The Robots Work Quickly
Then Take a Left Turn
Right after my novel Lena, Wild Girl on the Prairie, was released, I went directly to my favorite iPhone app, Perplexity, to see test how quickly and accurately it grabbed the info.
Mind you, most of the time I’m asking Perplexity random questions in a cultural anthropology way, like “Can first cousins marry in any state in the U.S.?” which had the icky answer of yes, in 19. (For you snobs, Arkansas says no and New York says yes.)
Or, I’ll look in my kitchen cabinet and ask the AI app, “What kind of cold lentil salad can I make with onion, carrots, and a savory sauce”?
Bam, there it is. (And it was good.)
Others I’ve tried:
1. Is there a major Mexico news channel on TV that broadcasts in English? (No.)
2. What are the total sales of Laura Ingalls Wilder books? (73 million.)
3. In Ukraine, do they drive on the left side of the road? (No, the right.)
4. What are Martha Stewart’s funeral plans? (None found.)
5. In most people’s opinions, what are the greatest opening acts at the Oscars? (Hugh Jackman, 2009; Billy Crystal, 1992; Whoopi Goldberg (2002), Neil Patrick Harris (2015).
You can see in the last question how this is info is perfect for YouTube use.
As for Perplexity’s results on my own just-released book (please let me promote this one more time: Lena, Wild Girl on the Prairie), I expected some real errors. My book was not famous, I was thinking that first day, likely has sold 3 copies, and is available only through Amazon. Almost all results when searching my historical niche are Laura Ingalls Wilder Laura Laura Laura Laura Laura. (Enough of Laura: Lena was tough, smart-alecky, and could easily hold her own in today’s times.)
The results are astounding. I will just let Perplexity speak for itself.
Wow!
Some of this was clearly from the Amazon description, but it’s kind of startling how AI picked up nuances that no human would–at least that quickly.
I’ll accept this, but AI slipped a bit on the last sentence. Laura’s books really didn’t go much into Lena. She was just a tool to further Laura’s story, transitioning Laura from a child to a young teen.
Very good, AI–except when you get a divorce you ARE then single. What AI had picked up, but not explained, was that Docia appeared in the first of Laura’s books, Little House in the Big Woods, as a never-married young woman. This was so the author could hide the fact that Docia was divorced (her first husband went to prison for murder) and also had two young children, including Lena, while living with her parents.
It seems to be picking up some info from the book Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography, the controversial 2014 book comprised of Laura’s original manuscript on which her books were based. Many red-hot details were left out of the “Little House” books, like when Laura worked in a bar and a man there caught himself on fire. And when the family slipped out of town because Pa couldn’t pay the rent.
In this app, and in some other AI apps, it suggests follow-up questions. Most of these are an if-you-want-to-know-more situation, which I seldom do. Sometimes it changes the subject slightly, if there is no answer out there, like on the Martha Stewart question.
Yes, I realize that asking about Martha Stewart’s funeral plans sounds kind of cruel, but inquiring minds want to know. Will there be a grand procession of the world’s greatest chefs, or thousands of scholarships handed out to aspiring women entrepreneurs? Will every attendee get a goodie bag that includes Martha Wrap, the greatest kitchen product ever invented? (I wish I had bought 100 rolls when it was still available.)
In my case, though, AI veered onto more famous writers and other, bigger characters named Lena:
Oh well, at least Lorraine Hansberry is good company.
