Intelligence, or the end of it?

My latest book HET BETWISTE LAND (in Dutch) is slowly approaching completion. The manuscript was edited and at the moment I’m only adding a few final details. Translation into English has the added advantage of going over the Dutch text in detail - a final check, if you like. Translating into English comes to me easily, as I’m reasonably fluent in the language and familiar with common expressions. The translated book will be titled CONTESTED LAND, and I’m about one-third into the job. It goes slowly, but steadily - effectively I’m re-writing the book in another language.

Recently I discussed the translation with another author, who wondered whether I hadn’t better use an AI platform to do the job. That’s an interesting question - how does a human author and translator compare to artificial intelligence?

The mv Oostkerk, seen here at Dubai,
plays a part in CONTESTED LAND

Intelligence

Judging from the sheer number of definitions of intelligence, it is a concept difficult to define, such as being able to act pro-actively and think rationally. Or the ability to see similarities in two different entities, to recognise patterns and to acquire and apply knowledge. Then there is emotional intelligence: self-knowledge, optimism, empathy, social ability. And steadfastness, of which more later.

Being able to identify similarities and to think logically and consistently helps an author in shaping his story, investigating its background and turning it into a concrete end product. But equally important is emotional intelligence, which makes you think about the impact of the book upon the reader. To judge whether the reader will connect to it, or whether the story will cause resentment in some quarters, especially if the theme may be considered controversial, such as the multi-faceted conflict in the Middle East.

CONTESTED LAND is a throwback to the conflict in the Middle East at an earlier stage during the 1970s, and was inspired by the horror I felt at the merciless extermination of the people of Gaza by the Israeli army. Regardless of the cause - the terror attack of Hamas in October 2023 - NOTHING warrants the excessive response by Israel and the almost 70,000 people killed, not counting the many injured in body and mind.

The violent patterns of today were present half a century ago: it isn’t for nothing that international law discerns between the legitimate attack of a military target and deliberately slaughtering civilians. Even if Israel always pretends its operations are legitimate, a drone attack on a house full of children or the bombing of a hospital is a war crime, in the same league as a terrorist attack on people waiting at a bus stop.

Not everyone will thank me for that, but I won’t be silent. This also is emotional intelligence: how to bring an unwelcome message without putting your head on the block. Sitting on that knife edge, I can tell you, is a balancing act.

Steadfastness and emotional intelligence

In CONTESTED LAND, ordinary people not unlike you and me play a part, trying to live through the poverty and the violence in a Palestinian camp during the Lebanese civil war. It wasn’t easy to penetrate into the culture of the Palestinian people, or that of the Palestinian diaspora. Even now, with the manuscript almost completed, I come across details that are worthwile.

Recently I attended a cultural event where young authors from Gaza presented a book of short stories entitled ‘We Are Not Numbers’. Their stories taught me something more that touches on my book, such as the steadfastness of Palestinians, their resolve to stand up straight in the face of oppression. This is another form of emotional intelligence. Palestinians have a word for it: sumud, non-violent resistance. 

In an article on Sumud on Wikipedia I found what looked like a scale of resistance against oppression, and I see surprising parallels between sumud and the resistance against the German occupation of Holland during the war years. Many Dutch learned to survive and stand up straight, and in addition there was a fair amount of sabotage and undermining as a form of resistance.

Armed resistance takes things one step further - shooting prominent enemies also took place in the Netherlands. But the margin between legitimate armed resistance and terrorism is narrow, and as a consequence, armed resistance is often framed as terrorism. That is food for discussion - The Rights Forum recently published an interesting article, regrettably only in Dutch, about the legitimacy of armed resistance by the Palestinians, which shows exactly what is allowed under international law and what isn’t. Naturally, that also applies to Israel, which has blatantly ignored international law since 1948, and got away with it.

Back to intelligence

At the beginning of this article, I put the question how a human author or translator relates to artificial intelligence. I will give you an example. Recently I asked someone to comment on a text I wrote. The reply was very clear and relevant, which made me ask the person in question whether she had experience of the subject. No, she replied - I made ChatGPT write the answer!

What does that say about commenting on text using AI? That the reply was useful doesn’t come into it: every comment that makes me think is relevant. But the only one that learned from the process is a digital glutton somewhere in the US, not the one who I had asked to comment.

Now suppose I’d use ChatGPT to translate my books into English. I wouldn’t control the result, unless I’d edit the generated text manually myself. But in addition, my text, my plot and my writing style, in short my entire copyright, would be stolen shamelessly by the translating platform. And finally, my knowledge of the English language would stop being fed by the exercise.

Perhaps I’m too critical, but if we allow AI to replace human intelligence in such tasks, eventually it must mean the end of intelligence: we’ll stop learning and only feed the monster.