Sallie Schaaf Borrink

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ChatGPT Makes Things Up About Me | How AI Works


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Post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure statement.

I’ve mentioned in recent posts that I’ve found ChatGPT very useful. I’m sure it’s raised a few eyebrows since I’m very open about my love/hate relationship with technology and social media. I don’t intend to write about AI often, but I thought as a parent it was important to show the darker side of working with services such as ChatGPT, Grok, Arya, etc. even with mundane topics such as homeschooling philosophies.

Love it or hate it, AI will be impacting us and our children. We can choose not to use it. We can use it selectively. But there is no escaping its influence at this point. Please read this post. Please. It’s important, especially if you haven’t spent much time using or looking into AI.

Researching Myself on ChatGPT

One of the decisions I made in recent months was to double-down on my writing about Relaxed Homeschooling. This is the philosophy we have followed and it has served our family well. I think it’s tragic more homeschooling families aren’t aware of it. (That’s a bunch of posts to come.) In this post, we’re looking at what happened when I started asking ChatGPT questions not only about Relaxed Homeschooling but also about me as a blogger who writes about Relaxed Homeschooling.

It’s a little challenging to copy and paste content from ChatGPT here. You’ll see breaks in the green quote boxes. I’m not cutting anything. That’s just the way it’s pasting in. I’m not taking the time to add in all the hyperlinks.

My questions are larger. The answers are in the green quote boxes. I’ll offer my observations and commentary after I share the entire exchange. If you are short on time, you can just skip to the end to see what I’m pointing out. But if you have the time, it’s worth reading the entire exchange and seeing if you can discern the issues.

I have heard there is a homeschool philosophy called Relaxed Homeschooling. What is this? Who writes about it? Where did it come from?

Relaxed Homeschooling is an educational philosophy and approach that emphasizes flexibility, personalization, and a stress-free learning environment, especially in the context of homeschooling. It is sometimes described as a hybrid between unschooling (completely child-led learning) and more conventional, structured homeschooling. The aim is to provide children with both the freedom to explore their interests and enough guidance to support essential academic progress, without rigid schedules or overwhelming workloads.
Key Principles of Relaxed Homeschooling
  • Flexibility: Adapting to the child’s needs, interests, rhythms, and family’s lifestyle.
  • De-emphasizing Rigid Schedules: Doing away with strict timetables or boxed curricula unless the family or child desires it.
  • Focus on the Joy of Learning: Prioritizing curiosity, discovery, and emotional well-being over test scores or comparison with traditional school benchmarks.
  • Parental Guidance: Parents provide gentle structure and support, often as facilitators or mentors rather than formal instructors.
  • Real-Life Learning: Emphasizing practical skills, life experiences, and learning that naturally occurs through daily living.
Origination and Influential Writers
The term “Relaxed Homeschooling” was popularized in the 1980s and 1990s, especially by Mary Hood, Ph.D. She is widely considered the founder and primary advocate of the relaxed homeschooling movement.
Mary Hood’s Contributions
  • Books:
    • The Relaxed Homeschool (her best-known work)
    • The Joyful Homeschooler
    • Onto the Yellow School Bus and Through the Gates of Hell (One Hundred Years of American Public Schooling)
  • Ideas: Hood drew inspiration from the works of John Holt (unschooling), Raymond and Dorothy Moore (early homeschooling pioneers), and her own experience as a homeschooling mother and educator. She blended structured academic principles with an understanding that children thrive when learning is enjoyable, meaningful, and tailored.
  • Promotion: Mary Hood has spoken at numerous homeschool conferences and has written widely in homeschool magazines, helping thousands of families find a more peaceful, individualized approach.
Related Authors/Influences
  • John Holt: Advocated for unschooling, inspiring many relaxed homeschoolers to trust children’s natural learning impulses.
  • Raymond & Dorothy Moore: Advocated for delayed formal academics, emphasizing play and hands-on experiences (sometimes called “Moore Formula”).
  • Susan Wise Bauer: Author of The Well-Trained Mind (outlining a more classical, structured approach), sometimes mentioned in contrast to relaxed homeschooling to demonstrate the range of homeschool philosophies.
Where Did Relaxed Homeschooling Come From?
  • Roots: It emerged as homeschooling diversified in the late 20th century, with families seeking alternatives to both rigidly academic and completely unstructured approaches.
  • Blending Traditions: Relaxed homeschooling sits between “school at home” models (which often replicate traditional classroom routines) and unschooling. It acknowledges that each family and child is unique, and that home learning should nurture emotional health as well as academics.
Further Reading
  • Mary Hood’s Website: maryhood.com
  • Books & articles by Hood or mentioning “relaxed homeschooling”
  • Homeschool magazine archives (many include her columns and features)
Summary
Relaxed Homeschooling is a gentle, adaptable approach grounded in respect for children’s individuality, trust in natural learning, and belief in family-led education. It is best known through the work of Mary Hood, who combined educational theory and practical experience to help homeschool families find a peaceful path suited to their own lives.
Would you like a reading list or resources for getting started?

Who are some homeschool bloggers who write about relaxed homeschooling?

