Imagining a different future

In 2023, in this article, my #CLMOOC friend, Kevin Hodgson, wrote about Google's AI platform, called Bard.

This prompted me to ask, "Has anyone asked ChatGPT to write about what the future would have looked like if Al Gore had been elected President of the U.S. in 2000?"

Image created using Scribble Diffusion

I decided to see how Google's Bard works, and posted a set of questions.  Rather than point you to a Google doc where I've saved the responses I'm posting them below.  If you don't like the questions I asked, or the responses, then post your own questions and share the answers you get!

-- begin Bard questions and responses -- 

I asked Bard to write a story predicting what the world would be like today if Al Gore had won the 2000 US Presidential election.  

Bard --  If Al Gore had won the 2000 US Presidential election, the world would be a very different place today. Gore was a strong advocate for environmental protection, and he would have taken a much more aggressive approach to climate change than George W. Bush. He would have also been more likely to sign the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition, Gore was a strong supporter of education and healthcare. He would have increased funding for both of these important areas, and he would have made college more affordable for students.

Gore was also a more experienced politician than Bush. He had served as Vice President for eight years, and he had a deep understanding of the issues facing the country.

If Gore had been elected, the United States would have been a more progressive country. We would have been a leader in the fight against climate change, and we would have made significant progress in improving education and healthcare.

Of course, it is impossible to say for sure what would have happened if Gore had won the election. However, it is clear that the world would be a different place today if he had been elected.

Here are some specific examples of how the world might be different today if Al Gore had won the 2000 election:

• The United States would have ratified the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This would have helped to slow the pace of climate change and mitigate its effects.
• Gore would have been more likely to invest in renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power. This would have helped to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and make our country more energy independent.
• Gore would have been more likely to expand access to healthcare. He would have supported the creation of a public option for health insurance and made it easier for people to afford coverage.
• Gore would have been more likely to invest in education. He would have supported increased funding for public schools and made college more affordable for students.
• Gore would have been more likely to take a diplomatic approach to foreign policy. He would have been less likely to invade Iraq and Afghanistan, and he would have worked to build relationships with other countries.

Overall, the world would be a better place today if Al Gore had won the 2000 election. He was a more experienced and progressive politician than George W. Bush, and he would have made the United States a more just and sustainable country.

I then asked, "How would he have responded differently to the 9/11 terrorist attack? Would he have invaded Iraq? How would the world look now if he had not invaded Iraq?"

Bard -- Al Gore would have responded differently to the 9/11 terrorist attack than George W. Bush did. He would have focused on building international cooperation to fight terrorism, rather than invading Iraq. He would have also been more likely to invest in homeland security and intelligence gathering.

It is unlikely that Al Gore would have invaded Iraq if he had been president in 2003. He was skeptical of the Bush administration's claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, and he believed that the invasion would be a costly and unnecessary war.

If Al Gore had not invaded Iraq, the world would be a very different place today. The war in Iraq has been a major source of instability in the Middle East, and it has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. The war has also cost the United States trillions of dollars.

Without the war in Iraq, the United States would have been able to focus on other priorities, such as fighting terrorism and improving the economy. The world would also be a safer place, as there would be no ongoing conflict in Iraq.

Here are some specific examples of how the world might be different today if Al Gore had not invaded Iraq:

• The United States would have been able to focus on other priorities, such as fighting terrorism and improving the economy.
• The world would be a safer place, as there would be no ongoing conflict in Iraq.
• The United States would not have spent trillions of dollars on the war.
• The United States would not have lost the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
• The United States would not have damaged its reputation in the world.

Overall, the world would be a better place today if Al Gore had not invaded Iraq. He would have made the United States a safer and more prosperous country.

I then asked, "If Al Gore had been elected president would we have the same level of polarization as we have today? Would Donald Trump have been elected President in 2016?"   

Bard -- It is impossible to say for sure whether political polarization would be as severe today if Al Gore had been elected president in 2000. However, it is likely that the level of polarization would be lower.

Gore was a more moderate politician than George W. Bush, and he was more likely to reach across the aisle and work with Democrats. He would have also been less likely to engage in the kind of inflammatory rhetoric that has contributed to polarization in recent years.

