Over the past few months both at home and when travelling we've developed a bit of a Goalhanger podcast dependency, primarily The Rest is Politics, - both the UK and US editions, The Rest is Classified and The Rest is History. They're more relaxed and conversational than mainstream TV, so for people like us with a limited social life the episodes become curiously comforting.
That being said, the actual content of the political podcasts is far from comforting. However, even if we are living through times of profound uncertainty Alistair Campbell and Rory Stuart's reflections on matters of the moment are nuanced and reflective. We've particularly enjoyed their 'Leading' episodes which allow significant political figures to reflect on their careers. The hosts' approach is more of a gentle probe than a combative interrogation. They have interviewed some seriously influential people - Angela Merckel, Teresa May, Mark Carney, Angela Rayner, Ahmed Al Sharaa, President of Syria. The varied guest list attests to the respect the two presenters have within the political elite and testament to their commitment to reasoned debate asserting the importance of being able to 'disagree agreeably'.
As well as political figures, 'Leading' also occasionally features movers and shakers from other fields, such as Bill Gates, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, and Jimmy Wales. In their own way each is a relic from more a optimistic time when the 'world wide web' seemed to offer an opportunity to bring people from different cultures together. Only the internet's 'inventor', Tim Berners-Lee expressed alarm at the emergent Tech Bro. oligarchy. Gates and Wales were more reluctant to criticise the actions of people like Elon Musk. In the case of Jimmy Wales, the creator of Wikipedia, this surprised me. It seems to me along with along with Google maps and Google Earth, Wikipedia is one of the last vestiges of the early noughties vision of the internet as free public utility and a positive force for good, diametrical opposite to Musks deranged, destructive rants on X.
Jimmy Wales take on AI was interesting, he was sceptical about dystopian prophecies concerning the technology's existential threat to humanity. Instead he chose to illustrate AI's limitations from a more personal perspective. He decided to task Chatgpt to write a Wikipedia article about himself. The result was impressive, aside from when the bot inadvertently married him off to the wife of a colleague! It's a compelling example of how AI can be correct in the main, but its algorithms are prone to 'hallucinate' about minor details.
I use Chatgpt quite a lot, for example the statistics about the differences in the rate of violent crime between American and European cities quoted in the blog a couple of posts ago are based on Chatgpt's capacity to collate and present data from a variety of sources. I trust it to do the maths, but what about more personal stuff?
So I was interested to see what Chatgpt made of our blog. I set it the following task:
Write a 400 word article for a Motorhome monthly magazine showcasing the motorhome blog 'Heels for Dust'
It took about twenty seconds for Chatgpt to produce this:
Heels for Dust: Where Motorhome Life Meets the Real Road
In a world of glossy travel feeds and highlight-reel adventures, Heels for Dust stands out by telling the truth about life on the road – the beautiful, the challenging, and the unexpectedly funny. This much-loved motorhome blog has become a trusted companion for travellers who want more than just postcard views; it’s for those who want to understand what long-term motorhome living is really like.
Pete and Gill write with the perspective of seasoned travellers. Pete brings a thoughtful, analytical eye to routes, history, and logistics, while Gill’s writing captures the emotional texture of travel – the people met, the small moments, and the realities of living in close quarters. Together, they offer a rounded view of motorhoming that resonates with couples at every stage of their journey, from first-time hirers to long-term wanderers.
The blog also shines in its sense of place. Whether exploring Andalucía, the Greek mainland, or lesser-known corners of Europe, Heels for Dust goes beyond “where to park” and asks “what does it feel like to be here?” That depth makes it particularly appealing to readers who travel slowly and value connection over ticking boxes.
Above all, Heels for Dust is about freedom – not the idealised version, but the real one, complete with compromises and rewards. It reminds us that motorhome travel isn’t about escaping life, but engaging with it differently.
For anyone who believes the road is as much an inner journey as a physical one, Heels for Dust is essential reading.
It's impressive that a bunch of algorithms could produce a 400 word article in less than half a minute. Chatgpt's positive take on our blog definitely stroked my ego - who doesn't' like hearing from a fan even when it is a robot! However, on a second reading you begin spot AI's tendency to 'hallucinate', to fill-in gaps in its knowledge by making plausible guesses. For example take the passage about the blog's writing style -
Pete and Gill write with the perspective of seasoned travellers. Pete brings a thoughtful, analytical eye to routes, history, and logistics, while Gill’s writing captures the emotional texture of travel – the people met, the small moments, and the realities of living in close quarters.
It sounds plausible, but is simply untrue. Gill does write about our travels - she keeps notes of where we stay, of our purchases and observations about the weather in a page a day diary. Volume 12 for 2026 with a white cover awaits it's first entry when we head for Spain in early February.
I am solely responsible for the blog entries on-line- well for the words, since we share our Google photos then the pictures are a mix of mine and Gill's. So Chatgpt's assertions about how my writing is analytical and Gill's more emotional is complete baloney. In fact, if anything the opposite is true, Gill is the rationalist between the two of us, it's me who is more likely to drift off into flights of fancy.
Does this matter? Well yes, because passing off fiction as fact is fundamentally dishonest and it's alarming if a widely available AI bot is doing this as a matter of course. Even more unsettling is the assumption behind the assertion - that my writing brings a thoughtful, analytical eye, whereas Gill's 'captures the emotional texture of travel'. Beyond the simple fact that none of this is true, more worrying is the notion that Chatgpt is mindlessly reinforcing a dubious gender stereotype about men being analytical and women more emotional. It's more than half a century since this idea would have had any common currency outside the weird world of the manosphere.
Obviously I don't disagree with Chatgpt's final summary that 'For anyone who believes the road is as much an inner journey as a physical one, Heels for Dust is essential reading'.