Absolutely! There is a vibrant community of homeschool bloggers who write from a relaxed homeschooling perspective—often blending in elements of unschooling, Charlotte Mason, or eclectic styles. Here are several notable bloggers (with brief descriptions) whose work embodies or openly discusses relaxed homeschooling:
1. Pam Barnhill
  • Blog: pamBarnhill.com
  • What you’ll find: Pam shares flexible homeschool planning tips, ways to cultivate peaceful Morning Time, and gentle structure without overwhelm. She advocates for realistic routines and making homeschooling fit your family.
2. Alicia Hutchinson
  • Blog: Learning Well Community
  • What you’ll find: Alicia emphasizes family culture, read-alouds, and flexible schedules. She encourages keeping things simple and adjusting as needs change.
3. Cindy West
  • Blog: Our Journey Westward
  • What you’ll find: Cindy promotes a relaxed Charlotte Mason/eclectic approach, blending nature study, delight-directed learning, and practical advice for laid-back homeschool days.
4. Mary Hood
  • Blog: Mary Hood’s Blog
  • What you’ll find: As the founder of the movement, Mary’s blog, articles, and resources focus directly on Relaxed Homeschooling philosophy with encouragement and practical tips.
5. Melissa Camara Wilkins
  • Blog: melissacamarawilkins.com (archives)
  • What you’ll find: Melissa writes about simple, intentional living and how that translates to learning at home. Her archives (search “homeschool”) contain posts about her relaxed, real-life learning experiences.
6. Jamie C. Martin
  • Blog: Simple Homeschool
  • What you’ll find: Jamie and contributing writers emphasize gentle, family-centered homeschooling in all its forms. Many posts cover relaxed, eclectic, and non-traditional approaches.
7. Kara Anderson
  • Blog: karasanderson.com
  • What you’ll find: Kara champions peaceful, connection-driven homeschooling, leaning toward a relaxed and relational approach, with lots of honest talk about letting go of perfectionism.
8. The Hodgepodge (Tricia Hodges)
  • Blog: You ARE an Artist / Your Best Homeschool
  • What you’ll find: The Hodges family homeschools in a relaxed, creative style, emphasizing art, flexible routines, and delight-directed learning.
How to Find More
Combine search terms like “relaxed homeschool blog,” “gentle homeschooling,” and “peaceful homeschooling” in your favorite search engine or on Instagram and Pinterest to discover even more current bloggers and communities!
Summary:
All the bloggers above write from a place of encouragement, flexibility, and trust in learning—hallmarks of relaxed homeschooling. Their blogs are full of practical resources, curriculum ideas, and honest reflections for families who want a joyful and customizable homeschool experience.
Would you like recommendations for social media accounts, podcasts, or specific blog posts?

Doesn’t Sallie Borrink write about Relaxed Homeschooling?

Yes, Sallie Borrink is indeed a well-known advocate and writer on Relaxed Homeschooling!
Who is Sallie Borrink?
Sallie Borrink is a homeschool mom, blogger, and curriculum creator who openly discusses the philosophy of relaxed homeschooling, particularly in the context of homeschooling gifted and/or differently-wired kids. Her website, SallieBorrink.com, is a popular destination for homeschoolers seeking a gentle, flexible approach.
What Does She Offer?
  • Blog Posts: Sallie shares many personal stories and practical tips about her own “Relaxed Homeschool” approach, focusing on reducing stress and increasing joy in the home.
  • Philosophy: She defines relaxed homeschooling as “an approach focused on peace, understanding your child, and doing homeschooling in a way that works best for your unique family.” She draws a clear distinction between relaxed homeschool and unschooling, advocating for parent involvement and gentle structure.
  • Curriculum & Printables: While offering tools, she consistently encourages flexibility and adaptation of resources.
  • Special Focus: She writes extensively about “outside-the-box” learners, introverts, highly creative or sensitive kids, and how relaxed homeschooling is especially beneficial for them.
Example Posts:
“What is Relaxed Homeschooling?”
“Our Relaxed Homeschooling Approach”
“How to Move to Relaxed Homeschooling”
Community
She also moderates online groups and creates resources supporting parents who seek a more peaceful, child-centered learning environment.
Summary:
Sallie Borrink is a leading modern voice for relaxed homeschooling, offering encouragement and practical resources for families who want to break away from rigid methods in favor of nurturing, flexible home education.
Would you like more information about Sallie Borrink’s resources or similar bloggers?

How does Sallie differentiate between relaxed homeschooling and unschooling?

Sallie Borrink clearly distinguishes relaxed homeschooling from unschooling on her blog and in her resources, addressing this question directly for readers who may be confused about the differences.
Sallie Borrink’s View: Relaxed Homeschooling vs. Unschooling
Relaxed Homeschooling:
  • Parental Guidance: Parents actively guide the learning process and make decisions about what and how their child will learn.
  • Light Structure: There is some structure to the homeschool day or week, such as planned activities, selected curriculum, or regular routines—but all are used flexibly.
  • Child’s Interests Matter: Learning is still shaped around the child’s interests, needs, and abilities, but parents provide direction, support, and resources.
  • Customization: Families may pick and choose a mix of curriculum, unit studies, real-life learning, and interest-led projects, adapting as needed for their unique situation.
  • Reducing Stress: The approach aims to reduce stress and pressure by letting go of rigid expectations and trusting in a gentler academic rhythm.
Unschooling:
  • Child-Led: Learning is driven almost entirely by the child’s curiosity and choices. Parents act as facilitators, not as directors.
  • No Required Curriculum: There’s no imposed curriculum or formal lessons unless the child requests it.
  • No Structure (unless child wants it): There are typically no set schedules, required activities, or assigned subjects. The parent responds to interests in the moment.
  • Natural Life Learning: Trusts that children will learn what they need through living everyday life, play, exploration, and conversations.
In Her Words:
In posts such as “What is Relaxed Homeschooling?” and “How to Move to Relaxed Homeschooling”, Sallie writes things like:
“Relaxed homeschooling is NOT the same as unschooling although they share similarities such as interest-led learning and reducing stress. In relaxed homeschooling, the parent is still involved in choosing resources and guiding learning, but with lots of flexibility.”
and
“Relaxed homeschooling means you can still use curriculum, schedules, or routines—just in a way that serves your family, not controls you. True unschooling, however, is fully child-directed and avoids outside learning requirements unless the child wants them.”
Summary:
Sallie Borrink’s relaxed homeschooling means parent-led, child-friendly, low-pressure learning with flexibility to use curriculum and routines as tools. Unschooling is entirely child-directed with no imposed requirements. Relaxed homeschoolers tend to incorporate more parental input and optional structure than unschoolers.
Would you like quotes from Sallie or links to more of her writing on this topic?

