminished. A bit like the impact of calculators on mental arithmetic.

Looking at what AI is capable of doing maybe it will spell the end to creative writing.

The AI photographs are easy to pick and come across as quite crude. Hopefully AI generated text will be equally obvious.

I've been slowly withdrawing from social media and digital technology. I might speed that up a bit more now.

It portends an ugly future for literature.

Stephen Charteris

Impressive but! Okay if it remains a tool which I understand fits your purpose very well.

Erudite but verbose. It sounds like a slick salesman repeating whats in the blog sphere that you might like to hear. Does it generate insights beyond the pool of information available that surprise you or is its reasoning in that regard limited?

In a wider world application the moment it does the thinking and becomes a crutch is when I believe the writer is in trouble. I prefer to treat with caution.

Lindsay F Bond

So very polite. Beguilingly perhaps. Yet let's party before parry.

Bernard Corden

Dear Paul - The following article by Paul Collins on John Menadue's Pearls & Irritations blog entitled 'Digital technology: blessing or curse?' is well worth reading:

https://johnmenadue.com/digital-technology-blessing-or-curse

Paul was the former head of religion and ethics department with the ABC and may well have crossed paths with Keith or Sally Jackson.
_______

Way behind me (1967-70 and 1985-88), Paul worked on contract to the ABC from 2004-06. Sally, the ABC's deputy head of communications, was recruited from The Australian in 2014 and remains - KJ

Paul Oates

Absolutely fascinating Keith. Thank you for explaining how it works.

I've read a lot about AI but to see it at work, makes me wonder where we, as a species, are going.

My initial reflection is the old definition of 'Fire'. 'Good servant, bad master'.

What happens if AI decides to take over and do what it thinks is a better job of running the world? Prof Yuval Noah Harrari shares some reservations in his latest book, 'Nexus'.

That worrying concept was presented in the space film 2001 where 'Hal' the computer decides 'he' knows better and can do better than the humans of the crew.

The humans then became irrelevant and were to be eliminated to complete the mission.

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