The Carillon Volume 65, Issue 16

the carillon vol. 65, issue 16

carillonregina.com

january 26, 2023

j-school plans p. 3 academic insolence?

p. 5

book binge p. 7

buried truth p. 10

the carillon the staff

editor-in-chief editor@carillonregina.com

holly funk

production manager production@carillonregina.com

shae sackman

227 Riddell Centre University of Regina - 3737 Wascana Parkway, Regina, SK, Canada S4S 0A2 www.carillonregina.com Phone: (306) 586 8867 Printed by Star Press Inc, Wainwright, AB

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holden norrie

The Carillon welcomes contributions.

business manager business@carillonregina.com

thomas czinkota

communications mehrnoush bahramimehr comms@carillonregina.com web manager web@carillonregina.com

vacant

multimedia/graphics editors multimedia@carillonregina.com graphics@carillonregina.com

safal gangwani lee lim

copy editor copyeditor@carillonregina.com

aurel dumont

news editor news@carillonregina.com

gillian massie

a&c editor arts@carillonregina.com

wren gessner

s&h editor sports@carillonregina.com

vacant

op-ed editor op-ed@carillonregina.com

hammad ali

distribution manager distribution@carillonregina.com staff writer

sunpreet sidhu amina salah

staff writer

victoria baht

staff writer

kate sveinbjornson

news writer

josh king

a&c writer

will bright

s&h writer

sophia stevens contributors

tejas

vol. 65

the paper

Opinions expressed in the pages of the Carillon are entirely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of the Carillon Newspaper Inc. Opinions expressed in advertisements appearing in the Carillon are those of the advertisers, and not necessarily of The Carillon Newspaper Inc. or its staff.

The Carillon is published no less than 11 times each semester during the fall and winter semesters and periodically throughout the summer. The Carillon is published by the Carillon Newspaper Inc., a non-profit organization. land acknowledgement The Carillon is written on Treaty 4 territory. As such, staff recognize that we are living, working, and telling stories on and of Indigenous lands. We recognize that we are on the traditional homelands of the Cree, Saulteaux, Nakota, Lakota, and Dakota peoples, along with the homeland of the Métis nation. The Carillon understands that it is pointless to acknowledge the land on which we work without demonstrating our commitment to telling stories and prioritizing voices that further the return of this land to its sacred place. the manifesto In keeping with our reckless, devil-may-care image, our office has absolutely no concrete information on the Carillon’s formative years readily available. What follows is the story that’s been passed down from editor to editor for over sixty years.

In the late 1950s, the University of Regina planned the construction of several new buildings on the campus grounds. One of these proposed buildlings was a beltower on the academic green. If you look out on the academic green today, the first thing you’ll notice is that it has absolutely nothing resembling a belltower.

The University never got a belltower, but what it did get was the Carillon, a newspaper that serves as a symbolic bell tower on campus, a loud and clear voice belonging to each and every student.

the people’s friend; the tyrant’s foe

board of directors holly funk and honourary members: shiva souri, thomas czinkota, will bright, hammad ali, amina salah, and shae sackman

The University of Regina Students’ Newspaper Since 1962 january 26, 2023 | volume 65, issue 16 | carillonregina.com

news The Carillon has roughly 20 of the best and brightest students on staff who all put in odd hours and immense care to produce and publish these issues, and we have a couple staff positions still open this semester. If this issue’s contents pique your interest (or if you’re looking to get involved regardless), checking the job posting page on our website would be a great place to start! We also accept contributions of written and visual work from students who aren’t on staff, and we have a web page for contributors with some resources we created to make the process a bit less daunting.

If you’re not looking to submit work for us to consider publishing but still want to engage more actively with your students’ newspaper, we currently have some student-at-large seats open on our board of directors. If you’re interested in a board position, a staff position, contributing, or you just want more details, email me at editor@carillonregina.com and I’ll be happy to chat about how we can get you involved. holly funk editor-in-chief

come, unity!

cover...................cvaf_regina manip by safal gangwani news.............................................courtesy cvaf_regina news .............................................................via dall-e2 a&c ...............................................................will bright a&c...........................................................wren gessner sports ..........................................courtesy laura becker op-ed ..................................................manip by lee lim

p. 4

This interview with Cathedral area community fridge organizer Brianna Kroener highlights the importance of keeping ‘community’ front of mind with this style of support.

academic insolence?

a&c

p. 5

A look at ChatGTP, a chatbot with a human-like ability to write, and a U of R grad student’s thoughts on this step in tech development.

p. 7

Wren Gessner reviews Centennial Books, a local shop that began in a basement and has spent the last 50 years supplying all sorts of genres to the city.

gym review 2

artistic imputation?

p. 6

A few AI art generators are under fire for their alleged use of artists’ copyrighted work as input for their programs, and the lawsuits just keep coming.

op-ed

s&h

a&c

book binge photos

news

p.8

Victoria Baht is back this week with another local gym review and interview, this time with Adrenaline Strength & Conditioning.

buried truth

p. 10

Reacquainting with a nation is complicated but essential work, and Amina Salah outlines how she’s approached the process for Canada through learning of its treatment of Indigenous people.

news

3

editor: gillian massie news@carillonregina.com the carillon | january 26, 2023

J-School sets plan forward based on 2019 external review Where does the J-School go from here?

Last month, the Carillon reported on the University of Regina’s School of Journalism (J-School) suspending admissions for the 2023-2024 school year. The announcement came shortly after the Carillon sent a letter to certain faculty detailing several anonymous allegations of a toxic culture in the J-School. However, Department Head of the Journalism School Dr. Gennadiy Chernov told the Carillon that “the reason for the suspension is based on academic grounds.”

Further commenting on why the J-School suspended admissions, Dr. Chernov said “the Faculty of Arts and the School of Journalism initiated this suspension in order to free-up time and resources to renew and redevelop the program. […] Sustaining the program in its current form has been very difficult because our core faculty staffing has been reduced to 2.”

However, according to a previous correspondence with Shannon Dea, Dean of Arts, part of the purpose of the J-School closure is to “provide an opportunity to evaluate the School’s climate in order to ensure that the J-School is a safe and supportive place to learn and to work.” Chernov’s comments did not mention these reasons for the closure.

The question remains, where does the J-School go from here?

As part of a way to guide faculties at the university, exter-

nal academic unit reviews are conducted regularly. These unit reviews use external reviewers, who are staff from other universities, in order to provide an outside and unbiased view on operations at the University of Regina. In 2019, the external review identified 5 key challenges and made 9 recommendations for how the J-School should grow in the future.

Dr. Philip Carrier, Dean of History and the internal reviewer on the external unit review, described the unit review process as “the report that the reviewers ultimately produce, it becomes an official document of the University. So it’s available. It’s reviewed, I think right up to the level of the Board of Governors, or at least it is made available to the Board of Governors. It becomes a public document. […] The department has to, within a certain time frame, write a response.”