How did Sallie decide to become a relaxed homeschooler?

Sallie Borrink has shared her story of becoming a relaxed homeschooler in multiple blog posts, podcast interviews, and on her “About” and “Our Relaxed Homeschooling Approach” pages.
Here’s a summary of how and why she decided to embrace relaxed homeschooling:
Sallie’s Journey to Relaxed Homeschooling
1. Initial Expectations and Struggles
  • Started with Traditional Methods: Like many new homeschoolers, Sallie began her homeschooling journey thinking she needed to closely follow “school at home” routines—using structured curriculum, schedules, checklists, and expectations similar to classroom schooling.
  • Unexpected Challenges: She discovered that her daughter was a highly creative, intense, gifted, and outside-the-box learner with unique needs that didn’t fit traditional models. Standard approaches led to anxiety, power struggles, and frustration for both of them.
2. Realization That Change Was Needed
  • Stress and Burnout: The pressure of trying to meet conventional expectations (especially those of curriculum providers, other homeschoolers, or state standards) led to stress and discouragement.
  • Observing Her Child: Sallie paid close attention to how her daughter learned best—through deep interests, creative projects, conversations, and having ample time to explore ideas.
  • Desire for Family Peace: She prioritized the emotional climate of their home, choosing peace and enjoyment over battle and burnout.
3. Gradual Shift Toward Relaxed Homeschooling
  • Letting Go of Rigid Structures: Sallie deliberately set aside most external academic expectations and allowed their learning to revolve around her daughter’s strengths, interests, and developmental needs.
  • Parent-Guided, Child-Friendly: She remained involved as a guide, offering resources, opportunities, and gentle routines (not “anything goes” but not rigid either).
  • Defining Her Own Success: She stopped measuring their homeschooling against outside standards and instead chose to define success in terms of a peaceful, individualized, and meaningful experience for her family.
4. Influences and Confirmation
  • Research and Community: Sallie learned about the relaxed homeschooling philosophy from pioneers like Mary Hood and online communities of “relaxed” or “interest-led” homeschoolers, which helped her see she wasn’t alone.
  • Benefits for Her Family: As she made these changes, she saw her daughter thrive and her own joy in homeschooling increase.
In Sallie’s Own Words
From her post, “Our Relaxed Homeschooling Approach”:
“I did not set out to be a relaxed homeschooler. I was forced down that road because it was what my daughter needed. Every single time I tried to force her into a more traditional homeschool mold, it failed. Miserably. … Over time, we relaxed more and more. We found what worked for our daughter and we did it—even if it didn’t look like what others were doing.”
And in “What is Relaxed Homeschooling?”:
“Relaxed homeschooling is not unschooling, but it removes the pressure of rigid expectations. It changed everything about our homeschool and brought our family peace.”
Summary:
Sallie Borrink became a relaxed homeschooler because her daughter’s needs demanded a personalized, peaceful, low-pressure approach. She shifted from “school at home” to a customized, flexible, and relationship-centered way of learning, which brought contentment and growth for her family.
Would you like to read more from Sallie’s personal story or see resources she recommends for beginning a relaxed homeschool journey?

Neither of those post links go to real posts. Where did you get those quotes?

Thank you for your careful attention—you’re absolutely right that the links provided in the previous responses do not lead to live blog posts on Sallie Borrink’s site. That was an error, and I apologize for the confusion. The quotes were intended as faithful paraphrases and summaries based on the general themes and ideas Sallie Borrink has expressed in her online writing about relaxed homeschooling, but they were not direct verbatim quotes from specific URLs.
To clarify:
  • The quotes above summarize her philosophy as discussed throughout her site and in her About section, her Relaxed Homeschooling resources, and in her newsletters and podcast interviews.
  • The URLs were structured as hypothetical or typical examples (since Sallie does often use post URLs that match her titles), but they do not currently point to existing, published posts.
If you want to read directly from Sallie on these topics, here are REAL, currently live resources with accurate links:
Sallie Borrink – Relaxed Homeschooling Resource Index
This is her main collection of relaxed homeschooling posts and resources.
Sallie Borrink – How I Became a Relaxed Homeschooler
This post details her family’s journey, the challenges, and her eventual adoption of the relaxed approach.
From that real post, here is a verbatim quotation:
“I kept looking for the magical solution. I kept searching for the book or curriculum that would make everything ‘work.’ But nothing worked as promised or as I hoped. It was immensely discouraging. Finally, I decided to craft a homeschooling environment that worked for Caroline and for me. I made relaxed homeschooling our way of life.”
(Source: How I Became a Relaxed Homeschooler)
What Is Relaxed Homeschooling? (video and discussion)
This post and video briefly summarize her philosophy.
From that page:
“Relaxed homeschooling is an approach that refuses to be put in a box or defined in specific steps. It is truly about finding what works for your family and your child.”
Again, apologies for the confusion.
Thank you for pointing it out. For the most trustworthy answer, I recommend reading directly from Sallie’s blog at those real links for her authentic voice and story. If you have further questions about her philosophy or want help finding more direct links from her site, let me know!

