When browsing some blogs I sometimes wonder how the heck they came up with that idea. It sounds human but is just wrong, not the shoes vs boots kind of opinion wrong - more like using a sleeping bag to eat breakfast wrong. What is going on?

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So after I was granted access to OpenAI’s API I got playing. An API (Application Programming Interface) is a way for a computer to talk with another computer or talk with a nerd, similar to using your home computer from command line. Yes I was thinking – oh, can I use this to help me with my work? At times the resulting text is just garbage, but more often the text looks and feels right. At this stage it is a language processor, great at finding patterns and categorising or continuing them.

As a user you give the AI (artificial intelligence) something to start, a sentence or a pattern and it will try to work out the pattern and keep it going. So let’s see if we can generate a list of walks.

So I entered:

Now it is important to remember that AI does not know what NSW or TAS ‘means’, nor does it know what bushwalking is or how far a kilometre is. It is just looking for patterns from information it has access to from the internet. And this is what it returned.

Okay, at first glance that looks like a pretty convincing list. Some are real walks in the right state and correct length. There are some 4WD tracks, some completely made up tracks. Then you get weird tracks like “Cape to Cape - Bibbulmun Track”. It seemed to want to attribute everything to the Bibbulmun Track. If I was to ask it to generate the list five times I would get five completely different lists. Sometimes I might choose to write a story instead.

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You could see how with little human effort this could generate an article that looks convincing to someone unfamiliar with the actual tracks.

Now that was a pretty big ask for AI, so let's try something it is more comfortable with. I am going to ask the AI to write the next section of this article. Sorry I used the word “hike” much more than “bushwalk”, as the content it has learned from will have the word hike a lot more. The first part is written by me to get the section started, the light blue shaded text is 100% the computer's attempt first time, formatting and all included. I will not interrupt the flow of these with a commentary on each, it is worth a read.

The output text is original. I have used tools to check the text for similar text online, but there are very few hits in terms of copyright breaching. The output text has not been edited.

Gear for an extended walkWhen packing for a 4-day hike you want to make sure you have all that you need, but you also want to avoid carrying too much weight. Start with a checklist and make sure you pack ...

... the absolute essentials. My “4-day backpacking checklist” includes the items that I found essential on my 4-day trip in Utah.

Hiking shoesYou can wear hiking boots if you have them, but for my hike I chose to wear trail running shoes. They are lighter and more comfortable to walk in than boots. Most shoes will be fine as long as they are

sturdy enough to handle the tough terrain of a long hike.

Hiking poles or a walking stick (optional)I really recommend packing a walking stick on any long hike because it helps your body distribute your weight evenly while you’re walking and helps with balance when crossing rocks or uneven surfaces. My personal preference is for hiking poles because they are better at distributing weight and offer much more support than a wooden stick will give you, but either option is fine so choose whatever works best for you!

Water filter/water bottle(s) & water purification tablets (optional) or water bottle that can double as a filtration system such as this one from Brita (around $35 on Amazon). Sometimes there will be natural water sources available, but not always, so plan ahead by bringing plenty of water or a way to treat any natural water source that you do find along the way with these two options: 1) Filtering tablets which work well enough but aren’t always the most pleasant things to drink after filtering and 2) An actual filtration system like Brita bottles which make getting your drinking water down quick and easy while traveling light!

TentsNow, when it comes to choosing a tent for your hike think about it ...

... and make sure that you’re buying something that will suit your hiking needs. Also, think about if you’re going to be sharing your tent with others because it’s usually better to have a few smaller tents than one giant one because it will keep everyone more comfortable. And also, try to look at the size of the tent, I mean is it really worth all of that extra weight when there are bigger and better options out there?

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With the most recent tent trends you have probably heard about an ultralight or lightweight tent being a good choice for those longer hikes because it can be pretty convenient. If you do end up buying a lighter model try to pack a few extra pounds of gear so that you can compensate for the difference in weight.