It is also possible that Donald Trump would not have been elected president in 2016 if Al Gore had been president in 2000. Gore would have been a stronger incumbent, and he would have been more likely to unite the country after the 9/11 attacks.

Of course, it is also possible that polarization would have continued to grow even if Al Gore had been president. The factors that are driving polarization are complex and multifaceted, and they are not easily controlled by any one person.

However, it is clear that Al Gore would have been a different kind of president than George W. Bush. He would have been more moderate, more willing to compromise, and more likely to unite the country. These qualities would have made him a more effective president, and they would have helped to reduce polarization in the United States.

Finally, I asked,  "If Al Gore had been elected in 2000, and re-elected in 2008, would Barack Obama ever have been elected President? Would Joe Biden have been elected vice-president, then President in 2020?"   

Bard -- It is impossible to say for sure whether Barack Obama would have ever been elected president if Al Gore had been elected in 2000 and re-elected in 2008. However, it is likely that Obama would have faced a much more difficult path to the presidency if Gore had been in office.

Gore was a popular and well-respected politician, and he would have been a strong incumbent. He would have also been able to draw on the support of the Democratic Party establishment. Obama, on the other hand, was a relatively unknown and inexperienced politician. He would have had to overcome a lot of obstacles to win the presidency.

It is also possible that Joe Biden would not have been elected vice president or president if Al Gore had been in office. Biden was a close ally of Gore, and he would have been less likely to run for office if Gore had been president.

Of course, it is also possible that Obama and Biden would have still been elected president and vice president, even if Gore had been in office. The political landscape is complex and unpredictable, and it is impossible to know for sure what would have happened.

However, it is clear that Al Gore would have been a different kind of president than George W. Bush. He would have been more moderate, more willing to compromise, and more likely to unite the country. These qualities would have made him a more effective president, and they would have made it more difficult for Obama and Biden to win the presidency.

---- end Bard questions --- 
 

What would your questions have been? I asked my questions on Bard. How would ChatGPT have answered?  Could this be turned into a short story using an AI tool like TinyStorie?  

One response stood out to me, which was,  "Gore was also a more experienced politician than Bush. He had served as Vice President for eight years, and he had a deep understanding of the issues facing the country."   On a national level this is probably true, but Bush had been Governor of Texas, and his father had been President. His political skills should have been better. 

I asked these questions in 2023, not knowing that Trump would be re-elected in 2024 and prove to be more chaotic and destructive than in his first term.  Maybe AI can provide some paths out of the disaster we seem to be heading toward.  Have you asked? Where are you posting your responses? 

At the left is a photo of me addressing students and volunteers at one of our year-end graduation ceremonies, for the tutor/mentor program I led from 1975 to 1992. 

We did not have the Internet or Artificial Intelligence then. Desk top computers were just emerging. But I was asking our students and volunteers to imagine all they could do to assure that each student finished high school and went on to college, jobs and careers.  

Imagine if they had been able to use Bard, or ChatGPT to ask "What are all the things we need to know and do to assure that all kids born of living in a high poverty area today were starting a job and career by their mid 20s?"    

That's still a question we need to be asking today.  

Thanks for reading. Enjoy your week.  Please connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Mastodon (find links here).

If you can spare a dime, visit this page and make a contribution to help fund the Tutor/Mentor Institute, LLC and the work I'm doing. 

Knowledge Based Problem Solving in Era of Government Chaos

Since I started leading a tutor/mentor program in 1975 I've searched for ideas that I could learn from to constantly improve my own efforts. I began to build a library of program reports, newsletters and research, that I shared with volunteers, to help them expand their own efforts. In 1993 when I formed the Tutor/Mentor Connection, I dramatically expanded this library, and in 1998 when I launched my first website, I expanded it even more. I still add new links every week.

I've learned that while our focus is on connecting kids and volunteers, there are a massive web of other issues that affect each student's future, and our own.  Below are two graphics that illustrate this.

Birth to Work Challenges concept map - click here to open

 

This shows that while a tutor/mentor program must overcome an on-going series of challenges to keep a student participating as they move from first grade through 12th grade (which could be in more than one program) the student, family and school face many more challenges caused by poverty and systemic racism in the United States.   If you open the concept map and look at the far right, you'll see that one of these challenges is "poor elected leaders".  

Below is a different graphic, created to show many of the challenges we face. I included it in this "Can't drain the swamp" article. 

