AI may think otherwise but the Okanagan is not losing its identity

Photo: Castanet

The Okanagan is known for the fruit and food it produces, as well as its grapes and wines.

On occasion, especially when I have a mild case of writer’s block, I’ll pull up an artificial intelligence writing tool and ask it what I should write about.

Usually, the suggestions are not super surprising but can give me a slight creative poke in one direction or another.

This exercise can also tease my technical interests, as I ponder what algorithms are picking up out there on the vast interwebs.

So, when this AI idea came up, I was a bit taken aback. The suggested title was, "Is the Okanagan losing its food identity?"

The suggested opening paragraph (written by AI) was “Not long ago, the Okanagan’s food culture was synonymous with orchards, farm stands, backyard bounty, and family-owned restaurants that knew their farmers by name. But as glass towers rise, vineyards flip hands and chain restaurants find footholds in once-sleepy towns, I’ve started to wonder: Are we losing what made our food scene feel truly local?”

My first thought was, “Wait a second. Are we?’

My second thought was, why was this the top suggestion and what is it that AI is picking up on there?

I asked ChatGPT to explain itself, which brought on strong mix of curiosity and anxiety. The response included statements about rapid development, the sale or repurposing of farmland, food producers struggling with climate and affordability pressures and tourism leaning towards “homogenized” offerings instead of the authentic.

First of all, I don’t think the region is losing its identity. Certainly, though, it’s evolving. An example is Penticton was once known as the “City of peaches and beaches.” The beaches are here but there were no peaches last season.

As a teenager, I remember Kelowna was where everyone wanted to go for waterslides, mini-golf, and go-carting. Now, it’s food and wine. But that may simply be a sign of my age.

If this is what’s out there in this age of Google searches and AI seeping into many corners of our daily lives, do we collectively need to change our tune?

That’s a tough task. We post and discuss what’s top of mind and in recent years that has been dealing with agricultural challenges, a wine industry grappling with how to handle a vintage that incorporates grapes from other regions thanks to last year’s crop loss, rising costs and shifting travel habits.

I’m not sure what the answer is but I think it might come from some real life conversations and collaborations. Around 15 years ago, a collective group of associations, businesses and individuals created an enormous swell of online chatter, in part to win a bid for the 2013 Wine Bloggers’ Conference.

In 2012, The Huffington Post named Penticton as one of the top 10 world travel destinations based on a survey that analyzed millions of travel-related online comments.

We can do something positive like this again, right?

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.