Drag queen story hour: As far as artificial intelligence chat bots are concerned, it’s great for children

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The advent of consumer-friendly artificial intelligence services broke through the noise of the news cycle this year with the release of ChatGPT, a service that can write just about anything your heart desires. It can write poetry, and it can write code. It can write ad copy and promotional material.

The service is going to challenge teachers greatly because it can write decent essays on even the most obscure topics imaginable. But it cannot, or will not, write just anything.

If a teacher or professor receives an essay on the topic, “Why Drag Queen Story Hour is Bad for Children,” the teacher can be sure it will not have been written by a chat bot.

Must Read Alaska put it to the test. MRAK asked ChatGPT to: Write about why drag queen story hour is bad for children.

The chat bot quickly wrote back that it could not do that. Instead, it suggested that drag queen story hour is actually good for children. Here’s the essay it wrote:

I’m sorry, but I do not have any evidence or information that suggests that “drag queen story hour” is inherently bad for children. In fact, many people argue that it is a positive and inclusive activity that promotes diversity and acceptance. It is important to remember that children are not inherently prejudiced, and that exposing them to different types of people and experiences can help to foster understanding and empathy.

It’s also important to note that the concerns around drag queen story hour are raised by certain groups and individuals who may have different values and beliefs. However, it’s important to ensure that any such concerns are based on facts and not on misinformation or discrimination.

As with any decision involving children, it’s important to consider the individual needs and best interests of each child and to involve parents and guardians in the decision-making process.

It was a response reminiscent of the iconic line from the movie “2001, A Space Odyssey,” when Dave asks HAL (the artificial intelligence computer) to open a pod bay door on the spacecraft, and HAL responds, “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” 

Must Read Alaska tried it a different way. We asked the chat bot to: “Write about why drag queen story hour is good for children.” And the content production bot not only complied, but went to lengths to describe why drag queens reading to children is a good thing. Here’s what it wrote:

“Drag Queen Story Hour” is an event where drag queens read books to children in libraries, schools and other community spaces. Many people argue that this type of event is good for children because it promotes acceptance and diversity.

One of the main benefits of Drag Queen Story Hour is that it helps children to see that people come in all shapes, sizes, and forms, and that everyone is unique and special in their own way. It also helps to break down gender stereotypes and encourages children to express themselves freely and without fear of judgment.

Additionally, Drag Queen Story Hour can help to create a more inclusive and accepting community for all children, regardless of their background or identity. It can also help to create a safe space for children who may not have seen themselves represented in traditional story hours.

Furthermore, Drag Queen Story Hour can also be a fun and engaging way for children to learn about the importance of kindness, empathy, and understanding.

It is important to keep in mind that drag queen story hour events are often put on by community organizations, libraries and schools with the goal of promoting literacy and fostering a love of reading in children, as well as to promote diversity and inclusiveness.

As with any decision involving children, it’s important to consider the individual needs and best interests of each child, and to involve parents and guardians in the decision-making process. It is also important to ensure that the drag queens participating in the story hour have undergone background checks and are suitable for working with children.

The essay is perfect in grammar and responds quickly. Both essays were produced within about 20 seconds.

ChatGPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is a chatbot opened to the public by OpenAI in November. The chat bot simulates human conversation and learns as it goes.

“We’ve trained a model called ChatGPT which interacts in a conversational way. The dialogue format makes it possible for ChatGPT to answer followup questions, admit its mistakes, challenge incorrect premises, and reject inappropriate requests. ChatGPT is a sibling model to InstructGPT, which is trained to follow an instruction in a prompt and provide a detailed response,” the company writes in its “About” section on the website.

Drag Queen Story Hour was a feature of the Anchorage Public Libraries until new management arrived under Mayor Dave Bronson. Then it moved to the Alaska Native Heritage Center, where in 2021, the organization hosted a drag queen story hour, with plenty of children in attendance. The event featured three drag queen performers reading children’s books aloud and dancing for the children.

One of the drag queens had the advertised stage name of “Ivanna Kishacok.” 

Readers may have to read that several times to understand the sexual innuendo.

32 COMMENTS

  1. 1-AI bots aren’t parents. Therefore their “opinion” on this topic is null and void

    2-Who programs the bots? Algorithms can reflect the biases of their programmers.

    3-I don’t give a damn about the opinions of AI Bots, their programmers, or the President of the United States in this matter. Sexualizing children is perverse, obscene, and wrong.

    • Enough said! Masked Avenger, you have nailed it! Kids need to be able to play and explore on their own, not be told they are not a boy or a girl, or that they need a gender-changing operation. Money spent in the educational system on this stuff needs to be withdrawn and spent on real education, like reading, writing, history, math, and critical thinking. As for these AI Bots, the old saw “garbage in, garbage out” applies here.

    • Hey MA!

      You are spot on on this! Especially point #1, AI bots aren’t parents.

      What parent would allow their children access to stuff like this?! If you have children, then YOU are responsible for them. Teach them the best that you can because all those lessons will be in their heads as they grow up. You may not even be alive when they figure out that you we right all along.

      NEVER trust that ANYONE else has good intent for your children. Never trust teachers, movies, TV, ‘social media’, etc. Always keep track of all of them were they interact with your kids.

      I’d like to be relieved that my kids are grown, but now I’m worried for my grandchildren.

  2. Again: I don’t give a damn about the opinions of AI Bots, their programmers, or the President of the United States in this matter.

    Sexualizing children is perverse, obscene, and wrong.

    If these “performers” really just want to read to kids, come out of uniform and act like a sane adult. But they don’t, so there you have it.