Note at the far left I've highlighted "Democracy under Attack".  This was the third version of the climate change graphic created since 2019.  It was created in 2021 following the January 6th attack on Congress. 

Now that Trump and Project 2025 are now back in the White House, and many states are in the control of ultra conservative forces, the magnitude of this problem is much, much greater. Even our courts have been compromised. 

I created the graphic below many years ago to visualize the need for daily, on-going outreach to attract visitors to my library, my list of tutor/mentor programs, and to the programs themselves. 

I think a similar graphic could be created to show the on-going effort needed to draw attention and resources to each of the issues I show on the top two graphics.  

My challenge now, in mid 2025, is how do I keep this attention focused, knowing that without continuous help kids fall behind in school, and in life, so that volunteer-based tutor, mentor and learning programs find the support they need to stay available to kids.

Yet, how do I also call attention to the terrible things being done to vulnerable people in this country. How do I help keep the United States from becoming a new Nazi Germany?  

When I created the Tutor/Mentor Connection in 1993 the mission was to "gather and organize all that was known about successful non-school tutor/mentor programs and to apply that knowledge to expand the availability and effectiveness of these services to children throughout the Chicago region". Read it here.

I've often tried to explain the purpose of the information I collect, by using the analogy of a "hospital operating room" where the operation is performed in an amphitheater where hundreds of others are watching. I found this graphic in a Wall Street Journal ad, and it communicates the idea visually.

I hope you'll follow this progression of thinking, because it applies to helping cities like Chicago solve complex problems.  It also may help solve the problems facing democracy and our planet, too.

1) At the start of the "operation" two people are bent over a patient (a problem like violence?). As long as the expertise they both have is enough to do the operation, they continue. (This photo is from an improvisation workshop in spring 1993, during the first year operations of the Cabrini Connections program I founded and led until 2011.)

2) However, as usually is the case, something occurs where the two doctors on the floor, don't know the answer. They say to the audience, "Do any of you know how to solve this problem?" Someone says "I do" and they join the two on the floor. As this continues to happen, new ideas are brought to the operation and the group on the floor grows.

3) At some point, no one in the amphitheater knows the answer. However, someone says, "I know someone who does know the answer. I'll find them and invite them to join the group." Once that happens, the operation continues.

4) Eventually, a problem will arise that no one knows the answer, or knows anyone else who has ever dealt with that particular problem. Someone high in the gallery says, "I'm starting a PhD course at the local university. I'll look into this and when I find an answer I'll bring it to the group." Several people, in universities, or in business, could be doing research on that problem.

I've been looking for people with experiences and information that could help people in Chicago build systems of support that help youth in high poverty areas move through school and into jobs since I launched the Tutor/Mentor Connection in 1993. I'd been doing this informally since I started leading a tutor/mentor program at the Montgomery Ward Headquarters in Chicago back in 1975. 

My library and social media network now represents thousand of organizations and tens of thousands of people.  

Those people, IF connected physically and virtually, represent the wide range of people who need to be in the "operating room" looking for solutions to the problems we face.  

Below is a map of the information in my "knowledge" library.

This information has been growing for 30 years. It's been available to leaders in Chicago and other cities for that long. It went on the Internet in 1998. Yet, too few seem to value the role information has to support innovation and problem solving. That means when I go to events where people are gathering to "solve the problem" of education, violence, workforce development, health disparities, etc, few are even aware that my library exists.

The process does not effectively capture the knowledge of everyone in the room, or of others who may be in other cities and countries. Yet anyone could be building a web library, with links to ideas and resources they find valuable, and with links to other web libraries. This concept is outlined in the PDF showing the goal of a "Tutor/Mentor Learning Network" which I've been trying to build since 1993.

The critical idea in this PDF is that since few of us have advertising dollars, we need to take daily actions that draw attention to everyone in the network of information and ideas, not just to our own organization, no matter how powerful we are. As speakers have emphasized over, and over, "No one can solve this problem by themselves."

I've devoted one entire section of the library to collaboration, knowledge management, visualization, innovation, etc. You can enter it via this map. This section could be curriculum for school, or non-school, youth programs, where volunteers from business and universities help youth learn these skills, and learn to apply them in their own efforts.  It can also be a training resource for organizers working on other issues.

