I have been traveling...

It is a few weeks since I posted as I have been traveling in Japan on a culinary tour. It is a great place to do that, as the cuisine is distinctive and excellent. I mostly relied on my phone for all sorts of communications, and as my camera, but this didn't give me much opportunity for writing.

However, during the trip, I did find a use for AI; I am not including the transcripts here, but the main topics were:

• Trip planning: This was somewhat after the event, to say the least, but I was interested to see how ChatGPT, Bard, and Claude's suggestions compared with the travel plans we followed, both with a tour group and on our own.

• Discussing Japanese cuisine, its history, and developments. This was engaging, and I learned a lot, though clearly, it helped that it was all in context as I was visiting different areas and trying local specialties.

The point from the context of AI for older people is that AIs like ChatGPT go a step beyond what is possible with a search engine. Although I might look up a topic on the AI just as I might on Google, I can and usually do take it a step further with more questions. Also, something like trip planning is interesting as I can say what I want to include or exclude. An example, that I tried, includes asking for suggestions of hikes in Japan that include views of the ocean.

Note: The photo above is one I took during a traditional tea ceremony presentation in Kyoto.