BAR HARBOR, Jan. 14, 2024 - A citizen suggested at last week’s Planning Board to use AI to rewrite the land-use ordinance to make it more accessible.
I inserted two sections onto the latest version of Sam Altman’s ChatGPT. It would not let me input the entire ordinance because of the length. In both sections, I asked ChatGPT to make each “more understandable.”
You may compare the ChatGPT version with the original ordinances for nonconformity and zoning districts. I found the output summaries useful but not as a replacement for the original documents. I plan to input the entire ordinance one section at a time at some future date.
Here is the ChatGPT version on nonconformity:
“This text appears to be a detailed and technical section of a legal document or code related to land use, specifically addressing the concept of ‘nonconformity’ in the Town of Bar Harbor, Maine. Here's a simplified summary:
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Contents and Features: The document includes a search function, a table of contents, options to print, email, download, and share the content, and a section for new laws and an index.
Article IV - Nonconformity: This section discusses rules for properties, buildings, or land uses in Bar Harbor that don't conform to current zoning laws (referred to as "nonconforming"). These could be older properties that were legal when built but don't meet new standards.
Definitions and Policies:
§ 125-52: Defines "legal nonconformity" as properties that were legal before new laws were passed but are now non-compliant. "Illegal nonconformity" refers to properties that don't meet the requirements.
§ 125-53: Outlines general policies for handling nonconformities, like encouraging them to conform to current standards, and placing the burden of proof on the property owner to show their property is legally nonconforming.
Specific Rules for Nonconforming Uses and Structures:
§ 125-54: Addresses how nonconforming uses of land or structures can continue under strict conditions, like not expanding a nonconforming use, and needing approval for changes.
§ 125-55: Details limitations on nonconforming structures, such as restrictions on enlarging or altering them, and rules for rebuilding if damaged.
§ 125-56: Discusses nonconforming lots, including conditions under which they can be built upon, like ensuring emergency vehicle access.
Additional Provisions: The document includes specific rules for different types of nonconforming uses like transient accommodations and single-family dwellings, along with procedures for seeking relief or exceptions through the Board of Appeals or Planning Board.
Overall, this document outlines the regulations and procedures for properties in Bar Harbor that don't conform to current zoning laws, including how they can continue, under what conditions they can change, and the process for handling exceptions.”
Here is the version on the districts:
“This text is from a legal document detailing land use regulations in Bar Harbor, Maine, and it's quite complex. Let me break it down for you:
Overview: The document is part of the Town of Bar Harbor's code on land use. It includes sections like new laws, an index, and options to print, email, download, or share the content.
Article II - Establishment of Districts: This section outlines different types of zoning districts in Bar Harbor. Each district has specific rules for land use and development.
§ 125-11 to § 125-15: These sections cover policies and rules for establishing and interpreting district boundaries.
§ 125-11: Describes the town's policy for creating districts, aiming to preserve the character of the town and align with the Bar Harbor Comprehensive Plan.
§ 125-12 to § 125-15: Detail various neighborhood districts, such as Residential, Business, Industrial, and Shoreland districts, each with their unique purpose and guidelines.
Specific District Types:
Residential District: For quiet, private residential areas.
Corridor District: For linking neighborhoods and accommodating commercial/business growth.
Business District: Focuses on cultural, business, and service activities.
Shoreland General Development District: For maintaining traditional commercial activities along waterfronts.
Historic and Historic Corridor Districts: To preserve historic sites and buildings.
Industrial District: For industries with limited residential conflict.
Resource Protection District: To preserve natural areas and manage development impacting water quality and ecosystems.
Rural District: For low-density living in rural areas.
Shoreland Limited Residential District: For residential and recreational development in less intensive areas.
Stream Protection District: Protects land areas near streams.
Neighborhood Districts: Lists specific neighborhood districts in Bar Harbor with distinct characteristics and regulations.
Official Neighborhood Districts Map: A map that shows the boundaries and definitions of neighborhood districts.
Interpreting District Boundaries: Provides guidelines for determining the boundaries of districts when there's uncertainty.
Division of Lots by District Boundaries: Explains how to apply regulations when a lot is divided by a district boundary.
In summary, this document is a detailed guide on how different areas in Bar Harbor are zoned and regulated, covering everything from residential to industrial and protective districts.”
I know from what little experience I have with ChatGPT that if you put in grade level requests for writing, the response is a little more accurate. As you probably know 7th to 8th graded is average--she says optimistically...
"Artificial Intelligence"
Don't tell me they have finally started enforcing the truth in labeling law? For, truth be told, Artificial Intelligence is precisely what the name indicates...artificial.
True intelligence consists only in part of the ability to add 1 + 1 and come up with 2. There is an impossible to define aspect of true intelligence that some might label "spiritual." And the bad news is that the folks designing AI left that part of the formula out. What AI actually represents is modern mankind's slavish devotion to the absurd proposition that every problem has a technological solution. If only we could come up with the right programming code all would at last be right with the world!
In my experience zoning regulations are difficult to understand/apply not as the result of the author's inability to write clearly, but rather as the result of a purposeful attempt to make them so difficult to understand as to require a Planner to interpret them, and so fuzzy as to allow the "in crowd" to ignore them. Job security I think it's called.
Among ethologists there is general agreement that mankind's Ace In The Hole is his/her (or should I say her/his) ability to build and use tools, in the process widening the niche within which she/he can profitably exist. Alas, as with most things, tools have a sharp edge and a dull edge. The sharp edge allows us to travel between Portland Oregon and Ontario International Airport in California in the virtual blink of an eye. The dull edge is represented by the plug door that fell off in flight forcing the plane to make an emergency landing.
Before leaping into the Black Hole represented by the alluring promises of AI we would do well to pay heed to the bitter lessons of unintended consequences depicted in Princeton Professor Edward Teller's brilliant book, "Why Things Bite Back." The book describes in great detail the promises made by those promoting the supposed "advances" of various new technologies and then contrasts them against the actual results.
Spoiler Alert: Turns out that the promises were seldom delivered and the problems engendered often represented a giant, expensive, step backwards!
More than a hundred and fifty years ago Henry David Thoreau noted that "Men have become the tool of their tools." Nowhere does this seem more true than in relation to computers in general and to AI in particular!
Easy solution: If Bar Harbor planners and planning board can't come up with understandable, enforceable rules and regulations fire them and hire someone who can.