This is a reread. I originally read this book back in 1994 for a high school class, and wrote a book report on it. I posted my high school book report here, and did a video based on that old report here. However, I have not read this book since I started my book review project in 2006. So for the purpose of this book review project, I'm going to count this as the first time I'm reviewing this book, and, according to my new rules, do it as a video only review.
Back when I was rereading Steal This Book, I did what I usually did, and searched for other reviews on Youtube. (When you're in the process of forming your own opinions, it's always useful to check them against what other people think.)
There actually were only a couple reviews of Steal This Book on Youtube, one of which was this one:
Was this podcast AI? It didn't sound like AI to me. It sounded like two human beings having a conversation. AI couldn't mimic human conversational voices like that, could it? Or could it? There was nothing in the description of the video which indicated it was created by AI, but there was the title of the video, which said "Google Deep Dive LLM". Did LLM stand for Large Language Model?
I took another listen to that podcast, and actually, maybe it did sound just a tad bit artificial. At first blush, it seems like normal banter between the man and the woman. But then, on second listening, they completed each other's thoughts just a little bit too neatly. Of course, it could easily have been a pre-scripted podcast. But, if something is going to be this artificially scripted, then could the whole thing also have been AI?
It probably is AI, isn't it? We all know that AI slop has taken over Youtube and Facebook. I hadn't thought that AI slop would come for booktube, but I guess in retrospect I should have seen it coming. After all, there are views to be had reviewing popular books. Somebody was going to exploit this sooner or later.
I was reminded of this again today when the Youtube algorithm served up to me this video:
I was listening to it, and finding it interesting and informative for a good 5 minutes or so before I began to get a strong suspicion that this video as well must be AI generated. The clues?
1) I think it's the exact same man and woman voices as the previous video. And also a very similar conversational style
2) Looking into the history of this channel, they only started uploading videos 9 months ago--concurrent with the arrival of advanced AI technology.
3) The man and the woman identify themselves as "Jason Carter" and "Sarah Davis" at the beginning of the video, but a Google search for those names doesn't turn up anything about podcasters. I can't seem to find images or videos of the man and the woman behind the voices anywhere.
4) This "podcast" doesn't seem to exist on any other podcast apps.
In the end, I feel like this one was pretty conclusively AI. Still, it wasn't that easy to catch. It took me a bit. And I worry that other people might not realize they are listening to AI. There are two commenters--here and here--who are arguing with the podcast, not seeming to realize the podcast is AI. (Although someone is responding to those comments. One wonders what is human and what is AI. Is a human running the channel, and only using AI to create the podcast episodes? Or is it AI all the way down. Is AI responding to the comments?)
Anyway, I don't know how I feel about this whole thing. Part of me was like "Well, now that I know this whole thing is AI, what's the point of even finishing the video?"
The other part of me was like, "But it still feels like an interesting conversation. Can it still be interesting even though I know it's AI?"
It seems to me that the interest in a podcast is the feeling that you're listening to other humans. (The whole parasocial connection thing.) Can I form a parasocial connection with AI? And if I know that the opinions are not human opinions, but AI opinions, does that invalidate them? Do I place more weight in an opinion if I know an actual human thought of it?
But if you're worried about these questions, I also worry that in the future, there are going to be a lot more of these AI produced podcasts, and they are going to be harder to spot. We could be in for a lot more of this in the future.
Given that this video in question is also an opinion piece, I think this also creates some troubling questions for the future. How many opinion pieces in the future will be generated by robots? Will robots be shaping human opinions and consensus in ten years?
At any rate, as everyone has noticed, the flood of AI generated content on Youtube and Facebook make these sites a lot less useful. I used to waste tons of time on Youtube, but at least that was time when I was watching real humans do real human stuff. Now I keep clicking on videos, and then realizing that those videos are AI.
Well, on the bright side it makes me waste less time on these sites. Every time I get upset that I keep finding AI videos on Youtube, I always remind myself, "Wait, what am I doing wasting time on Youtube anyway? I should be reading my book instead."
And, if you're also getting discouraged by AI content, just a friendly reminder that my little corner of the Internet will always be human. With all my human flaws. I may mispronounce words on my videos, I may stutter, I may lose my train of thought, I may take forever to get to my point--but through it all, I'll be giving a very human experience.
I've considered myself a Temptations fan for a long time. Back in my early days in Japan, someone loaned me a 2-disc compilation of the Temptations greatest hits, which I copied over to MiniDisc (W), and I used to listen to it over and over again.
But, back in those days, it was before Wikipedia, and I didn't know a lot about the history of the band, and I didn't know that the lead singer actually changed in 1968.
Now, the drama of David Ruffin, and how he got kicked out of The Temptations, is easily readable on Wikipedia. (See here and here). I won't recount it all here, but some interesting reading, if you care to follow the links.
The personal problems of David Ruffin and his split with The Temptations are unfortunate (even if it makes for good drama). But still, the man was a very passionate singer. Just look at how much emotion he pours into this song.
I'd never heard of either song before. And I grew up on oldies stations. And Walk Away from Love even made it to number 1 on the R&B charts. (I guess this is an interesting reminder that not everything that was popular back in those days survived into the oldies circuit.)
But now, through the magic of Youtube, both songs are readily accessible. I have to say, I don't care all that much for Walk Away from Love, but My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me) is a keeper.