The low number of core faculty and limited resources which Dr. Chernov mentioned in his statement were issues hinted at in 2019 in the key challenge, “falling enrollments and rising costs.”

The small size of the faculty is also noted throughout, although the external reviewers lauded the faculty for operating efficiently despite the small size. In the 2022-2023 budget, the J-School had operating expenditures at a little over $737,000. For comparison, the English department was

Low number of core faculty and limited resources remain issues.

Photo: Lee Lim

operating at a little over $1.7 million, while Philosophy and Classics operated at about $653,000.

Outside the Faculty of Arts, departments such as Nursing operate with expenditures over $9 million.

In recent years, the J-School has made some changes to increase enrollment. Most notably, in response to the 2019 academic unit review, a Journalism 100 course was created to draw in students from other faculties.

There are hints that the J-School may expand on this strategy after the suspension with Dr. Chernov saying via email “we have many

ideas for higher enrollment 100 and 200 level options that will act as feeders for increased J-School enrollments.”

Dr. Philip Carrier, talking about the difficulties of running a small department, told the Carillon “small programs, don’t have a lot of options […] so there’s various ways that you could approach that, but trying to find ways of ensuring firstly that you’re not duplicating anything that you’re doing with other units, but also finding ways of collaborating, and, to a certain extent, reinventing or reimagining courses or programs in such a way that you have the

benefit of other disciplines, other students, other instructors. I think that’s a very positive thing.”

In an email to the Carillon, Dr. Chernov said “the work on the School’s redesign is at its early stages,” though he went on to detail that they have some suggestions to offer: a communication’s stream, larger classes, and enrolling pre-Journalism students in the J-School in their first year.

the carillon since 1962

Snow removal services cause mounds of problems for students You can’t win when you can’t even shovel it

kate sveinbjornson staff writer High ridges hardened to cement-like ice blocks created by the City of Regina snow removal graters take up street edges throughout the city. In past years, the snow removal crews cleared streets and sidewalks, allowing for safer travel and easier parking. However, it’s become evident to everyone that City of Regina snow removal has seemingly changed this year.

“I’ve had to walk two blocks farther because of these huge mounds of packed snow and ice, some as tall as four feet. I’ve seen buses become stuck with passengers on board, and difficulty with lowering the bus for disabled people. If it’s hard for me to commute every day, I am sure it’s hard for many others,” writes an anonymous University of Regina student.

Many concerned citizens have reported large mounds of packed snow and ice in their neighbourhoods, some as high as four feet. These snow ridges have built up and often migrate from the sides of the street to block large stretches of sidewalk. These

pileups are raising concerns and causing an increased risk of accidents, reduced parking, and making traveling by foot hazardous.

There have been reports of people’s vehicle mirrors being broken off, cars being stuck for weeks wedged in these snow piles, and difficulties even walking to get their own mail.

The City of Regina refused to issue a statement, and only brought up one aspect of the issue at hand: “To remove all the snow ridges with the current fleet, it would cost the city an additional 8-10 million dollars” reports the City of Regina regarding the icy snow mounds. In some areas, these ridges have been cleared, but many still remain in neighborhoods around Regina.

One main issue that faces many University of Regina students is the impact snow ridges have on bus routes, and walking routes to the bus. Many students rely on Regina’s public transit to commute every day and have brought up their concerns regarding the piles of snow. Buses are having difficulties boarding riders with these huge ridges in the way, and have even gotten stuck for long periods of time. Mobility aid users have reported needing extra

It’s like climbing over a mountain to get across the street.

Photo: Gillian Massie

assistance with boarding buses, and in many cases it’s almost impossible without help. Bus rides can become incredibly bumpy through residential neighborhoods as well, which can be physically jarring to many passengers.

Although, the bus stops aren’t the only thing which are concerning students, as many have reported their walking commute to be just as difficult.

“These huge snow piles block the sidewalks, especially in my neighborhood. I sometimes need

to walk on busy roads just to reach my bus stop, and it’s scary to do that. This issue really needs to be fixed before someone gets hurt,” reports another anonymous University of Regina student.

It is unlikely this issue will be dealt with by the City of Regina based on their comments issued to the press. However, there are still ways U of R students can lend a hand with this issue. Many people have banded together to begin clearing areas of these snow ridges where crosswalks are locat-

ed, or have freed cars that were stuck in the snow piles. Many others have brought shovels to sheltered bus stops so community members can pitch in to keep bus stops clear for riders and for buses.

For now, Regina residents are left in the dark about whether or not they should expect this issue to arise again next year. Many can only wait and hope that the City of Regina will commit to addressing these concerns before the inevitable next winter season.

january 26, 2023

carillonregina.com | the carillon | 4

news

Cathedral Community Fridge keeps the community stocked Long term goals to expand the fridge are in the making

kate sveinbjornson news writer In the heart of Cathedral, right off of 13th Avenue on Cameron Street sits a small building. It is decorated with beautiful spray paint art, and if you look inside, it has a pantry, fridge, and freezer.

This is the Cathedral Community Fridge, a lifeline for the people of the Cathedral neighbourhood.

Here, food is donated for people in need, no strings attached, no charities involved. This fridge is simply the community at its best, making sure no neighbour goes hungry.

behind a paywall. I think that the best way to do that is to lead by example, by providing those resources for the community to take accountability and responsibility for the resources they need. To make sure they are able to figure ways to meet their own needs, so that it’s not coming from an external source and acting as a charity, which doesn’t work, because if it did work, we wouldn’t need it anymore. It inspired me.

What key roles do volunteers play? What jobs do they do?

Are you looking for more?

The whole volunteer thing

I’ll stray from that. But I think food insecurity has existed for as long as money and class division has existed historically.

Speaking specifically, Regina, we’re in a unique position where leftist organizing and human liberation and revolutionary acts are very prominent to our history. […] Like two generations ago, if that, two or three generations ago now. But they remember what it feels like to fight for liberation.

There’s still that flame, still burning, there’s still a bit of an ember there. I feel food insecurity obviously is a huge issue here, but I don’t feel that the fight is above our heads.

I would love to be able to secure a food safe facility where we can be making meals for people for free, and open a free restaurant or a free store. That’s been my goal since day one. I think now our community has become so strong and lively and connected that we are prepared to take the next step in addressing food insecurity in our city. I would really like to encourage the public and the community to consider an open mind when it comes to understanding human behavior.

Understanding what class division and wealth disparity is, understanding how trauma and the brain works, understanding

“

I think that food and other basic human needs shouldn’t be behind a paywall. I think that the best way to do that is to lead by example, by providing those resources for the community to take accountability and responsibility for the resources they need.”

– Brianna Kroener

I interviewed one of the organizers, Brianna Kroener, who is a strong advocate for mutual aid, community, and education.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Tell me a bit about your affiliation with the fridge.

