Letting AI Define the Ineffable

There have been 18 installments of “Defining the Ineffable” since we started in December with Eben Weiss.

When I started thinking about the series, I kicked around different ideas of what to call it. One of the ideas was this: “The Pursuit: a chronicling of the search for the perfect phrase describing the joys of cycling.”

I still like the name. And I’m honestly not sure why I didn’t stick with it.

If you’re new here, a new installment drops each Sunday. It’s a way to meet someone new, or to get to know someone better. We talk bikes. And then we ask them to describe the joys of cycling.

There have been some memorable answers. Eben Weiss’ answer, for example, is one of my favorites.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a vinyl nerd, this is not me trying to be pretentious. However, I’m old enough that that’s just the way I grew up hearing music. So I often think of cycling in those terms. For me, the bike is like a stylus, the world is like a record, and when you put the stylus down on the record there’s music. Moving through the world on a bike just feels good to me — it unlocks the beauty of everything around me.

Some answers are longer.

There is a palpable energy associated with the innocence of youth.  A sheer desire to experience the unknown of adventure, the thrill of speed, true surprise without prior expectation, all without knowledge or fear of consequence.  It is an energy that encourages a child to just go for it and to absorb what may follow.  Cycling bundles all that together in a single activity, regardless of age.  

It is one of the rare life experiences that is repeatable, but always unique, for each ride unveils new aspects of life around us to be discovered.  It redefines our relationship to nature, our fellow riders, even revealing the evolution of who we are as individuals.  Though the medium changes; diving through dense wooded single track or weaving between cars through a crowded city intersection, the focal point that remains constant is you and your bicycle, a synergistic relationship.  The need to experience this becomes ingrained in our spirits, encouraging a lifelong passion.  I can't imagine NOT seeing the world, or myself, through the blur of two rotating wheels. — Rody Walter, owner of Groovy Cycleworks

Some are short and sweet.

Riding a bike on a trail gives me the opportunity to possibly reach the state of psychological flow, along with seeing beautiful places/landscapes. I enjoy feeling like I'm "away," too. — James Murren, writer of MTBeer

Others are poetic. (Literally.)

ripping through the trees
sharp rocks dance beneath my feet
and now i am free — Syd Schulz

So, today I had an idea. Since there’s so much talk and discourse around AI (artificial intelligence), I thought I’d put it to the test, again. I copied and pasted each subject’s answer to the prompt “describe the joys of cycling” into Chapt GPT’s thingy and told it to use the following 18 paragraphs to create a phrase that captures the essence of cycling.

Answer #1

Cycling is all about trusting yourself, taking on challenges, and experiencing the world around you with a childlike energy. It's a release, an adventure, and an addiction that creates a unity between you and your bike, allowing you to do things that aren't possible off the bike. It's a way to clear your mind, live simply, and feel pure happiness while conquering the world one ride at a time.

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Not bad. It still feels a bit robotic to me, and I’m still not fully satisfied. I guess we’ll just have to continue searching for that perfect phrase — or paragraph.

Can it be done?