End Times These Are Not – AI Affected They Are

End Times is on the minds of many as we start the third new year since the world was turned upside down. Chaos and disruption caused by the overreaction of most governments to the discovery of a virus that may have been produced in a laboratory in China. A virus that may not even exist and may or may not be our regular seasonal flu or a variant thereof.

It’s not the purpose of this post to dwell on the evil that has transpired over the last three years, many other more qualified writers are doing that – you can find them easily if you look beyond the mainstream media.

My concern is the effect the propaganda-induced paranoia has had on a large part of the population, so much so that many are asking if these are indeed The End Times as described in the Book of Revelations and by many secular prophets throughout the ages.

This week, John Manley, author, bold crusader for truth and a previous guest on The Yakking Show which I co-host with Kathleen Beauvais, published a post on the end times question. John is the author of “Much Ado About Corona – A Dystopian Love Story.” He also publishes a newsletter with two or three excellent articles each week. You can read his post here and find a link to subscribe to the newsletter.

End Times And Artificial Intelligence (AI)

First off, I have to be careful with acronyms. As a former dairy farmer with a lifelong interest in cattle and horses, AI has always meant “Artificial Insemination” to me. Now that it means Artificial Intelligence, confusing the old and new meanings could cause quite a kerfuffle.

When I read John’s post, I wanted to comment but thought my contribution would make a better blog post.

I am mixing topics here, but it is important that I give you some background. As a writer, I have been paying attention to the advances in AI (the new meaning). As a member of a Discord community of brilliant marketing people and writers, I have been learning from pioneers in the use of this wonder tool and experimenting with its use. Mark Schaefer published an excellent post “How To Deal With The Existential Crisis Presented By AI” on his Businessgrow website. If you have any concerns about AI making your job obsolete, you should read it. You will either be reassured or motivated to change career.

To prepare my post on End Times, I thought I would give the task to ChatGPT.

Here’s the prompt I gave it “create a 1000-word blog post on major world crises in the 20th century that caused people to fear the end of civilization”

The following paragraphs are the unedited content created by ChatGPT. I deliberately did not tell it to use my or any other “voice” or style.

End Times Essay Created by ChatGPT

The 20th century saw several major crises that caused people to fear for the survival of civilization as we know it. Here are five of the most significant:

1. World War I (1914-1918) – World War I was a global conflict that lasted for four years and resulted in the deaths of millions of people. The war was fought between the Allied Powers (consisting of the United Kingdom, France, and the United States, among others) and the Central Powers (consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire). The war was sparked by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary, but underlying tensions between the major powers had been brewing for years. The war saw the use of modern technology, including machine guns and poison gas, which made it particularly deadly. At the time, many people feared that the war would bring about the end of civilization as they knew it.
2. The Great Depression (1929-1939) – The Great Depression was a global economic downturn that began in 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s. The Depression was triggered by the stock market crash of 1929, which saw the value of stocks plummet. The Depression had a ripple effect, leading to widespread unemployment and economic hardship around the world. Many people were left without homes or jobs, and there was a fear that the economic crisis could lead to the collapse of society.
3. World War II (1939-1945) – World War II was a global conflict that lasted for six years and resulted in the deaths of millions of people. The war was fought between the Allied Powers (consisting of the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union, among others) and the Axis Powers (consisting of Germany, Italy, and Japan). The war was sparked by Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland, but underlying tensions between the major powers had been brewing for years. The war saw the use of nuclear weapons for the first time, which added to the fear that civilization was at risk.
4. The Cold War (1947-1991) – The Cold War was a period of tension and hostility between the United States and the Soviet Union that lasted from the end of World War II until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The two superpowers engaged in a global arms race and supported proxy wars in various parts of the world, leading to a constant state of fear that a full-blown conflict could break out at any moment. The threat of a nuclear war, in particular, caused many people to fear that civilization was at risk.
5. The HIV/AIDS epidemic (1980s-present) – The HIV/AIDS epidemic is a global health crisis that began in the 1980s and continues to this day. HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a virus that attacks the immune system, making it difficult for the body to fight off infections and diseases. AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) is the most advanced stage of HIV infection, when the body’s immune system is severely damaged. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has caused millions of deaths worldwide and has had a significant impact on global health and social systems. At the time, there was a fear that the virus could lead to the collapse of society.

These are just a few of the major world crises that have caused people to fear the end of civilization in the 20th century. While it is impossible to predict what the future holds, it is clear that humanity has faced many challenges and has been able to overcome them. It is important to remain vigilant and prepared for future crises, but it is also important to have faith in our ability to adapt and persevere as a species.

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How Did Chat GPT Perform?

It performed adequately, except that it produced 617 words not 1000. I could have asked it to keep going and produce more or create an entirely new article. This was good enough for my purposes.

Grammarly only noted one error, a comma which I would have inserted myself so I ignored its suggested correction.

The content is accurate, it chose four of the crises that I would have chosen.

To me – even allowing for the negative topic – the language seemed cold and more suitable to a textbook than a blog post. I think astute readers would guess that it was not written in my normal style.

That said, it produced 600 words in a few seconds. It would have taken me an hour or more to do the same.

Personal Observations On End Times

The Cuban missile crisis and the first Arab-Israeli war both occurred when I was a teenager in High School. I remember listening to other boys relating the concerns of their parents that these crises would cause the end of society. My late father comforted me by telling me of his experiences. He was born in 1914 and he was old enough to remember the aftermath of WW1. He told me of the hunger, desperation and squalid living conditions in the poorer parts of London, England. The end of civilization was a widespread fear. It did not happen, the human race survived.

He was in the British army in various campaigns before and throughout WWII. Returning to a blitz-battered London with food rationing and desolation, he witnessed the fear that society would not recover. It did.

Despite the fears of a nuclear holocaust in the cold war years, global conflict after the wars in the Middle East and other crises, we have survived.

I experienced economic collapse and chaos in Africa. Huge numbers of casualties, but many more survivors. Some of it is in my story

Conclusion

No, it’s not the End Times. We are facing major difficulties and there will be huge effects on societies and lifestyles. Sadly there will be casualties.

But the human race will endure, we have been overcoming adversity for thousands of years.

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