I initiated this Cathedral Community Fridge project. I am currently the head chef right now, I’m in the social media team, I do large pickups, and I help with the New Hampshire Program that we are starting.

How did the fridge get started?

We surveyed the area for a perfect spot to place the fridge, as it’s important to me that the fridge is somewhere accessible. I talked to the head pastor at the Cathedral Church, who gave us access to use their parking lot.

When the Community Fridge first opened, we had a very simple operation with very small numbers because we didn’t have a lot of reach happening quite yet. So, I would say there is about a group of 10 or 20 of us that were making things happen throughout the beginning.

Was there a defining moment when you realized the Cathedral area needed a fridge, or was it more an aching need to be addressed?

It was a calling to uphold my end of caring for my fellow human beings. My belief is very strong, that everybody deserves food, whether they’re rich or poor, able-bodied, disabled – it doesn’t matter. I think that food and other basic human needs shouldn’t be

is interesting. I have some interesting thoughts that I don’t want to [share] because I feel like the term ‘volunteer’ disconnects them as far as calling people volunteers.

I feel it’s kind of hard. I just think the community is what needs it, what needs the resource.

They should be the ones doing the work to maintain it, because when you own something, you care a lot more about the longevity and survival of that resource versus when you’re renting something or just taking something. The volunteers basically function to maintain the fridge as it is, but also keep a close eye on the needs of the community as it grows and meet those needs as they happen. We have a really diverse skill set in our community where we’ve got construction workers, we have chefs, people that are interested in marketing, we have people that are interested in finances, we have people that are interested or already doing social work. We have all of these amazing diverse skills in this community, and all of these play a huge part in maintaining the fridge and how it functions.

What are your goals for the fridge in the future? What do you want the community to know?

how poverty affects people long term, and how PTSD is a real thing. If knowledge is power, we need to be putting power to the people. I think that the stronger we are together, the stronger we

will be forever together. If people want to get involved, it’s super encouraged. The more that we can bring to the community, the better. There are tons of people within the community that already have existing strengths and knowledge and passions that are just waiting to have more people to share that with. If people want to get involved, we are 100 per cent open. Everything that we do is democratic and autonomous.

What are the best ways people can help? What items is the fridge looking for right now?

There are several ways people and students can help the fridge. I personally encourage a well-rounded support system, which doesn’t mean it’s all monetary. We encourage people to donate their time for tasks such as cleaning, or Flashfood pickup, or even just following our Instagram or watching our website. Monetary-wise, dropping off food or donating money to our GoFundMe or our E-transfer are also great options as well. Diversity is important when addressing support, all of these are equally important.

To learn more, visit cathedralcommunityfridge.com, or visit their Instagram at @reginacommunityfridgecathedral.

What can you say about food insecurity in Regina? How long has this been an issue?

I think food insecurity in Regina has been an issue since colonization. The moment class division was introduced to society and wealth disparity was introduced to society, and feudalism really came in and took away the freedom of community. That’s when food insecurity really started. I think that food insecurity and any other insecurities related to basic human needs are very profitable for the government and for a lot of agencies, but that could come off as conspiratorial.

Community fridge or portal to another realm?

Photo: courtesy CVAF Regina

january 26, 2023

carillonregina.com | the carillon |

news

AI writing generator could pose problems to academic integrity

5

From art to writing

josh king news writer Concerns about machines taking away people’s jobs have circulated since Luddites smashed textile machinery over two hundred years ago, but could this concern finally be coming to academia? A new chatbot, ChatGPT, has been breaking headlines with writing peculiarly comparable to that of humans, including academic writing.

ChatGTP was released by the company OpenAI at the end of November 2022. The same company previously made headlines for releasing DALL-E2, a program that made realistic looking art. The robot in the article’s image is an example of DALL-E2-generated art.

ChatGPT functions by making use of a large language model. Computer Science graduate

provement from previous ChatGTP models was noticeable.

“Basically what they did is added reinforcement learning to large language. They built a large language model first, and then they do some reinforcement learning with human feedback. You have a set of humans who rank outputs in the order of preference. They could also rank the outputs in the order of harmfulness or the order of helpfulness. Now obviously there’s a lot of subjectivity because it’s a human being ranking these things. This additional step allows the model to better zone in on responses that human beings would prefer.”

Using ChatGTP is a violation of academic integrity. CTV Kitchener reporter Hannah Schmidt reported that universities in the Waterloo region are under watch for work produced by the AI generator.

and clear, ‘Please check back soon,’ it gently hopes, As it begs for a moment’s reprieve, to reappear.”

With the surge in popularity, several academics have expressed concern over the possibility of ChatGPT being used to mimic academic writing. Many of the concerns revolve around people passing off the work of the chatbot as their own. A quick search online can find quotes from professors at institutions from the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada all saying that ChatGPT could create at least passing, if not excellent responses to assignment questions that they give to university students. the Atlantic even ran headlines declaring “The College Essay is Dead.”

Others have disagreed.

English professor Christopher Grobe from Amherst College

as a final paper in Philosophy 100 last semester. One thing I learned from the experience was the chatbot needed to have feedback from myself over several iterations. For example, after the first iteration, I had to give it a word count and ask it to write at a university level.

In order to focus the chatbot’s arguments more in the scope of the class, I had to give it a prompt to focus its argument on the work of a particular philosopher that was assigned as a reading. As a senior undergraduate student, I found the final product well-written and sensible, though lacking in original ideas.

Before any students run to a chatbot to do their homework, some have already released apps that claim to accurately detect when something was written by ChatGPT. Google Chrome already has a different app available on its store, and the popular

Who is *really* doing the writing?

Image: Created with the assistance of DALL-E2

student David Akinmade studies large language models at the University of Regina. “A large language model at its core is a large neural network which is fed with a lot of training data, usually text data, and then the model applies the process known as attention to predict what text best completes a given prompt,” Akinmade said.

Akinmade added that im-

“

From my experience with ChatGPT, it definitely makes interesting responses. While writing this article, the ChatGPT server had so many users that it reached maximum capacity. It left the user with a Shakespearean sonnet explaining the situation, which in part states: “But alas, the server cannot cope, And the error message rings loud

stated in the Chronicle of Higher Education “the things ChatGPT cannot do (cite and analyze evidence, limit claims, create logical links between claims, arrange those claims into a hierarchy of significance) are the basic stuff of college-level writing.”

In a test of these claims, I had ChatGPT write me a shortened essay based on a question assigned

plagiarism detection service Turnitin has promised to soon update its service to include chatbot detection. However, none of these apps have yet been tested systematically by independent third parties, nor do they publicly post a false-positive and false-negative rate.

Last week, Nature reported on an informal test of ChatGPT’s

ability to fool scientists in the journal’s non-peer-reviewed section.