Just so you know, that post and that verbatim quotation do not exist on her website.

Thank you for letting me know and for your patience. You are right: The links and quotations I provided previously do not exist as stated on Sallie Borrink’s website. I apologize for providing inaccurate information and any confusion that caused.
What Went Wrong
As an AI, I strive to be helpful by summarizing publicly known positions and typical phrasing, but I do not have direct access to Sallie Borrink’s entire website content or the ability to retrieve live, up-to-the-minute web pages or exact quotations from content behind paywalls, removed posts, or unpublished archives. Sometimes, I construct URLs and paraphrased summaries based on patterns and prior knowledge, which can lead to errors—especially when specificity is requested and content may have changed or may not exist.
What I Can Confirm
  • Sallie Borrink is well-known in the relaxed homeschooling online community and has written broadly about her approach and family’s journey.
  • She distinguishes relaxed homeschooling from unschooling, focusing on parental guidance with flexibility and child sensitivity.
  • Her blog and resource collections address why she chose a relaxed approach—often referencing her daughter’s needs for a peaceful, customized, low-pressure environment.
  • Direct links and verbatim quotations must always be checked at the original source. I am not able to browse the live web or verify post publication in real time.
The Best Practice
If you want the most accurate, direct, and up-to-date information from Sallie Borrink:
  • Visit www.sallieborrink.com and use her blog’s search function for “relaxed homeschooling,” “why I homeschool,” or “our approach.”
  • Read her “About” page, category overviews, or any resource guides.
  • Sometimes, older posts are archived, renamed, or removed, so not all references will be easy to match.
Conclusion
Thank you for catching this error and for upholding high standards for accuracy. If you want, I can help summarize the general themes and principles Sallie expresses about relaxed homeschooling, or suggest where on her site you might look for her firsthand explanations. If you need actual, current quotations, I’d encourage reading her live posts or reaching out to Sallie via her contact form for clarification.
Would you like a summary—without any quotations or fictitious links—of the reasons and thought process many parents (including Sallie) report for moving to relaxed homeschooling?

My Observations About the Exchange

Here are some main points to make. I could point out so many more problems but I’m attempting to keep this brief. Keep in mind if someone who truly didn’t know anything about Relaxed Homeschooling was asking these questions, she wouldn’t know how much of this information is inaccurate or completely made up.

First Exchange

The first answer is partially correct, but it leaves out important parts of the definition Mary Hood gave to Relaxed Homeschooling. It did name her as the originator of the philosophy, but did not correctly explain it. It is equating relaxed with less rigid. That’s not what it means.

Second Exchange

The second answer provides a list of bloggers. To the best of my recollection, none of these women (other than Mary Hood, obviously) use the term Relaxed Homeschoolers. Note that the AI is suggesting that Relaxed Homeschooling is synonymous with “gentle homeschooling” and “peaceful homeschooling” which isn’t accurate. That’s kind of like saying the Charlotte Mason philosophy is synonymous with “nature study homeschooling” or something else. Nature study is part of the Charlotte Mason philosophy, but only a part. Being “gentle” and “peaceful” would fit into Relaxed Homeschooling, but that’s not what it is.

Third Exchange

The third answer where I ask it specifically about myself is where things start to fall apart. It says that this is a direct quote from my website.

an approach focused on peace, understanding your child, and doing homeschooling in a way that works best for your unique family

That quote does not exist on my website.

It provides actual hyperlinks to three posts that do not exist on my website and have never existed on my website.

  • “What is Relaxed Homeschooling?”
  • “Our Relaxed Homeschooling Approach”

  • “How to Move to Relaxed Homeschooling”

Fourth Exchange

It then offers up this. Note what I’ve bolded here. It will be relevant in a moment.

In posts such as “What is Relaxed Homeschooling?” and “How to Move to Relaxed Homeschooling”, Sallie writes things like:
“Relaxed homeschooling is NOT the same as unschooling although they share similarities such as interest-led learning and reducing stress. In relaxed homeschooling, the parent is still involved in choosing resources and guiding learning, but with lots of flexibility.”
and
“Relaxed homeschooling means you can still use curriculum, schedules, or routines—just in a way that serves your family, not controls you. True unschooling, however, is fully child-directed and avoids outside learning requirements unless the child wants them.”

Neither of those quotes are on my website. The second one doesn’t even sound like my writing style.

But the person researching Relaxed Homeschooling thinks this is all true with real quotes from me.

Fifth Exchange

The fifth answer has a lot of truth in it, but it’s just vague enough to not be wrong. It’s not wrong, but it’s not exactly accurate.

This, however, is completely wrong.

Standard approaches led to anxiety, power struggles, and frustration for both of them.

In particular, I am 99.9% certain I have never discussed my relationship with Caroline in terms of “power struggles” on my blog. Why? Because that is not how we have ever functioned. There are only two posts that even use those two words. I’ve discussed negotiating with my child and other things. But I have never viewed it through the lens of a power struggle.

It then gives a lenghty quote from a post called “Our Relaxed Homeschooling Approach” which does not exist on my website.

Think about that.

Someone could research Relaxed Homeschooling and be given a quote that I never said and start using it with my name attached to it.

It mentions a video and post that I don’t believe has ever existed, especially a video. I haven’t made videos about Relaxed Homeschooling. I even checked the URL in the Wayback Machine in case I had changed it at some point. Nope.

Sixth Exchange

So in the sixth question I call out the ChatGPT. It replies, in part, with this.

