There is quite a buzz going around lately about the effect of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on generating art and creative writing.
It certainly works for making cartoons. The image below was generated by me typing the words “cartoon illustration of a computer drinking a glass of red wine” into the Dall-E program1
For a non-wine project I am mucking around with a program called ChatGPT. It provides textual answers to any question you might like to ask.
As a break from researching and writing about understanding genetics and big numbers,2 I posed the question to ChatGPT:
“What is the best Australian made Sangiovese”
Here’s the response:
As an AI language model, I do not have personal opinions, tastes or preferences. However, I can provide you with some information that might be helpful in your search for the best Australian-made Sangiovese.
Sangiovese is a grape variety that is commonly grown in Italy, particularly in the Tuscany region, where it is used to produce Chianti wines. In recent years, Sangiovese has also been planted in Australia, with several wineries producing Sangiovese wines.
Some Australian wineries that are known for producing high-quality Sangiovese wines include:
Coriole Vineyards: Coriole is a winery located in the McLaren Vale wine region in South Australia. They produce several different Sangiovese wines, including their flagship Sangiovese Shiraz blend.
Pizzini Wines: Pizzini is a family-owned winery located in the King Valley wine region in Victoria. They are known for their Sangiovese wines, which have won numerous awards and accolades.
Mount Majura Vineyard: Mount Majura is a winery located in the Canberra District wine region in New South Wales. They produce a Sangiovese wine that has been described as "intense and complex".
Yarra Yering: Yarra Yering is a winery located in the Yarra Valley wine region in Victoria. They produce a Sangiovese wine that has been highly rated by wine critics.
It's worth noting that the "best" Sangiovese wine is subjective and can vary depending on personal taste and preferences. We suggest you try different Australian-made Sangiovese wines to find the one that best suits your palate.
My take on the answer
The opening and closing paragraphs of are uncontroversial if a bit generic. The disclaimer about personal opinions is spot on. But in Australia there are more than ‘several wineries making this variety’. In my database I have more than three hundred.
The first two wineries mentioned, Coriole and Pizzini certainly make excellent Sangiovese. In fact both wineries were pioneers who introduced into Australia Sangiovese well before most of us had heard of it.
So far so good. It seems that ChatGPT knows its stuff, but wait for it.
The next two wineries mentioned are problematic. Neither winery actually makes Sangiovese. The wording is very credible. Frank van de Loo at Mount Majura thinks that ChatGPT has a vivid imagination. He makes brilliant wines from Iberian varieties.
Where are we at with AI derived wine writing?
If ChatGPT was a motor car we would still need a bloke walking in front of it a red flag.
Are you experimenting with ChatGPT? Have you found anything interesting? Share a comment below. This could be a good conversation.
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Dall—E is an online program that generates images from brief verbal inputs. see https://openai.com/dall-e-2/