The experiment had ChatGPT create 50 scientific abstracts based on papers published in academic journals and had scientists, a plagiarism checker, and an AI-output detector try to determine which abstracts were generated by ChatGPT. The plagiarism checker failed dramatically, giving the AI-generated abstracts a median originality score of 100 per cent. Both the AI-output detector and scientists only detected 66 per cent and 68 per cent of the AI-generated abstracts, respectively.

While the writing of ChatGPT is quite hard to tell apart from human writing, other workarounds for preventing plagiarism exist. For example, the U of R’s academic integrity website already recommends that professors do actions like require rough drafts and have students submit sources for their information. Actions such as requiring that students submit more than just the final product can make cheating that spits out a ready-made essay harder. Also, ChatGPT is not updated on recent events, so original assignments with responses to current events could be harder to plagiarize.

In an interview with reporter Connie Loizos, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said this about the potential disruption to education: “We adapted to calculators and changed what we tested for in math classes, I imagine. This is a more extreme version of this, no doubt, but also the benefits of it are more extreme as well. We hear from teachers who are understandably very nervous about the impact of this on homework.

We also hear a lot from teachers who are like ‘wow this is like an unbelievable personal tutor for each kid.’”

David Akinmade reflected on his educational experience.

“If you had calculations to do, you were given a book called a four-figure table. People were really confident in the fact that students that used four figure tables were developing a mathematical ability that students who just use calculators would simply not have. As time went on, people just realized it’s antiquated.”

Akinmade encouraged people to seek more knowledge before using ChatGTP. “There really needs to be a space to educate people about these models.”

We adapted to calculators and changed what we tested for in math classes, I imagine. This is a more extreme version of this, no doubt, but also the benefits of it are more extreme as well. We hear from teachers who are understandably very nervous about the impact of this on homework.

We also hear a lot from teachers who are like ‘wow this is like an unbelievable personal tutor for each kid.”

– Sam Altman, OpenAI CEO

arts & culture

6

AI generators: not so clean cut

editor: wren gessner arts@carillonregina.com the carillon | january 26, 2023

Where do we draw the line between inspiration, plagiarism, and theft? will bright a&c writer AI is taking over. Well, not really, but I’m sure we’ve all seen it becoming more and more prevalent in recent times. There is the TikTok trend of turning yourself into an anime picture with AI. There is ChatGPT writing essays and descriptions for people based on prompts. Then, there was that

“

questions section on their website, Stability AI claims it makes money by providing “unparalleled foundation model consulting and contracting services to clients.”

Midjourney states that it is “an independent research lab exploring new mediums of thought and expanding the imaginative powers of the human species.”

With Midjourney you can make 25 AI-generated images for free, but then you have to pay $10 a

share their work with other artists.

It’s been around since 2000, and by 2017, DeviantArt had over 25 million members. As of 2017, they’ve been owned by the website-making company Wix.com.

Recently, DeviantArt announced and launched DreamUp, their own AI art generator.

Stability AI, Midjourney, and DeviantArt’s DreamUp all use Stable Diffusion to run their AI art generators. Stable Diffusion

to create. Using the “diffusion” technique, the AI learned how to create new images by creating exact copies of the original images found on Pinterest, etc. On Stability AI’s website, it says that artists have no choice whether or not their art is used for LAION 5b, because it wants to have a generalized idea of the art online.

The issue with Stable Diffusion is that it does not consider copyright when it takes images to

heart of the lawsuit. Ortiz, McKernan, and Andersen are claiming that their copyright has been violated because their art has been used to train AI generations.

The lawsuit claims that billions of copyrighted images were used to train Stable Diffusion and that they had no permission from the artists to use their images in the training. As a result of using those images as training, they have now been stored as com-

Many people have seen a Getty Images watermark, or what seems like it could be, on their AI-generated images. Similarly, many people have seen garbled artists’ watermarks on AI-generated images.”

– Will Bright

trend of celebrities paying a little bit of money to see AI pictures of themselves and share them online.

How do AI art generators actually make art? The answer is simple: theft. I’ll elaborate more on that later.

Right now, three major companies in the AI art game are being sued: Stability AI, Midjourney, and DeviantArt. They are being sued by three artists: Sarah Andersen, Kelly McKernan, and Karla Ortiz.

Many people know Sarah Andersen from her cartoon Sarah’s Scribbles, wherein she makes jokes about being introverted.

Even if you don’t know it by name, you’ve probably seen Andersen’s comic strips online. Andersen has copyright registrations for several of her comic collections and despite these copyright registrations, her work has still been used to train Stable Diffusion art.

Kelly McKernan works fulltime as an artist and works in traditional art painting, including watercolour and acrylic gouache.

They have found that at least 30 pieces of their art have been used to train AI. Karla Ortiz has worked on large projects for film, video games, tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs), and television.

She creates realistic artwork and has been featured in galleries in Paris. Ortiz has won awards for her art, and has found that at least 12 of her works were used to train AI. Ortiz said that when she found out AI generators could recreate her style in 2021, she said “it felt invasive in a way that [she has] never experienced.”

Stability AI is a company aiming to make open AI tools for all to use. They are working in language, audio, video, and biology. In their frequently asked

month to have up to 200 images.

You can only access Midjourney through the Discord app.

The final group being sued in this lawsuit is DeviantArt. Whether you’re an artist or not, it’s likely you’ve heard of DeviantArt. It’s a website for artists to

was created and developed by Stability AI. According to Stability AI, Stable Diffusion uses the underlying dataset LAION 5b to train it to create art. LAION 5b uses sources like DeviantArt, Flickr, and Pinterest as training images to teach the AI what

Which side will you choose to sit?

Illustration: Will Bright

study. Artists’ styles can easily be recreated within any of the mentioned AI generators. It enters into a legal grey area of whether or not the output of the generator is a copyright violation against the input (the original art).

Here is where we get to the

pressed copies in Stable Diffusion, without consent of the artists or payment to them for their work.

The lawsuit claims “These ‘new’ images are based entirely on the Training Images and are derivative works of the particular images Stable Diffusion draws from when assembling a given output.

Ultimately, it is merely a complex collage tool.”

The Plaintiffs are also claiming that they are losing money that they would have gotten from commissions because people are searching for their art styles through AI image generators.

They don’t want their work and their livelihoods to be eliminated by AI programs that are built upon their work. Stability AI responded by saying “anyone that believes that this isn’t fair use does not understand the technology and misunderstands the law.”

Now joining in on suing Stability AI is Getty Images. Getty Images has stated that Stability AI has taken millions of its images that were copyright protected for their AI training. They have said that Stability AI did not ask for permission or licensing to use their images. Many people have seen a Getty Images watermark, or what seems like it could be, on their AI-generated images.

Similarly, many people have seen garbled artists’ watermarks on AI-generated images.

These artists are asking questions and pursuing lawsuits that could change the future of art.

If they win the lawsuit, it will change how AI art generators will function in the future and how they will be trained. If they lose the lawsuit, it will be a major blow to artists everywhere who are losing income and work because of AI image generators.