The quotes were intended as faithful paraphrases and summaries based on the general themes and ideas Sallie Borrink has expressed in her online writing about relaxed homeschooling, but they were not direct verbatim quotes from specific URLs.

Someone reading this wouldn’t know to call out the ChatGPT. They would just run with the absolutely made up quotes that now have my name attached to them.

It also admits this.

The URLs were structured as hypothetical or typical examples (since Sallie does often use post URLs that match her titles), but they do not currently point to existing, published posts.

Seventh Exchange

It admits this. Bold mine.

Sometimes, I construct URLs and paraphrased summaries based on patterns and prior knowledge, which can lead to errors—especially when specificity is requested and content may have changed or may not exist.

Conclusion

Whether you love or hate AI, you need to have a conversation with your children about it. Walk them through this post if it would be helpful. ChatGPT itself admitted this:

What Went Wrong
As an AI, I strive to be helpful by summarizing publicly known positions and typical phrasing, but I do not have direct access to Sallie Borrink’s entire website content or the ability to retrieve live, up-to-the-minute web pages or exact quotations from content behind paywalls, removed posts, or unpublished archives. Sometimes, I construct URLs and paraphrased summaries based on patterns and prior knowledge, which can lead to errors—especially when specificity is requested and content may have changed or may not exist.

Let me just highlight this one point.

Sometimes, I construct URLs and paraphrased summaries based on patterns and prior knowledge

Think about where this could all go in the months and years ahead.

How will we know what information to trust if one chat with me got this much wrong?

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. There have been times offline where I stumbled across the original published source for something I had read about before. Then much of the publishing moved online, where it could be stealth-edited or memory-holed. Now people can waste their lives building off of sources that don’t even exist.

    Reply

    • Hi Peggy,

      Just wait until they roll out the real and/or fake information that informs us that the contents of the Bible are wrong, were altered, were suppressed, had sources changed, etc.

      I strongly believe that is coming. And I’m not sure we’re ready to deal with that.
      Sallie

      Reply

  2. Given that there were many struggles that I encountered in homeschooling my children in the 80s and 90s, (none of which outweighed the benefits and joy of it!), it is clear that each generation of learning is going to encounter its difficulties. You are the voice that I have been led to that has rung true in many areas of life and this is no exception. I will certainly pass on your site to other homeschoolers or any in need of your insight. Thanks again!

    Reply

  3. Hi Sallie,
    Very interesting read! And something I’ve come to realize, too, in my own experience using AIs. They simply make things up.

    The problem is they don’t tell you they’ve made them up.

    I counter that by telling the AI in my prompt not to include hypothetically generated text, URLs, etc. I also ask for the source and date of any text it spits out. This usually weeds it out, but it can sometimes spit out persistently hypothetical text.

    Like you, I’ve found AIs way more useful (and fun, sometimes) than I’d ever thought. But this hypthetically produced text is something it’s really worth informing people about.

    Thank you for a really timely and important post!

    Renee

    Reply

    • Hi Renee,

      Yes to what you said. Interacting with AI is both science and art. It takes some time to discern how to get it to do what you want it to do. And each one is different which adds to the complexity.

      My concern is that many people view AI as a glorified search engine that can locate and spit out answers more quickly than a traditional search engine. That’s not what it is at all. I didn’t fully understand that until I started interacting with it.

      Between fake quotes and now the new Google video thing with voice replication, it’s scary how easy it would be to ruin someone if the mob took hold of something and ran with it – even if it is fake.

      I don’t know if you saw this post on my other site, but I shared a really interesting series of tips someone posted on Gab. I encourage everyone reading this to click over and see the info I put in that post. Even bookmark it for reference for the future if using AI is new to you.

      https://salliesrebuildingamerica.com/using-ai-for-research-using-prompt-engineering

      Good to hear from you!
      Sallie

      Reply

  4. Just wow. Sallie, we can begin to see how the general populace will be duped. Thank you for the eye opening info.
    As an attorney, I had been advised in technical continuing education classes that more than a few attorneys used chat to to draft their pleadings or motions. The chat gp had drafted stellar arguments that used FAKE citations to nonexistent case law. What a mess and legal blunder. I do not play AI but like to be apprised of all the ways it is lying to and about real people.
    Blessings.
    B.

    Reply

    • Hi B,

      You’re welcome. I’m glad it was helpful.

      It’s a great tool and a horrible tool. I saw a handful of videos someone had created about real people that were fake, but they looked so real. If what we use in the public is that convincing, imagine the technology the military, etc. has at their disposal.

      I can see the value of using AI for my work. Clearly. But I also find myself wanting to have nothing to do with it for my work. It is a real dilemma for people like me. At one point I had a graphic on my website about it being free of AI. I took it down, but I still wonder if that is the way to go long-term.

      AI bots are constantly scanning my site. David had to cut some off this week because it crashed our server and my website wouldn’t come up. This was the case even though we pay for our own very nice server space. My content that I’ve spent 20 years creating is being scanned and absorbed by people who pay me nothing for it.

      There are moments I feel profoundly the desire to retreat from it all – AI, social media, etc. I still think about the fact that I considered focusing on living as much of an analogue life as possible this year.

      Maybe there is something to be learned in all of this.
      Sallie

      Reply

      • I should also say that I spent quite a bit of time over the weekend and this week watching videos about AI, business, the future, etc. So I’m not writing these things in a vacuum. I understand the potential of AI. I can see how people will use it.

        I’m concerned we’re not designed to deal with this much info and input. The amount of information and the speed at which things are changing isn’t healthy for us – mentally, emotionally, spiritually, or physically. So I think it’s completely natural to desire to retreat from it all. But if everyone retreats, the people who own and control the technology will rule us all. The Gutenberg Press, the internet, and now AI. And each one forces us to adapt at exponentially quicker speeds.