You should also take into consideration how many people will be sharing this tent with you, and what types of environments you will need to set up in as well. For example if it snows a lot then make sure that your shelter isn’t going to collapse under some heavy snowfall because at the end of the day no one wants a ruined hiking trip. Hiking is supposed to be fun, not deadly…lol!

Most Popular Tent Brands on Amazon

As I have stated before these are some of my favorite brand names when it comes to looking for quality tents: Eureka!, Marmot, MSR, Sierra Designs, Kelty, Nemo Equipment (a newer name), Sierra Designs, Alps Mountaineering, Big Agnes. And with them being such great brands they come at very affordable prices so even college students can afford some really nice equipment while still having enough left over for gas money! Lol

Sleeping bagsA good night's sleep on your hike is important so you need to choose a good sleeping bag and pad. Sleeping bags come in many different styles, materials and qualities. When buying a sleeping bag consider ...

... the weather conditions you will be using it in.

Sleeping bags are generally rated from 35 degrees to zero degrees F. You might want to consider buying a 30-40 degree bag for summer hiking and then a separate 0-10 degree F bag for winter camping.

If you are planning on sleeping with another person you may need to go with a "double" bag, which is wider than the standard width bag. A lot of couples like this because they can sleep in the same sleeping bag without having to lay on top of each other all night

long. You can buy good quality double bags without breaking your bank account.

A good quality sleeping pad is very important so you don't wake up the next morning with your butt frozen in position all night long! Sleeping pads come in many different styles, shapes and sizes also made from different materials. One style is called an air mattress and that is exactly what it sounds like....an air mattress! These work well but they're not very compact so they take up more room in your pack than some of the other styles do. For cold weather camping an air mattress would be just fine though ... but there are better options available if space and weight are not an issue for you. For a backpacking trip I'd recommend getting one of those foam egg-crate shaped pads ... these have worked well for me and I haven't found anything better yet! To prevent having to deal with inflating your pad every morning when packing up at the end of the day, get a pump sack ... you will thank me later ;)

First aid kitDon't forget a first aid kit on your next hike, at a minimum your first aid kit should contain:

Small adhesive bandages

Roll of gauze/strips of fabric for binding and padding a wound, plus butterfly bandages to secure it

Aspirin or non-aspirin pain reliever tablets (I prefer Ibuprofen) which can help alleviate swelling and bruising that may occur after your hike. Note: the newer and more potent NSAID drugs such as Ibuprofen, naproxen, or Celebrex may not be safe for those with stomach ulcers or bleeding disorders. If you have any concerns talk to your doctor first.

and other anti-inflammatory drugs can help reduce swelling and bruising that may occur after your hike. Note: the newer and more potent NSAID drugs such as Ibuprofen, naproxen, or Celebrex may not be safe for those with stomach ulcers or bleeding disorders. If you have any concerns talk to your doctor first. Roll of gauze for covering larger wounds. For more extensive wounds another small roll of gauze will be needed in

* The gap and repeating words in first aid are as received.

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addition to the one provided in the kit, along with a way to secure it so that it won't move around while hiking out (duct tape works well). Tourniquet if necessary (see below) Duct tape also helps secure the roll of gauze on larger wounds Antiseptic wipes Antibiotic ointment for minor cuts (especially after using a tourniquet) Burn gel Oral rehydration mixture if you are likely to get dehydrated Pencil/paper so you can keep track of what medications are used and when they were taken Acetaminophen (Tylenol) if desired Pain killers - ibuprofen is best suited for use by hikers Aspirin Anti-diarrhea medicine Insect repellent Antihistamine cream in case someone is allergic to something.*

Children on tripsHiking with kids can be a real joy, they seem to really enjoy the freedom and the challenge. Kids do get hungry quickly so have plenty of snacks ready and when things get hard be ready to change plans. Especially on the first few hikes it is all about ...

... having fun.