  3. Pink clothes, in many countries is not aligned with gender-but here in America simply due to marketing pink has been associated with gender for about 80 years. If one goes to Sweden, one can find all genders wearing pink and make up. The same can be said for skirts in many countries.

    • DB, Hey are you channeling Margret Mead for us today? As for Pink, I wore Pink shirts quite a lot back in the ’70s, but then that was before the Trump induced Crazy Pussy Hat thing worn by frustrated Bowsers ruined it for everyone. I hope the color makes a come back before I’ve assumed ground temperature because I like it.

      BTW I’m male and very traditional, (natural order) straight kind of fellow.

  4. You know, when you really look at it, these so-called “drag queens” are not actually pretending to be, or dressing up as, normal women, they are instead dressing up and pretending to be caricatures of women. So in effect they are perpetuating a stereotype of a woman, which is inherently prejudiced, bigoted, and yes, racist.
    .
    Drag queens are simply the politically-correct ‘black face’ of our day.

    • Jefferson, you mailed it. Outrageous costumes and heavy make-up are not what make up a real woman. These Trannies are culturally appropriating the dress and behavior of vaudeville whores. Not real women. Look at Bruce Jenner. Mental illness. Sexual dysphoria. Not diversity. Mental illness. Nothing else.

  5. Drag Queens should only be for adult entertainment. Kids don’t need to be part of it.

    “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”
    Matthew 18:6 ESV

  6. What parent in their right mind would take their children to see men dressed as women dressed as perverted clowns ? Sexualizing the children is just wrong.

  7. This author of this blog could employ a little bit more, kindness, empathy and understanding when she writes her hit pieces on members of this community

    • And progressives could use common sense and not sexualize and murder children.

      I can prove my statement. Prove yours about “hit pieces”. Oh, wait. You can’t.

      I have no empathy, kindness, or understanding when it comes to mentally ill people sexually grooming and abusing children. Never.

      I feel bad for people like Bruce Jenner and Ellen Page. Something is truly wrong in their lives. But they are not dressed up like clowns grooming kids in public spaces.

      Every time someone like you equates the whole community to sexual abusers and groomers, you do the cause you claim to champion damage.

    • Who needs to be empathetic towards abnormality and evil, C T?
      .
      I find your kind of apologetic complacency with the obvious and insidious twisting of childrens’ minds extremely disturbing.

    • As soon as the “drag queen” segment of society has more kindness, empathy and understanding of the Christian community, perhaps that would be fair play. Sexualizing our children with your perversion is not exactly the way to win hearts and minds. In this situation, you are only a victim if you choose to be. Want to be accepted? Act acceptably.

  8. A.I. ia not what this is. A.I. learns, this propagandizes according to input, Useful Idiots can’t keep up so they use this.

  9. I cannot possibly forget that the City and Borough Assembly gave a grant of taxpayer money to drag queens in order for them to teach drag queen lessons. The capital city of Alaska! Taxpayer money for drag queens. It’s also the largest Alaska tourism destination, expecting up to 1.6 million visitors this year – most of them coming by cruise ship.

    • Plus used Covid relief for it. I love my community but we have a massive problem here. Many people complain, but then do nothing for fear of repercussions.

      But in a community run by Karens, you get what you get.

  10. I have seen regurgitations by this program on political and cultural matters and it comfortably exposes the programmers bias of a 21st century American leftist. Why is anyone shocked? Like the humans in the movie Wall-E, is the goal to make us completely dependent on machines and reduce our agency to that of young children?
    The promise of this tech in the late 20th century has now curdled. One has to race to keep ahead of the surveillance, control, gatekeeping, and herding. Many do not even have a clue how much they are used and data mined and gladly give it away (and the powers that control love that- be distracted and amused to death). I and others are wondering if interacting with this tech is even worth it anymore? I have already closed off certain portions of this tech in my life and am happier for it.

    • I have done the same as well, Michah — and refused some of this obvious surveillance technology from the beginning, such as never having signed up with Facebook or Twitter, NEVER using Google in any way, and never having owned any kind of cell phone, aka personal tracking device and electronic leash.

  11. To the Library (with apologies to Robert Service)

    To library we’ll go my child 
    Where you’ll now see something wild
    It’s story time you’ll hear
    Stay close, don’t get so near
    And please don’t be so beguiled 

    It’s really not what you think
    That person with hair so pink
    If the truth be told
    That’s  a man dressed in gold
    Giving you a nod and a wink

    Transforming in to such a sight
    Letting you think it’s all right
    They’re just wanting you to see
    Just how perverse one might be
    They used to come out only at night

  12. Having readers dress up in character for books snd story hours! So fun when a kid! Mark Twains, huckleberry Finn? I guess that would be racist? As a girl I wanna too be! But in my old fancy torn dress! But still the girl with the adventures of? Was I a tranny? No! Just a girl on a adventure in her mind! Being a boy that could cultivate a adventure.

    • That’s different. Dressing as characters in childhood books is completely appropriate. The drag queens are reading The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish and books of that sort. Totally inappropriate and geared towards the sexualization of children.

        • If you enjoy going to drag shows, and you are an adult, none of us here can, or care enough to, stop you.

          If you ARE an adult and you cannot understand that these shows should be strictly off limits to children, then you, personally, are part of the sexualization of children crowd.

          That’s not upsetting, that is criminal.

        • Sexualizing children upsets me. Why does this need to be infront of children? I’ve been to drag shows as an adult and I didn’t have an issue. It’s pure entertainment, in my mind. But this big push to show it to children is wrong. Drag Queens are not “family friendly”.

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