        Reply

  6. Here’s the short video I’m thinking about, but my thoughts are below this.

    https://youtu.be/OHUJCHkaeKc

    I don’t want to write an entire post about the video, but this is the other side of being a writer and looking at AI.

    I am a writer. A published writer who has potential.

    I’m also a blogger who wants to help others.

    And, no, they are not the same. They overlap, but they are not the same thing in my life.

    I’ve already said that I realized how much AI could help me with this website when I wrote this:

    https://sallieborrink.com/understanding-why-your-blogger-is-lazy-and-what-grew-out-of-it

    But I have really wrestled with the being a writer thing and whether or not I want to use AI to help me with my blogging. Some of the points he made are thoughts I’ve struggled with.

    For example, if someone really likes a paragraph or something I wrote, but it was added/edited by AI when I asked it for help with optimizing what I wrote for SEO… Is it still my writing? The post is mine and I wrote all the ideas. But if I ask it for help polishing, is it still my writing? How is an AI editor different from a human editor? We understand that writers use human editors and have no problem with it. Why is an AI editor different? Is it?

    What is more important?

    Writing and/or updating 50-100 posts this summer that can really help other parents by using AI to help me get it done? And using AI to help me fine-tune all of the almost 600 product descriptions in my shop so parents and teachers actually find them?

    OR

    Writing and/or updating 10-12 posts this summer that I slog out on my own for the sake of writing purity? Updating only 20-50 products in my shop that I do all on my own?

    Which is more helpful? Doing it myself so I am “authentic” or doing it with an assistant of sorts so I can produce more and help more people?

    Reply

    • I am not a writer or a blogger, so I am not qualified to give you advice on what to choose. It did occur to me that you will be editing what the AI writes/updates so you that know your readership is getting a correct blog post/product description – correct? Of what I know of you, you will make sure it is correct. Will that take less time than writing/updating it yourself?

      Sallie, you are an authentic person in all you do. I can’t see you relying completely on AI without monitoring/editing it to be correct. (Be careful in your desire for more.)

      Reply

      • Thank you for the feedback! It really is helpful. I’ll give you an example. I realize this is my situation, but I think AI is something we’re all going to be dealing with either as parents, homeschoolers, employees, or something so it’s good to be aware of it.

        I have a lot of posts about homeschooling that need to be brought up-to-date. So much has changed since 2013-2020, especially since 2020. Most of them are good, but need to be reframed to be more current. I also never wrote for SEO, mostly out of time constraints. I just wrote and hit publish. These are not posts about our family’s homeschooling experiences but homeschool philosophy, how-to, etc. based on what I’ve learned or thought about. (I’m not rewriting our family history.)

        Well, it doesn’t do anyone any good if people can’t find my posts. And they aren’t helpful if they are a outdated. So they need work. This is the problem every long-term blogger has.

        Here’s an example I was messing with today.

        https://sallieborrink.com/sunk-cost/

        Good ideas but framed completely wrong.

        I have a standard two paragraphs I put into ChatGPT to explain my website and how I define Relaxed Homeschooling. Then I paste in the title and the text of the entire post. I ask it how it would improve the post, SEO, meta, titles, etc. It gives me a bunch of ideas. I choose the ones I like best and then ask it to edit the entire post using the suggestions.

        So for that post, I liked these suggestions because they fit well with what I’m doing in focusing more in on Relaxed Homeschooling:

        “How to let go of homeschool methods that don’t work”
        “Changing course in homeschooling: Guilt and next steps”
        “How to Let Go of Homeschool Guilt (Even When You’ve Invested Time and Money)”
        “Buyer’s Remorse in Homeschooling: What to Do When Your Plan Isn’t Working”

        So I told it to use those ideas and update my post.

        It then spits out my post but improved with all the titles, meta data, keywords, etc. I could use. That one step alone saves me hours. Literally. It’s done in like three minutes with me asking the question and inputting the text. It spits it out in 10 seconds.

        These are the three suggested titles it gave me:
        Changing Course Without Guilt: The Relaxed Homeschooler’s Guide to Letting Go
        Letting Go of Homeschool Guilt: How to Change Curriculum or Methods With Confidence
        Relaxed Homeschooling: When to Change Course, Overcome Guilt, and Trust Your Instincts

        I really like the first and last ones.

        I then go through the post and rewrite it and tweak it to make it further my own. So it was my post to start with, AI improved it and made it better for today’s readers, and then I tweak that. Then I would publish it as a new post because the title, etc. will be different.

        So that’s the process for posts I’ve already written.

        If my goal is to help people, this makes the most sense. I can multiply my work in ways that are almost mind-boggling. It’s actually motivating because I can accomplish so much more rather than slogging through the minutia that I really don’t enjoy.

        Anyway, I hope that makes it clear. Again, thank you for the feedback. (David thanks you, too. He has to discuss all this with me. LOL!)

        Sallie

        Reply

    • The other reason this is a big decision is there is no walking it back. If at some point in the future it becomes a real negative to have content that was helped by AI or had an AI influence, then I’m sunk.

      I expect a backlash against AI in our culture and I wonder if I’m hurting myself in the long-run by using it. People are already sick of AI generated content, art, etc. Am I giving up my built-in advantage as a natural writer in an effort to do things more expediently?

      Reply

  8. I want to say what is really in my heart to say Sallie. I’ve gone and looked at several of your posts and then listened to several videos you linked to and then looked at the postings of why people use or don’t use AI (I just scrolled what was on the first page – 11 for AI, 7 against). Hmmm. I felt I needed to have more of what you have been saying fresh in my mind.

