“The women argued it was not a bad thing to be able to know instantly by scanning who one is dealing with. Someone remembered a proposal that democracy might best be served by opening up the data banks to everyone rather than trying to do without them or, even worse, pretending they did not exist. Everyone now knows about everyone else what all credit and government agencies knew in your times (and a good deal more besides). That information is instantaneously scanned between one person and another, so nobody can use it for privileged or authoritarian purposes.”
Harvey (2000, Appendix).
Introduction
The exercise required using ChatGPT to rewrite a selected passage with a prompt to maintain the understanding but alter the perspective of the written text, and further compress the text to write an aphorism style statement condensing the passage.
The above written passage is an extract from Harvey (2000, Appendix) Spaces of Hope.
ChatGPT Synthesis
PROMPT: Rewrite this as a testimony by a lawyer, defending their client who is a woman in a case against a conglomerate.
“Your Honor, my client advocates for a principle that echoes the very foundation of justice: transparency. She believes in the power of knowledge — that being equipped with information at the moment of interaction is not merely beneficial, but essential. Recall the once revolutionary idea that for democracy to truly thrive, data must be democratized, not hoarded by the few. It’s in the spirit of this ethos that my client finds herself ensnared in a legal battle against a corporate goliath. She stands accused not for malfeasance, but for embracing a future where information serves the many, not the few — a future where data cannot be weaponized for corporate gain or authoritarian control. This is not a case of a lone individual against a corporation; it is a test of our commitment to the principles of fairness, equity, and the right to know.”
ChatGPT4
Rewritten Statement
The above statement above is slightly corrected and
A principle that echoes the very foundation of democracy: transparency, believes in the power of knowledge. The fact that being equipped with information at the moment of interaction is not merely beneficial, but essential. It is stated that for democracy to truly thrive, data must be democratized, not hoarded by the few. With this in mind, we can foresee a future where information serves the many, not the few — a future where data cannot be weaponized for corporate gain or authoritarian control. This is not a case of a lone individual against a corporation; it is a test of our commitment to the principles of fairness, equity, and the right to know.
Condensed Statement
Democracy thrives on
transparency — demanding
information for all, not just a
few — a commitment to fairness
where knowledge empowers,
not controls.
Sources
- Harvey (2000, Appendix) – Harvey, D. (2000) ‘Edilia or “Make of it what you will”‘, in Spaces of Hope. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, Appendix, pp. 257-278.
- The title of the post is reference to the poster line of a show called Mr. Robot. [Mr. Robot – Part One: ‘Our Democracy has been hacked.’]
