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https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/aug/11/digital-dr-karl-kruszelnickic-ai-chatbot>
"There’s probably no face, voice or collection of exuberant, patterned shirts
more recognisable than those belonging to Dr Karl Kruszelnicki.
The bespectacled science communicator has been answering curly listener
questions about science, with characteristic excitement and passion, for more
than 40 years. Despite a seemingly tireless work ethic, Kruszelnicki, now 77
years old, can’t be everywhere all at once.
Those questions now come in waves, across social media platforms at all hours
of the day. “Sometimes, I get 300 requests a day on Twitter to answer an
involved question about climate change,” Kruszelnicki says.
Particularly on X (formerly Twitter), he says he would often engage with users
who don’t believe the climate crisis is real or urgent. He hoped there might be
a way to change the minds of this group of people, who he says have been
bombarded by misinformation in places such as the Murdoch press for the past 30
years.
After speaking with longtime friend and technology journalist Leigh Stark, the
pair settled on an idea: an AI-powered Digital Dr Karl. Using a large language
model (LLM), they’re creating a chatbot designed to sound like Kruszelnicki
that provides users with evidence, backed by trustworthy sources, that the
climate crisis is caused by humans and is an urgent problem to solve.
“I cannot answer all the questions by myself and people want questions
answered. The only way I can do it is develop this digital AI,” he says."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