More information will be revealed in the coming months as the two lawsuits unfold.

january 26, 2023

carillonregina.com | the carillon |

arts & culture

Centennial Books and its history

7

From basement beginnings came this shop that I can’t stop booking over to wren gessner a&c editor There are a select number of bookstores in Regina, and few are considered local and personable. Centennial Books is hidden in Centennial Market, and although it is located next to Value Village, it is an often-overlooked shop. On your next thrifting stop,

I’d recommend that you consider checking out Centennial Books!

Upon walking into this shop, visitors are met with stacks of books and the smell of old pages (anyone who likes old books will know exactly what I’m talking about). There are a variety of sections sure to meet anyone’s interests. I have seen everything from poetry to children’s books, and if

you pop in at the right time, you might even find a comic or manga you’ve been searching for!

What many people do not realize is that this store has a unique history behind it. In fact, Centennial Books, in conjunction with its sister store, Spafford Books, have recently celebrated their 50th anniversary.

Originating as the Book Cel-

One is never enough.

lar in the Cathedral area, Richard Spafford had a dream. With $400 of used books, $400 of borrowed money, and a desire to present Regina with a specialty bookstore, Spafford took his chance on becoming a bookseller. 50 years later, his daughter, Leah, has taken over Spafford Books, while Chris and Bill have taken ownership of Centennial Books in the mall.

Both of these stores originated from Spafford’s original store, the Book Cellar.

There are so many more interesting facts about these stores and their history, so do be sure to chat with the owners when you get a chance to visit. These people are friendly and modest, but have far more inside stories about Regina’s book history than they let on.

As both an English major and a writer, I can never spend too much time in bookstores. This store is one that never fails to pull me in. I love to check in for books I’ve been collecting, to see what their newest intake has been, and to enjoy flipping through the poetry pages. Even when I don’t have the intention of popping in, I find myself there more often than not.

The store also has several unique sections that are worth checking out. For any Shakespeare aficionados, there is an en-

tire bookshelf dedicated to their growing selection of Shakespearian works. From full plays to one acts and guides, there is no shortage here. There is also a supernatural section that includes a wide variety of stories, from historical witchcraft all the way to modern cryptids. Finally, hidden in the book corner is their philosophy section. While not immediately visible in the store, it is worth searching for.

If just viewing and buying books isn’t enough for you, Centennial Books proudly offers a credit program for any regulars.

When someone takes their books in, they are able to exchange them for a credit within the same genre.

I have received credit on several textbooks, and even more fiction novels. Now, there are no guarantees here, but the staff always aim to be as accommodating as possible.

Whether you’re looking for a unique shop in the city or your next read, Centennial Books has got you covered. Don’t forget to pop in at Spafford Books if you’re searching for some rarities, as that’s their specialty! If you have any questions, book related or otherwise, these stores are always happy to help, and of course, always happy to talk books. Have fun reading!

Photo: Wren Gessner

The Regina Antique Mall: 3D I spy

Why go to big chain stores when you can find just about anything here?

Are you looking for something particular to decorate your home?

Are you open to taking a step into the past? The Regina Antique Mall may be the place for you! I decided to take a trip to this mall to tell you what it is all about. I am going to tell you right off the hop that you will just need to go and check it out for yourself after reading this article. There are so many goodies; it’s hard to put into words how many unique items they have.

Before we get to talking about all the goodies, let me tell you a bit about the Regina Antique Mall. The Regina Antique Mall was founded in 1980 with another shop called Antiques from A to Z. In 1987, The Regina Antique Mall officially opened in its current location to allow multiple dealers and people in the community to sell their antiques together.

This mall is 21,000 square feet. Yes, you read that right.

There is a main floor, upstairs, and downstairs all filled with interesting finds. Based on their business cards and what I gathered from my time at the mall, they specialize in fine furniture, glassware, fine china, clocks, and so much more. One fun fact about this store is that it won an award for ‘Best Store for Second-hand Finds’ in 2022. You can find this store located at 1175 Rose Street.

Now that you know a bit of the history about The Regina Antique Mall, let’s talk about some of the things you can find! While

I was walking around the store, I could see a great deal of fine china and it was all so gorgeous and unique. There was an endless number of cute teacups, collectible plates, and full dinner sets. It would be the perfect gift idea for a new couple or a gift to a child who enjoys having tea parties with friends.

Speaking of gifts, an original idea suggested to me was using old tins they have for sale (Caramilk, baking powder, syrup, and more) as reusable gift boxes. This is something I never would have thought of, and yet it seems like a great idea for a secret Santa. This store has lots of unique things for the holiday season all around the year. They have antique jewellery, hats, and clothes that would be perfect for a Halloween costume, a variety of vintage toys and collectables for birthdays, seasonal antique cards, and that is just the beginning.

In addition to all of the small goods I have mentioned, you can walk upstairs to some of the extra cool stuff. Are you one who likes to DIY, or would you call yourself a personal home designer? Then you have to go check this place out! They have old chairs, mirrors, dressers, tables, and a variety of other unique furniture pieces.

These furniture items may be the perfect item for you to add some character to your home or cottage. They might also give you a chance to remodel or design that perfect image you have had in the

Typing on a typewriter: surprisingly relaxing.

Photo: Victoria Baht

back of your mind.

As I said at the beginning of the article, you must go and check this place out for yourself to understand just how many goodies you can find, and experience the

full effect. Thanks to the Regina Antique Mall for taking us back in the past – it was a great visit!

victoria baht staff writer

sports & health

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editor: vacant sports@carillonregina.com the carillon | january 26, 2023

Resolutions gym review: Adrenaline Strength & Conditioning

While some workout sessions might be a bitch, these trainers make sure they have your back victoria baht staff writer January is here, and some of you may be working on the trend of “new year, new me.” This trend is very gym-focused. Since that is a common theme, the Carillon is working on a gym series. Last year, we did a gym series where I went around to different gyms in the city, tried out a class, told you what I liked and did not like about the specific class, and at the end did an interview with the instructor or owner.

Today, I am joining Adrenaline Strength & Conditioning.

I did some fitness work alongside Cheryl Guidry and focused on strength and conditioning by

ers, it looks like they really care about their members and about creating a space that is useful for a wide variety of individuals.

First, let’s talk about the gym itself. Located at 1400 McIntyre Street, it has a unique setup. You walk into the gym and see lots of equipment to work on different body parts, along with a strip of turf across the floor and some classrooms. It really is a good different setup. After I had taken a walk around and looked at everything, it was time to start my session with Guidry.

This session was called the Bitch Session, and it had a certain pattern. We worked in pairs, and we went around and completed a circuit of two exercises in groups of four. I’ll give you an example to

did not enjoy. This session was very entertaining, enjoyable, and very challenging, which is one of the main reasons why the owner recommended it to me. It is one of their most popular classes and that is one of the main reasons why I chose to take this class. The class gave us time to walk around and see everything we were doing beforehand, and the instructor assured that we had good form, challenged each of us individually in different ways, and gave us time to cool down and work as a team. I personally really enjoyed all parts of this class and it was a complete full-body workout that focused on both strength and conditioning. I was constantly moving and challenging myself.

