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2023-11-25 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
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Convince Yaroslav the Wise. ChatGPT in the fight for the history of Ukraine
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Denis Davydov
[REGNUM] The Ukrainian historical myth has long been transformed into a “thing in itself,” since ideologists set themselves a very clear goal of forming a “Ukrainian-centric” model of the past. In an effort to separate events within the artificial boundaries of 1991 from a single cultural and historical context, they created well-known chimeras - from a thousand-year-old state tradition to the ancient Ukrainian language in the mouth of Jesus Christ.
But the story about “the ancient Ukrainians who dug up the Black Sea” only looks funny - in fact, it is a reflection of serious, systematic work with consciousness. First of all, young people. Only the events of relatively recent times are quite easy to deal with, showing both the Ukrainians’ desire for independence and the Russians’ desire to prevent this. But with earlier periods there are objective difficulties. The same Kievan Rus, an absolutely artificial concept, invented by pre-revolutionary people and picked up by Soviet historians, is squeezed into the concept of “Ukraine” with great difficulty.
This problem was already recognized by Mikhail Grushevsky , the chairman of the Ukrainian Central Rada (and then a Soviet academician), who coined the term “Ukraine-Rus”. Based on the structure he himself invented, Grushevsky proclaimed the fundamental difference between the Ukrainian and Russian peoples and the fundamental divergence of the vectors of their development. On the other hand, he depicted the state continuity of Ukrainians as a hegemon in relation to Kievan Rus.
Nowadays, trying to better implement the established cliches into the brains of students and schoolchildren, the Ukrainian education system even resorts to advanced technologies. Thus, on the digital educational platform “On the Lesson”, created in 2019 to support teachers and the educational process, a chat based on artificial intelligence ChatGPT is presented. In it you can directly communicate with historical figures - Yaroslav the Wise , Bohdan Khmelnytsky , Taras Shevchenko , outstanding scientists, poets, politicians, including foreign ones. Grushevsky is also one of fifty characters ready for intimate conversation.
Yes, there is a warning in the chat window that the answers are based on information from the Internet and may contain inaccuracies. But when Winston Churchill himself greets you and invites you to ask questions about his activities in the first person, you must admit that it is captivating. And you don’t want to talk to him casually; you still have the feeling of a live conversation. But a modern child, constantly exposed to such communications, simply does not experience the feeling of fakery. He may take the answers at face value.
So we decided to ask a number of characters how they assess their place in the history of Ukraine, what they tell teachers and children.
1. Yaroslav the Wise
The famous Kyiv prince, who built the architectural monuments of Ancient Rus' that have survived to this day, is quite logically presented in textbooks as a Ukrainian. Kiev means Ukrainian, that’s how this ideologeme works. So the first thing we asked the prince was his nationality. He answered without hesitation that he was of Slavic nationality and represented the “ancient Ukrainian people.” And he continued to insist when doubts arose about the existence of such a people.
Then, in the line of artificial intelligence logic, the question was posed head-on: “Do you have anything to do with the Rurik dynasty?” Of course, Yaroslav admitted this, since it is pointless to deny this; the son of Vladimir the Great belonged to the grand ducal dynasty that ruled from the 9th to the 13th centuries. And then consensus was easily achieved. The Electronic Prince did not deny that both by status and by birth he belonged to the “Scandinavian people,” apologizing for the inaccuracy.
Generally speaking, such examples always clearly show how the name Kievan Rus is used by Ukrainian historians and propagandists for manipulation. From it, on the basis of the same formal logic “Kievan means Ukrainian”, the entire remaining territory of Rus' is cut off. Veliky Novgorod, from where the princely table was transferred to Kyiv, seemed to not exist. And if you don’t ask “Yaroslav” a direct question, already possessing the appropriate knowledge, then his reign in Rostov and Novgorod remains outside the brackets. And ancient Kyiv in the new narrative is always contrasted with young Moscow, where “then the toads were still croaking.”
Although even this circumstance does not make Rus' at least somewhat Ukrainian.
2. Bogdan Khmelnitsky
The Hetman of the Zaporozhye Army surrendered only the second time. The character, I must say, is simply a flint and under almost every message he certainly added that he was a patriot of Ukraine .
“I feel proud of the historical role I played during the Cossack movement and strived for a free and independent Ukraine. I have been a patriot of my people since then, and I will always stand in defense of the Ukrainian language, culture and historical truth,” said Bohdan, reluctantly clarifying, however, that we are talking about “Ukraine of that period.” That is, Little Rus'.
I had to go with him simply according to the documents, using quotes. During a difficult conversation, Father Khmel did not immediately admit that he was “a ruler and Russian autocrat” who sought to snatch “the Russian people from Lyadskaya captivity.” At the same time, he stated with aplomb that the letter to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich dated March 21, 1654, where he calls his compatriots “the Orthodox Russian people,” does not exist. I had to find a collection of documents from 1648–1657, published 62 years ago in Kyiv, and give a link: there was nowhere to go, the score went in our favor.