Wikipedia says: "In the decades since the LP's release, "Jumpin' Jack Flash" became a popular club hit". Huh. Well, I'd never heard it before. Maybe I should have been going to more clubs.
At any rate, I thought it was a fun song, so I'm sharing it with all of you here.
This is part of my so-called "Scripted Review" series, in which I make a Youtube video based on an old blogpost. For more information on what this is and why I'm doing it, see HERE:
[Notes: These are all materials that I used to supplement the lesson Breakfast in the Kitchen (p.24-25) from Oxford Picture Dictionary Content Areas for Kids, and the specific choice of vocabulary in the storybook is influenced by that lesson. However, I think these materials could be used for any general lesson on describing homes, and so I'm including them here.]
I believe I've heard this stuff before, but as a big science fiction fan, I'm liable to forget it, so it's worth reminding myself about it every now and again. And might mention this in my upcoming review of Foundation, once I finish reading it.
This is part of my so-called "Scripted Review" series, in which I make a Youtube video based on an old blogpost. For more information on what this is and why I'm doing it, see HERE:
Other titles: Dynasty of Dunnum, Theogony of Dunnum, Theogony of Dunnu, The Harab Myth
As I mentioned in the video, this is a reread of sorts, because I read this myth before when reading Babylonian Creation Myths by W.G. Lambert. But since I opted not to review it then, I'm counting this as a first time review.
This activity was recently introduced to me by one of the trainers at my school.
As it was explained to me, it works like this:
Each student is given a flashcard (or printed paper) with a picture of a vocabulary word on it. Each student has a different picture.
They walk around the room and find another student to pair up with. Then, each student asks the other one "What is this?" The other student must identify the picture.
Then, after both students have quizzed the other one, they trade pictures, so that each student now has a new picture.
They must then go and find another student to quiz with their new picture.
This activity can also be used for grammar points if a student is given a prompt that requires using a grammatical feature in the answer.
I've done a brief search online just now, and have found a few websites that do a better job of explaining this activity than I have done. So see also here, here, here, etc.
Yet another book that I used in my reading groups just because my school library had multiple copies of it. When every student can follow along with their own copy, it makes it was easy to use as a class reader.
I'd never heard of this book before. It looks like it was published in 1994, so after my elementary school days. Although with the stilted "made-for-school" style the book is written in, one could easily imagine it having been published in the 1970s or 1980s.
Everyone likes a cute dog story, so this book works well enough in my classroom. Although when my students asked what Rosie is doing now, I had to tell my students that Rosie is most likely dead at this point. (That's the problem with cute dogs.) Which sobered the mood of the class a bit.
I was able to easily find ready made Kahoots on this book, which indicate it must be popular in other classrooms.
There's a lot of useful stuff on this padlet, and the owner of the padlet has said that we are free to share it with a larger audience. So I thought I would share it here on this blog for any other TESOL teachers who are interested.
In my class, I did most of this as an all class activity, but for the final wacky count, I gave students each a copy of the page, and they tried to circle all the wacky things, before I revealed the answers.
[Notes: These are all materials that I used to supplement the lesson The Bathroom (p.22-23) from Oxford Picture Dictionary Content Areas for Kids, and the specific choice of vocabulary in the storybook is influenced by that lesson. However, I think these materials could be used for any general lesson on describing homes, and so I'm including them here.]
Once again, I selected this book for my reading group primarily just because the school library had multiple copies of it.
However in this case, this is also a book that I have fond memories of from my own childhood.
It's a book in which the teacher wins against the children, so it's not the type of book that children are children are supposed to like. And yet it's done with such humor, and such funny illustrations, that it's easy to like. I liked it as a kid, and my students now really liked it. (They've even asked to read it multiple times.)
According to Wikipedia, this book is the first book of a series of Miss Nelson books. I think I may even vaguely remember the other books from childhood, but I'm not 100% sure.
Supplemental Materials:
Kahoots: I found two kahoots suitable for use in the classroom here and here. I combined them both into this kahoot.
This is part of my so-called "Scripted Review" series, in which I make a Youtube video based on an old blogpost. For more information on what this is and why I'm doing it, see HERE:
[Notes: These are all materials that I used to supplement the lesson The Bedroom (p.20-21) from Oxford Picture Dictionary Content Areas for Kids, and the specific choice of vocabulary in the storybook is influenced by that lesson. However, I think these materials could be used for any general lesson on describing homes, and so I'm including them here. If you're using this without the Oxford Picture Dictionary textbook, just omit practice 1 from the lesson plan. Also, if you'll using this in your own classroom, you'll need to change the lead-in to make it personal for you.]
Put on slideshow. Show picture of me in my bedroom. Get students to identify people and objects in the classroom, and try to elicit where it is. (bedroom):
Concept Checking questions: Do we eat in the bedroom? Do we shower in the bedroom? What do we do in the bedroom?
Have students identify other objects in picture if not already. (bed, closet, book, picture).
Use slideshow to clarify vocabulary. Present pictures, elicit vocabulary words from students. Confirm the words. Then do oral drilling of pronunciation.
Try to elicit additional information about the objects (e.g. color), and try to drill some of the vocabulary in sentences.
Practice 1
Display pages 20-21 of Oxford Picture Dictionary on the projector. Ask students what things they can see. Elicit from students the objects in the picture. Ask additional questions to try to enlarge responses where appropriate.
Give to students a copy of p.20-21. Have students circle objects in the picture.