Bring an empty water bottle for each kid, I have one child that has a hard time carrying a lot of water so we have a smaller bottle and he carries his own. One time I brought my own which was really nice and let me take sips of water as needed. If you can use lightweight portable water filters it makes hiking even easier. You can read our article on the best portable water filters.

Bringing along a day pack can help store extra snacks, sunscreen, sunglasses and bug spray in case you need it during the hike. It is also nice to have something to carry your kid's snack in so they don't drop it all over the place while hiking. That is why I like these kids backpacks, they are easy to carry and your kids will love having their own special pack. These handy storage bags can also be used for storing snacks or dirty shoes at the end of the hike, making cleanup after hikes easier too!

We like to save money on gear and food by making our own packed lunches but on longer hikes we usually stop at a restaurant for lunch so we don't get too hungry and are ready to head home with plenty of

energy left! The trailhead near Sedona is not far from the town of Sedona which offers many great restaurants (we recommend them all). We love going out for pizza after hiking because pizza tastes better when its cold! When kids learn how good pizza tastes after being outside they are much more likely to want to hike more often! Pizza can be expensive though so if you want to save money check out our tips on eating cheaply while visiting Arizona's Grand Canyon . Hiking with kids isn't always easy but it is worth every minute!

Australian bushwalkingAustralia is an amazing place to bushwalk. Every state has many fantastic walks and they all vary greatly. It is an absolute scientific fact that the best state to bushwalk is ...

... the state that you live in.

If you want to talk to a person who knows bushwalking, ask a walker. So here are some questions I have put together for someone who does not know anything about walking or Australia. And if you do, well just pretend…

QUESTIONS:

What is it? A place where people go for walks in the bush (bush is a kind of vegetation found in Australia, like trees and grass). If you say “I am going for a walk” I will assume you mean that you are going to take your pet dog out for a bit of exercise around the block. Bushwalking is better than that. You will get paid! Is it free? No. Bushwalking is an organised activity run by conservation organisations like the National Parks and Wildlife Service or local government authorities like shire councils or even local tourist offices ... How much does it cost? It depends on the organisation, but somewhere between $30 and $120 per day would be reasonable to expect per person. I think mine was $50 per day but I did walk 80km over 4 days so they may have charged me less per km than most people would pay ;-) What does it involve?

At minimum you will need proper walking shoes and clothes with sun protection as

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well as water carrying equipment such as bags or bottles etc., but many organisations provide additional equipment such as maps, compasses, radios etc … Why do I need so much stuff? As well as basic clothes including shirts with long sleeves and trousers that have zips instead of buttons (this one is optional), good shoes are essential – either lace up hiking boots or sneaker type boots called “trampers” are commonly used ... What should I wear for my first day? I highly recommend starting out with short walks so that your body can get used to some light exercise again after being in front of the computer screen all day – wear ordinary street clothes including non restrictive clothing such as t-shirts rather than jumpers for example …

What else should we bring besides snacks and lunch? Bring lots of water – at least 1 litre per person per hour plus extra for tea breaks etc., high energy food snacks – nuts/biscuits/chocolate etc., sun protection (sunscreen) and rain gear too if weather forecast looks likely to be wet especially… What if it rains on our first day walk? The odd shower won’t worry us too much because there is shelter at most huts, picnic shelters along roadsides or camping grounds except possibly early in summer when these places may not yet be set up. Will we ever see another person while we are walking across country paths through the bush (as opposed to walking along main roads)? Only if they hear us coming before we see them!