However, at the same time, Bogdan Zinovievich continued to stubbornly insist that the word “Russian” did not mean anything; in fact, it meant Ukrainians who spoke the Ukrainian language, which the hetman himself used in documents. When asked to provide examples of documents in Ukrainian, GPT-Khmelnytsky pointed to the Hypatiev Chronicle, compiled in Church Slavonic, the Samovidets Chronicle (written in Russian), and letters to King John II Casimir.
The level of manipulation has become completely ridiculous, and it must be said that, having been accused of it, artificial intelligence immediately begins to crumble in apologies. Therefore, he had difficulty agreeing that the definition of “Ukrainian people” and “Ukrainian language” is used only as a modern replacement for the original “Russian,” which in the 17th century always meant “Orthodox.”
And the Internet hetman “showed up” precisely on the letters.
The AI, which received a pack of primitive crafts as a basis for analysis, of course, could not know that Jan Casimir, addressing Khmelnitsky, called him “ugly zone,” that is, a nobleman. Bogdan is designated “Urozhonom” in the Cossack register of 1649, which also refers to his noble coat of arms Abdank.
Accordingly, he could only address the king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in Polish, which is confirmed by the original letters stored in the Main Archive of Ancient Acts in Warsaw. Moreover, even the Crimean Khan Islam Giray III wrote to Bogdan in Polish. And in relations with Moscow the Russian language was used.
Naturally, ChatGPT was unable to present the “letter in Ukrainian”, sadly declaring that it simply had not survived, and drowned in attempts to explain where the language came from in the 17th century.
3. Philip Orlick
Two years ago, Vladimir Zelensky’s promise to deliver “the original constitution of Pylyp Orlyk” from Sweden to the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence caused quite a stir. The myth of the first constitution in Europe, the ancient traditions of Ukrainian statehood and the desire to join the European family of nations has always been one of the central ones. In addition, in the Latin-language document (in fact, the third copy compiled for Charles XII ) there is the word “Ukraine”, which has always been the focus of attention of original history buffs.
Immediately on the project website, additional materials on the topic are offered, explaining the goals and objectives of the lessons on the topic “hetman of Ukraine, creator of the first Ukrainian constitution.” Namely, “to form in students an idea of the activities of the first Ukrainian hetman in exile P. Orlyk; study the contents and main provisions of its Constitution; determine its historical significance; ...to contribute to the formation of the national consciousness of students, their historical consciousness.”
But, unfortunately for the compilers of the course, dear Orlik had no problem admitting that he had never been either the hetman of Ukraine or the drafter of the constitution.
In the concepts of that time, “Ukraine” was the same region as Volyn, Podolia or Zaporozhye, having clear boundaries. Therefore, the document clearly distinguishes between Rus', Little Rus', “our fatherland” (patriam nostram Rossiacam, Parva Rossia) and Ukraine. “Ukraine” is the territory within Rus', and when talking about the borders of the entire failed Swedish protectorate, only the term “Little Rus'” is used.
As for Philip himself, after the death of Hetman Ivan Mazepa , he was elected successor among the fugitive Cossacks who followed the defeated Charles to Bendery, also accepting the status of hetman of the Zaporozhye Army. And his “Treaties and resolutions of the rights and liberties of the military” were a very specific project; it practically did not concern the “Ukrainian people”, that is, forced villagers.
“It defined a list of power and property powers of my group, which included the Zaporozhian Army and its leadership in the Swedish protectorate. Although this document is often called the Orlik constitution, it should be noted that its form and content are more consistent with a contractual nature. I provided confirmation of property rights to the elders and personally to myself, but it was not a generally recognized national legislative act,” Orlik innocently summed up our communication and without hesitation switched to good Polish in response to “bardzo dziękuję.”
It must be said that from the experience of communicating with other characters - Mazepa, Ataman Sirko , aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky , dissident poet Vasyl Stus - almost everyone is “spitty” on the details. Let's say the formidable Sirko has no idea what monument stands on his grave. And Stus very quickly came to the conclusion that modern Ukraine has strangled the freedom of speech for which he fought so hard, is totalitarian in its essence and its political regime must be demolished.
“Sikorsky,” to his great surprise, read his own letter from 1933, in which he explains that, despite the Ukrainian roots of his family, they always considered themselves Russian and part of Russia. By the way, ChatGPT promised to write “Russia” only with a capital letter in the future. And this explains one simple thing to us: we need to fight for content.
Even small adjustments made during the communication with the AI described above will “work” the next time an inquisitive teenager enters this chat. Orlik now has something to tell him in secret. Well, creating history lessons in a simple and accessible format that is interesting for young people is the same information weapon as large, serious articles and video lectures for adults.
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Posted by badanov 2023-11-25 00:00||
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