Yesterday I converted a pdf into a Word document, and this is what it produced:
“TheGeneralStrikeof1926arosefromthegrievancesofcoalminers,whichledtotheTUCcallingoutthousandsofotherworkersinsupport.Itwasanabjectfailure,however,and thisbookexplainswhy.TheTUCdidn’twanttosomuchdefeatthegovernmentasreplaceitaltogetherinageneralelection–thusperhapsprovingWellington’sobservationthattheonlythingworsethanlosingabattleiswinningit.Moreover,thethenPrimeMinister,StanleyBaldwin,had spentconsiderabletimeplanningforthepossibilityofwidespreadstrikes.NineDaysinMayisahighlydetailedaccountofallthis,andanobjectlessoninrealpolitikthatclearlyhighlightsthedisparitiesbetweentheminersandthepitowners.Myonlycriticismwouldbethatit’sarguablytoodetailed,makingit sometimesdifficulttoappreciatethebiggerpicture.Nevertheless,it’samarvellous resourceforeconomicsandpoliticsstudents.”
Robot Reporter, by Terry Freedman
This is the sort of thing that would have taken me a good half hour to sort out “by hand”, or even longer creating a macro to sort it out. I have found an online spaces remover that doesn’t actually work, and I couldn’t be bothered to search any further. So I inserted it into ChatGPT with the instruction: Remove the spaces in this text. Here’s what it produced, in about two seconds, if that:
“The General Strike of 1926 arose from the grievances of coal miners, which led to the TUC calling out thousands of other workers in support. It was an abject failure, however, and this book explains why. The TUC didn’t want to so much defeat the government as replace it altogether in a general election – thus perhaps proving Wellington’s observation that the only thing worse than losing a battle is winning it. Moreover, the then Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, had spent considerable time planning for the possibility of widespread strikes. Nine Days in May is a highly detailed account of all this, and an object lesson in realpolitik that clearly highlights the disparities between the miners and the pit owners. My only criticism would be that it’s arguably too detailed, making it sometimes difficult to appreciate the bigger picture. Nevertheless, it’s a marvellous resource for economics and politics students.”
A no-brainer in future I think.