Are there snakes in Australia ? Yes indeed there are - mostly harmless though some can be very dangerous. Here is an article from Chris Smith's website http://www.australiangeographic.com/blog/2010/05/28-

years-to-live-or-a-sticky-situation/. How big are they? Nothing like what they look like in movies - venomous snakes seldom exceed 60cm long although some harmless ones grow bigger. Do our walks go through towns? Almost always yes although sometimes they might not go close enough to see buildings but hopefully past fenced properties where farmers allow access. Do any other animals come near us while we’re walking? There might be kangaroos hopping about on roadsides while driving into remote locations sometimes but more commonly rabbits although birds are most common especially near waterholes. We don't normally come across koalas anymore since the introduction of Eastern Grey Kangaroos means that Koalas occupy higher branches now instead of lower ones where people could easily reach them … Can we swim during our days off while doing an organised walk? Maybe not unless campgrounds have swimming pools etc ... Generally recommended activities include bird watching, stargazing, wildflower appreciation, photography, looking at rocks, having lunch, talking about being hungry, looking at ants under magnifying glasses, going surfing - just kidding!!

Can people stay overnight while out bushwalking then catch public transport back home again next morning? Yes sometimes accommodation will be arranged beforehand perhaps by contacting local authorities beforehand … Can children do walks also?? Sure ! In fact children love them because there isn't too much climbing involved unlike their normal school holiday activities which often involve mountain climbing ;-) so call young families now! Do dogs usually come along also?? Almost never unfortunately because we must avoid

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crossing pastoral leases /farms owned by cattle / sheep farmers who usually don't allow dogs except under special circumstances but mainly due to concern about damage done by dogs such as digging holes / fouling pathways etc ... Here's an excellent page from Queensland Parks & Wildlife Service explaining why: http://www2.epa.qld.gov.au/parks/whynotdogsinparks

FootwearBushwalkers have debated for generations over what are the best shoes to wear. Some say kt-26, other Volleys and there is always the die-hard leather boot fans. After decades of research and interviewing every bushwalker in Australia, I can now declare the best footwear for bushwalking ...

... is thongs. No, not the flimsy plastic flip-flops that are made in China. I mean those made of rubber that you find for $1 in Salvation Army stores. They are an ancient invention and were originally worn by native Australians to protect their feet from sharp stones and harsh ground.

After years of being forbidden from wearing thongs on long walks by self-appointed fashion police, I decided to put them to the test on a three-day trek over the famous Sir Thomas Mitchell Track near Glen Innes, NSW, and over Mt Cobberas in the Grampians National Park, Victoria. We had gale force winds, torrential rainstorms, thunder and lightning; it was like walking through a washing machine at times. But my feet were comfortable and I didn’t slip once even though we traversed scree slopes where there was no grip whatsoever underfoot.

I have tried all sorts of walking shoes over the years but no matter how expensive

they were or how highly they were rated they always seemed to wear out after just one trip into the bush; some became waterlogged after a couple of days rained-on walks in New South Wales. But despite being worn almost every day for about two months by myself (I only got blisters once when I tried walking around with my new thongs on my heel without wearing socks first) they still look as good as new! Now it seems many hikers have cottoned onto this secret since both Kathmandu and Cabela’s stock rubber thongs! I doubt you will ever see a pair of leather boots in either shop!

CampfiresWhen you finish up at camp make sure your fire is fully extinguished ...

... by spreading out the ashes. Use a stick to poke through the ashes, make sure there are no hot spots left. If it is still warm leave it be for another hour or so and then check again. It may take several hours for your fire to fully extinguish depending on the conditions (wind, rain etc).

Pack out all trash and leave your site as you found it. Make sure you burn or bury any paper products such as napkins, paper plates, toilet paper etc. Remember that certain things such as food wrappers can cause damage to wildlife so if you plan on keeping food scraps take them home with you for disposal.

Well that’s about it! All this seems very easy but don’t get too comfortable with camping in Florida! Florida can be a hostile environment and things do not always go as planned which is why you need to be prepared to improvise and deal with challenges. A good rule of thumb is this: Be Prepared!

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A recipeI also tested writting recipes. I gave the following simple instructions.

Write a recipe based on these ingredients and instructions:

Hikers desert

Ingredients:

powdered milk, sugar, dried fruit, custard powder, water

Mix the powdered milk, sugar, custard powder, and water in a pot. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Add the dried fruit and simmer for another 10 minutes.

