The joys of picking up a book

I ask ChatGPT significantly fewer questions today than I did a year ago. Every time I use ChatGPT, I'm disappointed in the answer and left wondering what I've forgotten to ask about. While chat models rarely hallucinate these days, the responses lack detail unless you know the answer, and even then the models just agree with you.

Over the last year, I've used ChatGPT to help plan upcoming woodworking projects and garden renovation ideas. After a few sessions, a plan was set. While looking for vendors that sold the plants I selected, I quickly figured out that the planting styles came from just a couple of blog posts from a single nursery. I wasn't planning with an expert, I was digesting marketing material bundled in a conversational chat.

Now, months later, these chats are gathering dust. I don't open them, nor did I actually follow through on the projects. Looking back, it has been mostly a waste of time.

A few weeks ago, during an early Sunday breakfast in town, I noticed a book called "The Border Book - A plant lover's guide to dozens of original planting schemes"¹ in a charity shop window. A quick purchase later, I restarted on my gardening plans and the experience has been the complete opposite of working with ChatGPT.

You can't beat the fact that books are written by people with a deep commitment to the subject matter. It's not just that the content is rich and built from decades of experience, it's that it has a point of view to it. You might not agree with it all but there is a lot of charm in having a point of view. This is also why I keep going back to woodworking forums: the advice is sometimes hard to find but once you find it, it's motivating.

When was the last time a ChatGPT conversation was motivating ?