For folk's sake...

Thu Apr 25 2024

Blazing Reader,

On Monday, I sent out a blog post with a review of Mumford & Sons' goosebump-inducing music video, "The Cave."

As I'm writing a novel about AI, I've been consulting a lot with ChatGPT lately, to better understand machine learning. So I decided to ask it about the exotic backdrop of "The Cave."

"In which country was the music video 'The Cave' by Mumford & Sons filmed?"

Its ridiculous response:

"The music video for 'The Cave' by Mumford & Sons was filmed in Budapest, Hungary. The video features scenes filmed both in the city of Budapest and in the surrounding countryside. The historic and picturesque locations in Hungary provide a beautiful backdrop for the video's atmospheric and storytelling elements."

Uh-huh.

"The Cave" opens with a little Hindi dialogue between Mumford & Sons and four dark-skinned fellows dressed in Indian wedding band uniforms standing before a vast expanse of water (presumably the Indian Ocean). Hungary is a landlocked country. There's no way this was filmed in Budapest.

When I questioned ChatGPT further, it offered this correction:

"The music video for 'The Cave' by Mumford & Sons was filmed on the island of Hydra in Greece."

Well, according to For Folks' Sake, it was filmed in Goa, India. 

Sorry, ChatGPT. You're showing promise, but more so as a fiction writer than a reliable research assistant.

If you haven't yet, you can read my review of "The Cave" here: https://blazingpinecone.com/blog/british-accounting-firm/

Or listen to me read it to you here: https://blazingpinecone.com/podcast/british-accounting-firm/

John C.A. Manley




John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona: A Dystopian Love Story, the forthcoming All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of speculative fiction. Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscirber at: https://blazingpinecone.com/subscribe/