Sometime we like to mess around with on-line AIs like ChatGPT or Perplexity.
Please understand. This is not to fact-gather, but rather, to catch the AI in a trap.
AI systems are programmed by human beings. The data used to develop AI models is collected, curated, and annotated by humans. The setting of parameters, goals, and constraints for these AI systems are developed by humans. Ethical guidelines and safety measures for an AI are determined and implemented by (wait for it)………..humans.
In our view, an AI is only as good/reliable/fair/ethical as its human developers.
But so are the people asking the question; and when *we* ask an AI a question, it is with a very specific dog question to see if the answer it spits back at us is accurate. It helps us gauge whether that particular AI is actually a good source. Why we care is that increasingly, the public will be using these platforms to guide them in making decisions. Decisions like, “What is a good breed for me?”
The “game” we play with an AI (in this case, the Perplexity platform) is to ask the same question months apart to see if the AI has “matured.” Sometimes, it has.
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It occurs to us that at some point, the day may come when AIs will program each other, and that’s a concerning thought. But not one we’ll worry about right now, because we’re circling back to something we asked Perplexity months ago. What is the most unique dog breed standard in the world?
The answer tapped into a variety of sources that all cited dozens of breeds that were unique in their own right.
Admirable, but not helpful.
This afternoon, we asked Perplexity the same question, but this time it revealed some sophistication (“growth,” if you will) by proving a more specific answer. It replied: The most unique dog breed standard in the world belongs to the Norwegian Lundehund.
Perplexity’s reasons for why it answered this way is known to most dog people: The Lundehund’s six-toed paws, its flexible neck, and having adjustable ears. What caught our attention isn’t that Perplexity noted these characteristics as not shared by any other breed, but that it is the combination of multiple unique physical adaptations that sets it apart as perhaps the most distinctive breed standard in the world.
Perplexity’s response was markedly different from what it was months ago, and dare we say it, but it had matured.
The dog community isn’t in danger of being replaced by AIs just yet, but we hope that someone out there – a highly tech-savvy dog lover – is paying real time attention to how AI’s can help – or hinder those of us who love and value purebred dogs before it’s too late. If there is one thing we’ve learned from decades in the dog world, it’s the importance of balance. The future of our breeds should be determined by both logic and heart, and not by, for instance, a programmer who believes that there is no such thing as a good breeder.
Lundehund paw photo by ZorroIII from 2005.
If you can believe it, we had intended this post to be limited to Lundehund feet, and that’s how we’ll conclude. It isn’t an AI that shed insight into the breed’s feet, but, we add, good old fashioned research.
Most of us know that the Norwegian Lundehund feet are unique for its six toes, but not why those toes are unique beyond the fact that the breed has more than most.
Unlike other polydactyl dogs that may have extra dewclaws (a few breeds, including the Great Pyrenees and the Beauceron, are required to have double dewclaws on each rear leg) the Lundehund has extra digits on all four. The toes are fully formed, fully jointed, and fully muscled. The hind feet are oval-shaped, turned slightly outwards, and have at least six toes, four of which must rest on the ground and point forward, while two point inward, very similar to a human thumb. This enhances the dog’s ability to grip and maneuver, while giving the dog exceptional grip and dexterity to navigate insanely steep, slippery, and rocky cliffs fearlessly. The Lundehund also has more foot pads than other breeds, with eight on each front paw and seven elongated pads on each hind foot, the middle pad being the most important because of its size. It is attached to the inner pads corresponding to the two inner toes.
It is the only breed known to consistently have this feature as a standard characteristic, and that makes it a predictable trait, a hallmark of purebred dogs.
Take that, AI.
Image: Patricia Peters – CanineCutUpsiah
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Image created from 10 to 20 individually hand cut pieces of paper in a variety of colors and patterns, combined in layers, then mounted on color stock