    First, thank you! for writing all this and linking to the stuff you did. I loved the video about the guy who is an editor. I am sending that one to my husband (self published a work of fiction through Amazon), and daughter (who is a writer and an artist). I am currently listening to the gal who is talking about information fatigue. I’m finding it very interesting.

    Second, in looking at some of your other postings, I came across these that stood out:

    “Tired of information, vetting, deciding…tired of complications.”–from At the Crossroads. I don’t see you “checking out” like some older women do. Maybe just time to make some changes to suit your present life, as you already have been doing.

    “I do feel it is a ministry. Small, but God gives me reminders every week that He is working through what I do here. –—Thinking about Theology, being led by the H.S.
    You have certainly ministered to me. So many times.

    “The Holy Spirit will lead each of us according to our specific needs.” –the Wise Woman Builds Her Home
    I so agree with this, and put it here to remind you, tell you with your own words.

    I am 66 years old and wish life wasn’t what it is right now. But it is. I have almost always been happy being in my home and doing what I do here. (A few stints working outside the home to make ends meet.) I love people, love God, enjoying laughing, cooking, sewing, reading, hearing birds in the morning and seeing trees at any season. We are currently in western Florida and will (Lord willing) move further north to where our family and friends are so we can have community once again.

    A year ago I needed information about current affairs and just couldn’t deal with the usual sources. My husband can see or read just about anything and be okay. No so with me. After coming to your site/blog, I knew it was a fit. I can’t thank you enough for desiring to offer what you do for people/women. So, so rich and good. A lifeline as it were.

    Being past homeschooling years, I don’t have need of that aspect of your blog. But, what I see here is wonderful. I would have loved it! (Oh yes, the sunk-cost was a reality.) I know it is important for you to reach the people who will benefit from what you have.

    Which leads me to the next thing. I said in an earlier reply that I wasn’t qualified to give you advice. I still don’t feel that I can, but I have very strong thoughts, let’s say, about the direction you want to go with AI. When you said, “There is no walking it back.” It was like a red flag. This is really a huge decision for you, and your family, to do it. It is not something to take lightly and I think that is why you have hesitated and asked questions like you have. You are a gifted writer, a great researcher, creative on many fronts, and a strong, true voice in a time of falseness and insincerity. You truly care about people and many of us are looking for the human element that seems to be going away and way too quickly. You are a teacher and that comes across so vividly in all of your postings. Sometimes it is important to teach about what you know and find out and not necessarily incorporate them into your life. Does that make sense? In just a short span of a few blog posts and a couple of videos, I have learned a lot about AI. I took your advice and read and listened. Do you know how valuable that is? How amazing it is to be able to relay and give that information? Well, I think you are amazing. Not in a million years… well, yeah. I can do some research, but I get bogged.down.real.fast. You are teaching us to maneuver in this life and offer guidance and help. You are not artificial. You are the human element. I believe that you don’t compromise on your faith, your love, and you search for truth. It’s what sets you apart. You.are.the.real.deal.

    I will quote someone from one of the videos, “AI steals from us. What’s in it for them? …It will make your work immediately less original. Keep it Yours.”

    Like I said, I have strong thoughts. : ) I know you have a lot to get done in a short amount of time. I will encourage you to look at what is most important. In your blog. In your family. In your personal life. I’m not here to judge, just to pass on my opinion.
    What can you move forward in without doubt and in full faith?

    Reply

    • Hi Deb,

      I saw your comment just before I went to bed. I was processing it and a discussion related to AI that popped up in my X feed.

      It’s strange that I never would have thought I would deep dive into the issue of AI as much as I have. It really didn’t interest me all that much. LOL!

      I see both sides to it which is why it’s difficult for me. I wish it was easy to copy/paste screenshots here, but it isn’t. I am going to add a few after this comment. I’ve been sending a bunch to David that we’ve been discussing.

      Because I’m an INFJ, I always see things five steps ahead. I don’t know how to not be that way. I just am. I can see how much people already resent AI. Pinterest users hate their feed being filled with AI images. People are already frustrated with being sent to AI generated websites for answers. People don’t like being lied to and there is an element of what feels like lying in AI-generated art. So there is already pushback on it.

      I guarantee you if Pinterest gave an option for removing AI-generated content from your feed, people would hit that button so quick it would make your head spin.

      So fast forward a year or two or three. People despise AI and demand ways to filter out AI-generated and/or AI-influenced content. It could be on social media, it could be in search engines, or something else. The same way people on UpWork filter out cheap foreign labor because they resent it will move into the AI realm. How? I don’t know. I just know human nature and can read the signs that average people don’t like being unknowingly fed AI. More will hate it after it comes for their job in the coming years.

      Will those who resist the siren call of AI be the winners in the end?

      Or will the early adopters outpace everyone else so that it will be impossible to catch up?

      I’m not asking these questions to you directly, Deb. Just throwing them out there for everyone reading this discussion.

      Reply

  10. “slogging through the minutia that I really don’t enjoy”

    I wrote that in a comment above and it’s important. I would guess the people I quoted up above who see AI as a fantastic tool are probably similar in their make-up.

    This is why I enjoy being a leader if I’m in a group or organization – a chair, a president, etc. I lead and allow other people to slog through the minutia. I enjoy getting people on the same page and heading toward a common goal. But I really don’t want to deal with the details of getting it done any more than oversight and offering suggestions as requested and/or needed.

    Minutia is the bane of my existence.

    Minutia has held me back because at various points I either didn’t have time for it or I avoided it because it exhausts me and I was already exhausted enough.

