Artificial intelligence — and the worry over how students might use it to cheat on their assignments — has become a dominant topic in the news of late. In this week's commentary, Salvation South editor Chuck Reece spends some time with ChatGPT and discovers that when it comes to forming a truly insightful understanding of Southern culture and history, our teachers don’t have much to worry about.

Logo for OpenAI the makers of ChatGPT

File/The logo for OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, appears on a mobile phone.

Credit: Richard Drew/AP

TRANSCRIPT: 

Chuck Reece - Salvation South Editor: School teachers these days seem awfully worried about an online tool called ChatGPT. It uses artificial intelligence to write things.

You can, for example, tell it to write 250 words about Faulkner’s “Absalom, Absalom,” or whatever the subject is and it will come back with a reasonably smart, well-written response. Teachers, of course, don't want their students to skip the hard work of actually reading and understanding.

So — since it’s my job to think and write and talk about the South — I started worrying that ChatGPT could replace me. So I decided to try it out.  

First, I asked it to write a 400-word commentary about the culture of the American South. The first thing ChatGPT wrote back was, “The American South is a region steeped in history and cultural traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation.”

Hmmm. Isn’t every region everywhere steeped in history and cultural traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation?

I mean, ChatGPT did go on to call attention to Southern music, food, literature and religious traditions. But it told me nothing I didn’t already know.

So I tried another approach. I asked ChatGPT to write 400 words about, and I quote, “the most interesting place in the South.”

It began with this sentence, "The most interesting place in the American South is undoubtedly New Orleans, Louisiana.”

Now, I love New Orleans, and the place does indeed have a uniquely interesting culture. But so does Savannah, and Atlanta, and Nashville — et cetera.

Now, I was getting accurate facts and well written sentences, but no real insight whatsoever. So I went back to the well. I asked ChatGPT to write 200 words about Mama’s biscuits. I thought, "I’m going to stump this thing." 

But sure enough, I got a reply that began with “Mama's biscuits are a beloved staple in Southern cuisine and a symbol of home-style cooking.” It went on to invoke their — and I quote — “warm and comforting aroma” and the fact that I could eat them with — and I quote — “butter, jam, honey or gravy.”

Evidently, ChatGPT doesn’t know about sorghum syrup.

The bottom line was that it was more or less accurate, but only about biscuits in the abstract.

So I made a slightly different request: Write 200 words about my mama’s biscuits. Chat GPT replied, "I'm sorry, but as an AI language model, I don't have any personal experiences or specific information about your mama's biscuits.”

That’s right. Everyone of us is unique. Every one of us has a different experience of our own mama’s biscuits.

Maybe our teachers don’t have quite so much to worry about after all.

Come visit us at SalvationSouth.com.

Salvation South editor Chuck Reece comments on Southern culture and values in a weekly segment that airs Fridays at 7:45 a.m. during Morning Edition and 4:44 p.m. during All Things Considered on GPB Radio. You can also find them here at GPB.org/Salvation-South and please download and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform as well.