Now that you know about

you to go this route in the first place?

It is honestly one of the main things that interests me. From a personal level, I was just fascinated by how the human body works. […] As a younger guy, working out was my drive, and I fell in love with it. That is how I put those two together; I like helping people and teaching.

munity, and the athletes. We have classes for seniors, women only, for beginners, all the way up to advanced classes. Really, there is something for everyone and you must take that first step, and I am sure you will find something you are looking for.

Is there anything you’d like to learn to instruct in the future? What are your personal goals?

January is often the month of “new year, new me.” What are some suggestions for people to have a “new me” in January and to improve their lifestyle and habits past this month? What have you found helpful in making a resolution that sticks?

I am always learning; I have been in this industry for two decades now. I am just fascinated by how science is evolving and

You must be realistic. If you have never exercised before in your life, try not to commit too much. Start out with just once a

“

You must be realistic. If you have never exercised before in your life, try not to commit too much. Start out with just once a week, or just half an hour, and over time those small changes are going to change to big improvements in your health.”

– Derek Becker

The whole gym to yourself: a dream come true.

Photo: Laura Becker

taking a class that they’ve titled ‘the Bitch Session.’ I also did an interview with the owner, Derek Becker.

To get you to learn a bit more about the gym that Becker owns, I did a quick sweep of their website and thought I would tell you some important details. The gym is a safe place for men and women, and has a great deal of trainers/employees who are very committed to their passion. Based on the website, they have strength and conditioning classes, youth coaches, class instructors, nutritional therapy consultants, massage therapists, spin instructors, and more. To me, with such a great variety of trainers and help-

help place a picture in your mind.

One set of two exercises included a jump box, then a burpee, and a jump box over and a burpee on a repeat. While you are doing this specific exercise, your partner is completing 20 dumbbell swings.

Once those are done, you switch and do the exercise your partner was doing while they begin yours.

You would do this consecutively for five minutes, and then move on to the next part of the circuit.

It really was a unique setup for a class, and I enjoyed how different it was.

Now that you have a bit of a feeling of the gym and the session I went through, I will tell you about the details that I did and

the team at Adrenaline Strength and Conditioning, a bit about the Bitch Session setup, and know my feelings on the class, let’s ask Becker some questions on how he created such an amazing, welcoming gym.

What do you like specifically about personal training?

Helping people work towards and accomplish their goals is the most rewarding part for me. […]

I just generally enjoy helping people, and I do that through fitness.

What keeps you personally motivated to be a personal instructor? What inspired

changing and how we do things 20 years to 10 years ago to now.

A lot of concepts are being improved. The industry is evolving, […] Goals are more directed towards Adrenaline. Helping my team, helping clients and instructors so that they can help more people make it bigger.

What advice would you give someone wanting to try out your gym for the first time?

We are a community-based strength and conditioning facility. We have members and we have classes. Each class forms their own type of community: the boxing community, the spin com-

week, or just half an hour, and over time those small changes are going to change to big improvements in your health and you just must keep progressing. […]

Whatever you are doing in January, keep doing it in February and into March.

There it is! Now you know about Adrenaline Strength and Conditioning. The workout was great, the vibes were great, and the team was great. If this sounds like the gym for you, go and check it out. If not, stay tuned for the next issue as we continue to discover new gyms in and around Regina.

january 26, 2023

carillonregina.com | the carillon |

sports & health

Sports gambling: fun for the whole family?

9

Advertisements appear to claim so, yet public health outcomes beg to differ sophia stevens s&h writer In August of 2021, single-game wagering across Canada became legalized, increasing the number of provincial gambling agencies within Canada. Ontario was the first province to open the industry to private corporations interested in sports gambling. This comes after many U.S. states began legalizing betting during sports events.

Since the legalization of sports betting in Canada, many Canadian athletes have been endorsing betting by partnering with sports gambling companies.

Some Canadian athletes involved include NHL superstar Connor McDavid and “the great one” Wayne Gretzky. It is reported that Connor McDavid and Wayne Gretzky’s brand deal with BetMGM is worth several million dollars.

The recent ban by the United Kingdom on sports gambling ads that feature sports stars and celebrities as a way to appeal to

“

children ages 11-16 were considered to have a problem with gambling.

The mass number of individuals affected by sports gambling – particularly within the youth population – is what led to the banning of celebrity endorsements of sports betting in the United Kingdom. The Fifth Estate began to investigate the issues surrounding sports gambling and how advertisements by sports gambling companies have a way of appealing to children. During their investigation, McDavid and Gretzky declined to comment on their involvement in endorsing sports gambling within Canada. When the Fifth Estate asked a question to Auston Matthews about his endorsement of sports gambling, he said “I appreciate the question, but after all of that I don’t think I’m going to get into it much, honestly.”

The nonresponse by endorsing athletes begs the question why athletes are unwilling to talk about a company that they are currently endorsing. NDP MP for Windsor West Brain Masse

with the implementation of sport gambling within Canada, especially with the use of celebrity brand ambassadors to promote sports betting.

Masse told CBC “I think about the fact that you have kids that sit down with the parents and their other family members, and they’re inundated during the game about betting on the people that they’re watching on the screen… common sense should stop some of this, but unfortunately it doesn’t appear that that’s the case at the moment.”

The Canadian Gambling Association estimates the industry to be worth over $14 billion per year. However, gambling not in moderation is considered an addiction that needs to be addressed, and it is mainly problem gambling that contributes to that surplus. A 2021 study conducted

by Public Health England found that, on average, 409 people per year commit suicide for reasons related to problems from gambling. Canada should look closely at the concerns and statistics coming out of the United King-

much like so many other athletes, what you end up here with is a message that gambling is not just acceptable, but desirable for an entire generation.” When talking about gambling addicts, McGee said “a lot of them struggle to get through 90 minutes without having to bet on a game. It speaks to the way in which gambling has hardwired itself into sport in ways that have altered our very experience of sport.”

In an opinion piece for the Globe and Mail, Bruce Kidd, a former Canadian Olympian and professor emeritus of sports and public policy at the University of Toronto, highlighted that it’s too early to determine the number of Canadians who have developed addictions as a result of gambling.

Kidd believes that Canada should have strict regulations for all advertising for sports betting that is displayed on TV and through other media sources, similar to that of current tobacco and alcohol advertisements. Many European countries have already banned advertising of sports betting in places where minors regularly

to sports betting, especially those who have conflicting interests. In the Globe and Mail opinion piece, Kidd highlights how Bell’s Let’s Talk campaign’s focus on mental health is a contradiction, as the telecommunications company owns stakes in companies such as TSN who promote gambling through advertising.