CommentsWow, okay, I am not sure what to think. Some of those are just hilariously bad, some dangerously bad, but mostly they are passable, some are even good with interesting insights. I was really hoping to start a fight by getting the computer to pick the best bushwalking state, and it was wiser than me. Ohh and gee wiz, talk about a few weird random comments scattered throughout.

It is funny that AI seems to be similar to a people in that once it starts rambling it keeps rambling. I just love the line “Bushwalking is better than that. You will get paid! Is it free? No.”

Clearly the AI has no idea what it is saying and does not care about truth, but you can see that AI could easily be used to write a large amount of content that could be quickly edited into something that reads well and may even be very convincing to someone not experienced in the space. Some of the text is true, helpful and written better than many experts in the space write.

You can actually tune the AI to give factual answers, kind of. So in this case I have given the AI a sample of Q&A examples then

asking where each walk starts and ends. Here are my questions and the AI answers. These are fast. Think that this AI could respond to people’s questions on a chat bot.

Q: Where does the Overland Track start and end?

A: The Overland Track starts at Cradle Mountain and ends at Lake St Clair.

Q: Where does the Great North Walk start and end?

A: The Great North Walk starts at Sydney's Northern Beaches and ends at Newcastle.

Q: Where does the Australian Alps Walking Track start and end?

A: The Australian Alps Walking Track starts at Walhalla, Victoria and ends at Canberra, ACT.

Q: Where does the Larapinta Trail start and end?

A: The Larapinta Trail starts at Alice Springs and ends at Mount Sonder.

Q: Where does the Bibbulmun Track start and end?

A: The Bibbulmun Track starts at Kalamunda and ends at Albany.

Q: Where does the Six Foot Track start and end?

A: The Six Foot Track starts at the Jenolan Caves Visitor Centre and ends at the top of the ridge.

Again very convincing answers and correct reasonably often.

Interestingly whilst doing this it seemed to notice the pattern and when I asked about the AAWT it created the similar question about Larapinta and the answer.

Computer generated imagesComputers have been generating images and videos of artificial scenes for a long time, but these have involved a lot of artist time, effectively using a computer screen as a very advanced paint canvas. Now we are at the point where computers are starting to take the role of the artist. These images are not perfect but are getting closer to passable.

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websites to get ad clicks and do not care about content other than to drive traffic could use AI to produce millions of articles and publish them with very little effort or cost.

We do need to be mindful that AI like this is currently learning from content on the internet mostly. Some of this content is well written factual information, but there is a lot of just click bait rubbish it is also learning from. The more AI is used the more it will be learning from other AI. This is very concerning to me.

This will obviously have an impact on the employment of some content creators with more and more pressure to "content" rather than helpful, reliable and correct articles.

There is a place for these tools as well opening up opportunities for people. Potentially using AI to help guide and inspire.

So on that note I am going to finish by feeding the OpenAI the titles of all the articles published in Bushwalk Australia over the years, and see if it can suggest some articles we should write. Feeling inspired, maybe you can write one?

I wrote this (above) then ran the script to generate the following list. It did better than I was expecting. It's far from awesome but it could be a helpful way for brainstorming ideas. No idea is wrong after all.

Cairns to Cooktown Walk

The Great Ocean Walk

Hiking the Overland Track

Banksia, Blackwood and Sassafras

Kosciuszko National Park – The Snowy Mountains Scheme

Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain Huts and Campsites

The Great Ocean Walk – A New Zealand Classic Trail?

Ausangate Circuit, Peru – A New Andean Walking Classic?

Peru’s Cordillera Huayhuash Circuit – A New Classic?

Mt Buffalo Huts and Campsites, Victoria

Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain Huts and Campsites

Gibraltar Range, Tasmania

Cradle Mountain Huts & Campsites

Great Ocean Walk: Walking Australia’s Best Long Distance Trail

Overland Track: Walking Tasmania’s Best Long Distance Trail

Kosciuszko National Park: Australia’s Alpine World Heritage Area