The Big Issue

Welcome to our artificial intelligence edition. This time around we worked with special guest editor Genevieve Stanley. Genevieve (French meaning ‘race of women’) however, is not real. She was created on the AI Platform MidJourney which, together with other platforms such as ChatGPT, assisted with the production of The Big Issue. We've brought you the full deal on AI and you can read about it from different perspectives. Particularly from Elon Musk and AI founder Geoff Hinton. That said, keep your eyes open because there's lots of ‘fakery' about. You'll spot it in our Photo Essay which translates deeply to the future use of AI in social media and other industries. Enjoy!…

Why use ChatGPT as a guest editor? To show the power of AI and its capabilities. It can write university papers, CVs, essays, LinkedIn copy, TV scripts and so on. It's been banned by some institutions overseas and by many academic institutions around the world. Some have welcomed it as a progressive learning tool. A concern is the threat to schooling in terms of its writing projects. It can sound age appropriate, for example, you can tell it to do a project on ‘Crustaceans in the Sea' for Grade 6 and to sound like an 11 year old would write it and it does. The problem is, it collates facts – incorrectly. I tried this with our articles to test it and it was painfully inaccurate and had ‘borrowed' without…

Gardens, Cape Town FULFIL A WISH! Email our social worker, Melody, at placements@bigissue.org.za The Big Issue can be bought from vendors in the suburbs of Cape Town, or from select Spar, Pick n Pay or CNA stores nationwide. Name: Elsie Ntsini Vendor number: B262 Pitch: Corner Orange and Rheede streets, Cape Town About: 75-year-old widow Elsie has been selling the magazine for five years. She lives in Khayelitsha Site B and is a mother to four boys. Elsie currently stays with two of her grandchildren. She enjoys selling the magazine because it helps put food on the table for herself, her children and grandchildren. Wish list: Elsie dreams of being able to return to the Eastern Cape permanently, to retire there and be with her extended family. She needs to…

At The Big Issue we have always believed in giving our vendors a hand up rather than a handout. It is of great importance to us that they get to a point of self-sustenance where they can look after their families all by themselves without expecting someone else to do it for them. We understand that the money vendors earn from selling the magazines is not enough to afford their daily needs, and we always encourage our vendors to not only depend on magazine sales, but to expand their knowledge and practice different skills, too. Giving people a hand up rather than a hand-out instils discipline and a culture of hard work. We want our vendors to gain skills that can make them marketable and employable so they can take…

What do you think it is about Evan that appeals to readers? As Jack told Evan from the very beginning when he was a scrawny twelve-year-old kid: “The hard part won't be making you a killer. The hard part will be keeping you human.” The latter is Evan's curse and his blessing. He is someone who, no matter how dark it gets, will never let go of his humanity. Does Evan continue to surprise you at times, even though you're eight books in? As an assassin pulled out of a foster home and trained up from the age of twelve, Evan never learnt to speak the strange language of intimacy. He's at ease garrotting a human trafficker in a Muscovite banya [Russian steam bath], but small talk at the mail…

What is it about South African history that intrigues you? South Africa's history is complex, convoluted and complicated. As an example, if I were to ask ‘when did South Africa gain its independence?' what would your answer be? Will it be 1910 when we became a union, 1961 when we became a republic or will it be April 1994, when all races could vote in the general elections? It is that very complicated history that makes our modern day challenges and problems have a degree of knottiness. What is it about South Africans that intrigues you? In Milk the Beloved Country, I state it as a matter of fact that sometimes I do not understand (some) South Africans. At times, I think we were bewitched. Sometimes I feel we are…