Canadian corporations are pivotal players when it comes to the endorsement of sports betting, which means that cooperation among the private and public sectors should be considered moving forward as a way of minimizing the harmful effects associated with celebrity endorsement of betting in sports. As sports betting becomes more prominent in Canada, the need to take proactive measures to limit children’s exposure to sports gambling pressure becomes more vital, as seen in the responses of other countries across the globe.

Although the estimated revenue opportunities projected in Canada may be appealing, the risk of increasing the number of people addicted to gambling is

In the Globe and Mail opinion piece, Kidd highlights how Bell’s Let’s Talk campaign’s focus on mental health is a contradiction, as the telecommunications company owns stakes in companies such as TSN who promote gambling through advertising.”

– Sophia Stevens

children is what sparked the Fifth Estate’s investigation into sports gambling in Canada. According to a study conducted by YouGov, the United Kingdom had 1.4 million people addicted to gambling in 2021. In a 2019 survey conducted by the United Kingdom’s Gambling Commission, 55,000

told CBC that he believes athletes aren’t talking because they know that they are compromised, and believes that they should have known better. Masse was for the legalization of sports gambling in Canada as a way to stop illicit activity surrounding sports betting.

However, this MP is frustrated

With odds this jacked up, what could go wrong?

Illustration: Lee Lim

dom; as sports betting permeates more through Canada, similar results may start to take shape here.

Lecturer Darragh McGee with the Department for Health at the University of Bath studies the impact of gambling on young men, and he also spoke with CBC. “If you consider the Gretzky case,

attend. Italy has already banned sports betting on TV altogether.

However, the evolving formal agreements between professional sports leagues such as the NBA and NHL have made implementing restrictions more complex in Canada. Corporations also play a role when it comes

an undeniable reality. Therefore, some form of balance in advertising and promotion must exist in order to prevent future crises as seen in the U.K. with regards to gambling.

op-ed

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editor: hammad ali op-ed@carillonregina.com the carillon | january 26, 2023

The path to healing

Canada is not what many of us believed it to be

Image: BiblioArchives LibraryArchives via flickr and 35393 via Pixabay, manipulated by Lee Lim

It all looks so calm and serene. Must’ve been before capitalism “civilized” this place...

There has been constant reporting over the past few years of unmarked graves being discovered. These are graves from former residential schools where we know abuse, neglect, and harm occurred against Indigenous people in Canada. As someone who is not a native to Canada, this part of Canadian history is always something that shocks me.

It’s incredibly upsetting to realize the ramifications of what has been done. Colonialism ultimately breeds generational

“

hold you and it does not soothe your heart the way a mother would soothe her crying baby. It does not do anything. All an apology does is unearth more pain, and force the re-living of trauma endured by Indigenous people all across Canada.

Sheldon Poitras, ground search project leader for Star Blanket Cree Nation, stated that there have been discussions with AXIOM regarding more miniature core drilling. Poitras emphasized that an area of interest will be chosen and a core drill will be

noted. “It gives us an understanding on the work we’re doing, the further work we’re continuing to do. If there are remains here, we’ll probably find them.” Starr went on.

When I first moved here, I was unaware of Canadian history. I first learned about it in middle school, and my knowledge of the nuance of it grew more during high school. I will never forget the day I learned that the Government of Canada had first issued its apology on the matter of residential schools in 2008. That is not that

only now that we are seeing some results. It is important to note that it is not yet over.

There is, sadly, still more to come. There are more discoveries to be made, and there will be more updates as this is a developing story.

In the end, all I can say is that the discoveries of these graves have led us into a new beginning; one that is focused on honesty and transparency, one that is focused on the harsh, sad, painstakingly bitter, cold truth. It is incredibly painful; however, it is

In the end, all I can say is that the discoveries of these graves have led us into a new beginning; one that is focused on honesty and transparency, one that is focused on the harsh, sad, painstakingly bitter, cold truth. It is incredibly painful; however, it is still important. These discoveries are important for deciphering what happens next, where we go from here, and what needs to be done.”

– Amina Salah

curses against those that are oppressed and have been oppressed by the system. When you think about how many people lost their lives to residential schools, and the gravity of the situation, it is difficult to get past even as someone who is not Indigenous.

The best way to understand the discovery of unmarked graves is through grief. It is difficult for some of us to imagine already grieving through something when a new discovery then opens up a new box full of more grief. This is what the First Nations communities in Canada have been enduring: being forced to constantly grieve by a system that was built to oppress you, then that same system attempts to apologize to you. But what can truly be done through an apology? It doesn’t take the pain away.

It does not take the hurt away. It does not bring the lost lives back. It does not bring the lost cultural practices back. It does not bring the lost traditions back. It does not remove the forced assimilation. It does not

sent down to collect a sample. This sample will thus be tested for DNA. “In order for us to confirm what it is under the ground, this is the best option that we came up with so that we don’t disturb what might be there. But at least we can determine whether it’s nothing or something.” Poitras told CTV News Regina.

“If we take the GPR [to the cemetery], teach it what to look for in terms of old ground and cemetery, plug that data into our data, we can use the process of elimination to get rid of some of those dots,” Poitras highlighted.

Chief of Starr Blanket Cree Nation, Michael Starr, gave credit to gophers when it comes to unearthing the human remains. “Gophers are the ones who excavated. They brought the remains onto the surface. That’s a form of validation, living with creation, living in our understanding of the animals, and they helped us.” Starr

long ago. It took the government all those years to figure out “Gee, maybe a horrible thing happened!” It took until 2008 for an apology to be made. That is absolutely shocking to me, as it should have happened much sooner.

Star Blanket Cree Nation announced their discovery of over 2,000 anomalies at the former Qu’Appelle residential school.

It is important to note that this does not necessarily mean 2,000 unmarked graves.

There is am ongoing investigation, and more is yet to come. Unfortunately, this means more pain, grief, and tears are on the way. According to CTV News Regina, the leaders of Star Blanket Cree Nation have yet to come to a decision on how to best investigate the 2,000 anomalies that have been found. These were unearthed through ground penetrating radar (GPR) searches on the site of the former residential school.

This search was initiated last fall. It is

still important. These discoveries are important for deciphering what happens next, where we go from here, and what needs to be done. This means that we must amplify Indigenous voices. It is important to listen to their stories.

We must listen to understand, not to reply. It is important to continue educating ourselves on history, but also focusing on education from reputable sources, not sources that have been whitewashed, changed, and erased. In a world full of information, it is difficult to figure out where to start. However, once you start, you will be able to see Canada for what it is: a country that has rebranded from its imperialist past in a manner that is self-serving. You will be able to see the truth in its full, ugly and sombre form.

amina salah staff writer

january 26, 2023

carillonregina.com | the carillon | 11

op-ed

The beauty of abandoned Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan youth go exploring history kate sveinbjornson staff writer “My grandpa’s homestead was located about a few kilometres from our current place. I can remember Dad taking me there, and telling me stories of how they used to farm when he was a kid.