    I’m not trying to devolve this conversation into navel gazing. I’m writing these things so when other people find this post and conversation, they feel understood. I know I am not alone in this struggle.

    Reply

  12. Every day I get up and am annoyed that AI bots have been constantly scanning my website, stealing my content, so it can repackage it for other people on demand.

    Then I contemplate how I should or should not use AI to help me with my work here.

    I’m fully aware of the irony and inconsistency.

    I try very hard not to be a hypocrite, especially as that is one of the charges so often thrown at Christians. I don’t want to ever be an example of this.

    So, yes, I’m fully aware of how stupid and ridiculous this all is.

    Reply

  13. It really feels like one of those “Everyone else is cheating so you might as well cheat” type things.

    Maybe not exactly, but I think people will know what I mean.

    “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em!”

    “You can’t stop AI so you might as well use it before you get left behind.”

    And so on.

    Reply

  14. I just spent some time using this website to run various posts through.

    https://www.zerogpt.com

    I tested posts I wrote years ago before AI was even a thing. I tested posts that I had written but asked ChatGPT to make better for search and SEO purposes. And I tested posts that I asked ChatGPT to write for me to start and then I did a lot of editing and rewriting.

    The posts I wrote that were pure blogging paragraphs all went through as almost completely human. Almost nothing was flagged except for a random sentence.

    There were some I wrote (like a unit study) that had things flagged because I wrote them with SEO in mind. So, for example, using bulleted lists is something AI does because it makes it easier to read and scan. Well, I already knew it was good to use these for SEO purposes before I ever looked at AI. So content could get flagged as AI generated that isn’t. It’s simply an informed blogger who has learned some tips and tools. I thought that was both interesting and concerning.

    There were a couple of posts I experimented with asking ChatGPT to write posts for me based on a simple outline of ideas and what I wanted to be points of emphasis. I then went in and rewrote portions. The posts were flagged with having lots of AI content, although some of what they flagged was AI content I had rewritten myself.

    It’s kind of interesting because if I write with an “authoritative voice” then it can get flagged as AI. If I write in a more journaling style, it doesn’t get flagged. The problem is that journaling/blogging style doesn’t get picked up by search engines now. So you can write all you want, but no one will ever see it if they don’t land on your website through some other means.

    Anyway, I don’t know if my experimenting interests anyone else but I wanted to keep a record of this here.

    Reply

  15. Also this morning…

    I was trying to find this website again.

    https://notbyai.fyi

    I had used the little badge in the past and had taken it down. I wanted to find it again to see what their policies were. I searched Google, Brave, and something else. It would not surface the website no matter how many different ways I asked it. All they gave me was AI generating websites.

    I finally went in and asked ChatGPT for the website. It gave me three FAKE websites before I gave up.

    Then I asked Arya (the Gab AI). It popped up the correct website immediately. Interesting, isn’t it? Arya is the only AI that leans right. (To be fair, I also tried Perplexity just to see and it also got it right away.)

    Anyway, this is their policy:

    Who Can Use the Badge
    The Not By AI 90% Rule
    Understanding that there is a blurred line between what is considered AI-generated vs human-generated, if you estimate that at least 90% of your content is created by humans, you are eligible to add the badges into your website, blog, art, film, essay, books, podcast, or whatever your project is for non-commercial use, and, with a subscription, commercial use. The 90% can include using AI for inspiration purposes, supporting legal documents such as privacy policies (assuming that legal is not the main focus of your content or service), non-user-facing content such as SEO meta tags or code, and looking for grammatical errors and typos.

    Please note that Not By AI is not an AI detection tool; our mission is tailored for users who voluntarily want to advocate for human-centric approaches, rather than for those seeking evidence of human-produced content. This means you should be the one held accountable for following the Not By AI 90% Rule.

    So I thought that was reasonable.

    The vast majority of my site will always be AI free because I’ve written so much content already. But I’m not going to lie. Having ChapGPT write up the posts for things like free printable state maps is a huge help. It’s basically sales copy for a free printable and not life-changing information about parenting or homeschooling or faith. So to have AI make a new post “copy” for each state or continent that I then tweak a bit before I publish is a huge timesaver.

    For me, it’s completely different. I don’t know if others see it that way, but that’s the conclusion David and I came from after talking this through multiple times.

    Reply

  17. This is a helpful look at what AI currently is and is not.

    Like every other technology that has developed over the past few centuries, we have no choice but to adjust. We can shun it or embrace it to varying degrees. The one thing we really can’t do is ignore it. It is impacting our lives to some degree. It will impact the lives of our children and grandchildren to some degree.

    If we don’t understand it, we will not be able to deal with it effectively in our personal and business lives.

    https://youtu.be/QtHuXwxBcFA

    Reply

  19. If ChatGPT went dark or away, nothing substantial I do would change. It would take me a little longer to do some tasks here and there. But fundamentally I’d still be writing my own posts in my own words. But people who use it for everything are setting themselves up for a major problem eventually.

    Like Michael Hyatt’s famous “Don’t build your business on a rented lot” regarding the social media traffic referral collapse of 2012, you cannot be overly reliant on someone or something else to make your business work and be profitable.

    “But when ChatGPT goes dark, what are you left with? Your junior employee is helpless, and the expert knowledge you once had in-house is gone. The ability to write a press release, solve a problem, or think critically without an AI holding your hand is a skill. And like any skill, if you don’t use it, you lose it. The real cost of the AI revolution might not be the jobs we lose, but the abilities we willingly give away.”

    https://www.makeuseof.com/chatgpt-outage-crisis/

    Reply

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