One of the remarkable aspects of the Masonic fraternity is the wealth of expertise within our membership. We often emphasize the importance of education and making it accessible to those who seek it. Personally, I have greatly benefited from the connections within our membership and the diversity of backgrounds and skills—ranging from mechanics to construction, and of course: technology.
I’ve been traveling again, and one of my recent stops was in St. Peter for an area conference. It was wonderful to see so many Brothers in such a beautiful lodge. WB Reed shared a startling statistic about the growing number of men turning to artificial intelligence for companionship. I find this to be a sad reflection of the times. On a more positive note, I also heard heartwarming stories from some of our younger members. It’s clear that those who engage with our fraternity have no trouble finding new friends and exciting adventures. That said, it’s important for us to listen to their interests and needs, and work to foster connections that promote them.
Expanding on the topic of AI, not all use cases push us toward a dystopian future. Many are already using tools like ChatGPT to generate ideas or refine their thoughts. In fact, the following Masonic poem was written by ChatGPT:
In the lodge where the Brothers unite,
They seek truth in the heart of the night.
With symbols in hand,
Together they stand,
Sharing wisdom that shines ever bright.
While I wouldn’t trade the valuable discussions and feedback I get from my Brothers, there are times when I hesitate to bother them. When researching, I often wish for a way to quickly narrow down specific topics of interest. ChatGPT might seem like old news, but I’ve been exploring a research tool that’s incredibly useful: Google’s NotebookLM. It’s currently available for free and allows users to import multiple documents, including PDFs, and use interactive chats to answer questions. It is quick, and extraordinarily useful. If you are wondering how it would do with loading our MN Masonic Manual or Code, here is a screenshot:
If you are like me and can never quite remember which section covers a specific topic, this might be a great tool for you.
You might have noticed from the example above that when using NotebookLM for research or summarizing, it cites sources and is limited to the content loaded into it. This makes it an awesome tool for discovery or focused research without the worry of noise from unintended content. Additionally worth noting is that you can link to YouTube videos or websites, further expanding its usefulness.
One of its more fascinating features is the ability to generate a two-person AI podcast based on the content it processes—an innovative way to engage with new material. Imagine uploading a book and having it generate discussions that you can listen to!
In closing, I understand that AI can be a very scary proposition – but it is an invaluable tool for learning and research. I hope this article brings you a little wonder and excitement about the possibilities it offers. Perhaps it can help you to do some research for a Masonic paper or podcast. I’d love to read it or listen.
Until then, travel well my Brothers.