I've devoted another concept map to social justice, race, poverty and inequality issues.  

That concept map points to maps like this, and, another section that focuses on political issues, and reforms, asking what is causing people to accept what Trump and Project 2025 are doing?,  and what strategies might reverse this? 

One set of blog articles that I point to focuses on "online learning, cMOOCs, etc." The ideas in these sections can help enhance the information-sharing process any group is using to solve local-global problems, regardless of if they connect with me or not.

Below is another visualization that I've created to illustrate the role knowledge, or work done by others, can take in supporting the constant improvement of work everyone is doing to help youth born in poverty move through school and into jobs and careers.

Using Ideas to Stimulate Competition and Process Improvement - Concept Paper by Daniel F. Bassill

I think my role is to aggregate information that others can learn from, and to use my social media and email newsletter to draw attention to the library while trying to motivate others to share it.

And to motivate volunteers and donors to visit program websites and be proactive in offering support, without waiting for an "ask" or a "grant proposal".

In some posts I'll be calling attention to Chicago tutor/mentor programs and in others I'll be boosting posts by others who focus on broader issues, including stopping the movement toward fascism, and, not just rebuilding democratic structures, but making them do more to improve the quality of life for every person in the USA and the world.  

I'll do this every day. 

You can help.  And, I hope I'm helping you.

Connect with me on social media (find links on this page) and share my posts with your own network. 

Find time to browse my library and get familiar with what it includes. Use the ideas to expand your own efforts, to help kids and tutor/mentor programs, and to help fix our broken government. 

Thanks for reading.  If you're able, visit this page and make a contribution to help me pay the bills.

How will you feel on Nov. 6, 2024?

I'm not sure you've noticed, but there's a huge election coming in a few weeks.  I'm hopeful the winner will be Kamala Harris and Tim Walz and scared to death that it won't happen.  Or, that she'll win, but not have a majority in the Senate and the House, meaning gridlock over the next four years.

I already voted. I urge you to make a plan and vote. Don't sit this one out.

But, what comes next?  What issues does a Harris/Walz team need to address.  The photo above is from the official Kamala Harris for President website. Visit this page to look at the issues she is focused on. 

A couple of weeks ago I posted an article with this concept map.

I think many of the topics on my map are issues she plans to address.  I hope someone in her team will take a look and see if they are missing anything.  I feel that without creating maps like this, showing all issues that need to be addressed, and showing places where resources are needed, we end up doing the right thing at the wrong time, or for not long enough, or in too few places.  

That's the reason engineers and construction workers use blueprints. They show ALL of the work that needs to be done, in the sequence it should happen.

Without applying this thinking to solving complex problems, progress is slow, if at all.  

I'm going to try something new with this article.  I've posted some paragraphs from past blog articles that I hope someone from Harris/Walz will take time to read.  These are ideas I've been sharing since the 1990s.  Too few have ever seen them. Too few have adopted them. 

You can click the image to enlarge and read the graphic. Then I hope you'll use the link provided at go to the article. Read it. Think about it. Share it.

open link

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I've only highlighted five articles.  I've written more than 1200 since 2005. Many have the same ideas and the same focus.  

In many of my articles I emphasize a use of maps to show where people need help, and to assure an even distribution of resources to EVERY area where help is needed, not just to the most visible or the most well connected.   Here's one example. 

open link

While I've addressed this article to the people who I hope will be our next President and Vice President, these ideas are for leaders in every city and state, both in the private and the public sector.  

Building interconnected web libraries that make "all that is known" available and easier to understand and apply, then an on-going public education campaign that teaches people to visit this information and use it to innovate solutions to complex problems, is a path forward. 

The big challenge is that too few have the resources, or motivation, to build such libraries and keep them updated for 20-30 years like I have.  This is an ideal project for universities to be doing, using a constant flow of student talent to collect and share the resources, then to use them during their alumni years.  

Most universities do some of this work already. But most don't connect to libraries in other places, and other universities, in an interconnected web of knowledge.  That's what I feel should be happening. 

If you know of examples where this is being done, please share the link in the comment section. 

Thanks for reading, and sharing my article.  Please reach out and connect with me on social media platforms, like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Mastodon, BlueSky, Instagram, etc.  Find links on this page.

Finally, please consider a contribution to help me continue this work. Visit this page.