It was an amazing reminder of how far we’ve advanced in our farming practices and technology, as well as where our roots started.

Grandpa always said ‘take care of the land and the land will take care of you,’” wrote an anonymous farmer.

The countryside of Saskatchewan is often described as a flat, yellow sea of canola; a quiet place where you can see your dog running away for two days. It’s likely that if you’ve lived here for a while, this fact is nothing new.

Although there’s one thing that often breaks up these oceans of yellow: abandoned homesteads, churches, and schools.

So, why are there so many abandoned buildings in Saskatchewan? There are many stories to answer this question, and it all depends on the age of the property.

Some are left because the economy dried up, others because their owners moved to better houses in the city or on their farm, the possibilities are endless. Many of them simply have no value in the

housing market due to quality or location, and it’s easier to let them sit abandoned. Due to people leaving their houses, churches and schools were also abandoned as the small towns dried up. To many rural people, these properties hold significant value to the local area, causing groups to band together to transform these places into historical sites.

Many people living in rural Saskatchewan have dedicated their time to the upkeep of sentimental or historical abandoned property. I was able to see an example of this dedication when I had the privilege of exploring the Thingvalla church, which sits northeast of the town of Churchbridge. This church is full of history, as it is one of the few Icelandic churches in Canada. Thingvalla church was built in 1889, and is considered a unique site because of its original artifacts, such as a pump organ and original benches. Thanks to the committee of people who are willing to upkeep the church, it has transformed itself from ‘abandoned’ to a historical site.

Due to the number of abandoned places around Saskatchewan, a new hobby among the Saskatchewan youth was born: abandoned and historical property exploration. The internet has made it easy to find archives of where abandoned places are

located, and exploring them is often intriguing for many people.

Though unfortunately, with lots of interest comes unwanted attention for these pieces of history.

“Lots of times, homesteads get abused and vandalized by strangers and become unsafe to visit. This leads to a disconnect from our history and can affect local people. These places teach people the effort and importance of agriculture. It’s sad to see.” said the farmer.

So, what should people know when visiting abandoned places?

When visiting a place, it’s smart to stay outside, unless you have consent from the owner. Additionally, these places may not be structurally sound, and you can risk getting hurt by going inside.

Never go onto the property if there is a “no trespassing” sign.

Don’t steal items or property off of the land, such as debris or pieces of the building. This is disrespectful as well as damaging to the building. Avoid putting yourself in situations where you could damage the property itself, and do not purposely vandalize anything.

Do some research on the place you are visiting. Your adventure will be much more rich if you know the history, and when or why the place was abandoned.

If you post pictures online about the place, it’s thoughtful to include some information about

the place so others can learn too.

Although, I would recommend not sharing the exact coordinates, as to ensure the property is not widely advertised.

peek behind the curtains and see the value they carry within their walls. Next time you take a trip down the highway, keep an eye out for abandoned property – it

Everything is flat; you can see your dog run away for two days (we’ve heard that one already).

Photo: Kate Sveinbjornson

Abandoned and historical sites bring a new kind of richness and history to the Saskatchewan prairies. While some may call them eyesores, it’s easy to

just may have an interesting story to tell you.

The definition of plagiarism needs to change with the times

Increasingly powerful writing tools call into question what ‘my work’ really is ChatGPT is a chatbot that writes essays and even computer code in a very similar manner to real people, which has been causing it to make headlines. Everything from email replies, coding malware, school assignments, or even using it to flirt on Tinder have been brought up as potential malicious uses.

While I do think that there is legitimate concern over some of these uses, especially when the chatbot is used to produce harmful content - the plagiarism concerns specifically - bring up an interesting question about what ‘my work’ really is.

To understand this, we have to seriously consider what ‘I’ am,

I know this is supposed to be a robot, but that is how many people on campus look with all their gadgets.

Image: Created with the assistance of DALL-E

and that’s not exactly simple. An easy answer that one might give is that my brain is me. However, there’s a huge amount of input and processing done elsewhere in my body. Even non-neuronal systems impact my thoughts, feelings, and actions drastically, such as the adrenaline released from my adrenal glands. Though if we’re willing to accept that the adrenaline which impacts my thinking so drastically has to be a part of me, what about the chemicals that originate from outside of my body that have similarly drastic effects on my cognition?

Thinking even more abstractly, a large part of what we are is information processing. Again, the information we have and what we do with that information isn’t limited to what is solely in our brains. For example, even with simply pen and paper I can store a bunch of information externally from my brain and retrieve that information at my leisure. It’s analogous to how a computer can store information on an external hard drive. Although, once that hard drive is plugged into my laptop, is it a part of the system or separate from it? Am I the same person when I have my notes as when I don’t have my notes?

Let’s bring it back to plagiarism and writing essays. Before computers, people wrote essays by hand, and used the information they had available at their

local libraries. Now, in 2023 when I’m writing an assignment, it isn’t just ‘me’ writing. To form ‘my’ ideas, I first use search engines to narrow down sources. I’ll then collate and collect these sources in a digital library that is part of a citation manager app to keep track of all the information for me.

Then I start typing, and while I’m doing that, MS Word is changing my spelling, grammar, and even refining clunky phrasing. Once I’m done the assignment, my citation manager formats all the citations I’ve used and automatically organizes the bibliography of my assignment. Now, with the advent of chatbots, I’ve even added an extra step to some assignments, where I debate ChatGPT to see which of my arguments hold up to scrutiny. Sometimes I even get it to give me an initial primer on a new topic. Yet, this entire writing process is considered ‘my work’ and violates no plagiarism rules.

To be clear, this writing process automizes: much of the searching that used to be done manually in libraries, a significant portion of copyediting, notetaking, referencing, formatting, and even refining my arguments.

ChatGPT takes this only one step further. Now, as long as the user at the helm can come up with good prompts, edit the chatbot’s output, and make some additions here and there, much of the other work of writing could be auto-

mated as well.

At some point in this succession we’ve decided that the work is no longer ‘mine,’ as if we actually understood what ‘mine’ is.

I would argue that much of the reaction to this chatbot has been a result of our misunderstanding of the self. We have always been interconnected with our environment and the tools we use, and as I’ve tried to demonstrate, even our mental processes and our thoughts themselves aren’t separate.

The self shouldn’t be understood as an impermeable barrier that stops at our skin, or a mind separate from a body, or a brain separate from external cognitive tools. To use the metaphor of Alan Watts, the self is like an onion; it has a multitude of layers, but no one layer is the absolute boundary.

In a world where computational tools and even artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly integrated into our lives, the inadequacy and contradictions inherent in the view of ourselves as just our bodies is becoming increasingly obvious. So much so that the simple act of writing begs the question, who am I?

josh king news writer

january 26, 2023

graphics

carillonregina.com | the carillon | 12

photos taken in New Delhi at a 2021 farmer’s protest