Ed. Note: This article and the one that follows were originally posted on Facebook and are reprinted here with the author’s permission.
As journalism itself continues its depressing decline, I am dismayed at how the publications I worked for and oversaw have all but dissolved in just two years. Recall that Belvoir’s aviation publications were sold to then Flying Media (now Firecrown) in 2023. That’s Aviation Consumer, IFR, Aviation Safety, AVweb and KITPLANES.
Aviation Consumer is no longer available in paper but in digital form for now, IFR and Aviation Safety are gone and longtime editor Russ Niles was just let go from AVweb. Russ is standing up a new daily news service called AVBrief. KITPLANES no longer has editorial staff—Marc Cook and Paul Dye have exited—and my friend Larry Anglisano left Aviation Consumer last week.
The publishing world was once rich with specialty publications, some of which verged on mass magazines. Belvoir’s titles were niches within niches and attracted discerning, demanding and loyal readers who would pay premium prices for high-quality information. These were small audiences and the challenge was to make them profitable by balancing editorial costs, paper, postage and marketing costs against subscription revenue. Because they were subscription-based—no advertising—they were independent of the glad-handing bullshit aviation is so famous for.
What changed? The demographics, the economics and the rise of the attention economy that drags eyeballs away from contemplation as surely as flies cluster on turds. The universe shrunk. Accelerating the erosion of journalism is the rapid advancement in artificial intelligence, which I commented on yesterday.
So we’re at another great inflection point in media history, pondering whether robots can produce publications. But it’s not that simple. We know AI can generate readable, if flawed, copy. What we don’t know is if readers will find sufficient value in such content to consider it credible and stick their eyeballs to it widely enough to make advertisers want to pay to support it. Firecrown, in my view, never understood what it had with Belvoir’s well-regarded titles and understood even less what quality editorial looks like.
Gens X and Z and Millennials do read, but not publications to the degree that earlier generations did. My guess is that the discerning audiences are still there because intelligence and curiosity are still there. The question is finding them in sufficient numbers to aggregate a profitable whole. AI has complicated this, too. It first kneecapped publisher links to traditional content and now, getting content seen through conventional search is harder than ever—like 700 times harder, according to Cloudflare, an internet security company.
Newton Minow, chairman of the FCC in the 1960s, famously called television a “vast wasteland.” He couldn’t have imagined TikTok, I’m sure. But Minow was referring to television not in general, but at its worst. Same with TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, et al. There’s good stuff there, some of it brilliant, cast adrift in a wasteland Minow would recognize. A special mention for YouTube. Of all the social media, it stands out for high value and usefulness. I just watched a 1:36 video on how to remove the broken window switch in my truck. YouTube is blessed with quite a few good aviation channels. And if you have the stomach for it, you can see an accident analysis before the wreckage has cooled.
I don’t pretend to know where any of this is going. But I do think there’s a digital home for something like Aviation Consumer and a news service that’s not generated entirely by AI, but one that uses AI to grease workflow, fact checking and research. Much turns on who’s paying for this, which may be advertisers who are sensitive to reader respect and expect to see the click-throughs.
I do know this—and this applies to the entire universe of media: At a time when competent reporting uncontaminated by self-interest is more important than ever, it’s more difficult than ever to produce same and make it sustain.
This is really cool..😎 Thelegend himself, Paul Bertorelli, is back.
Ditto.
And … “glad handing bullshit” … a new term enters my lexicon …
I’m beginning to be able to discern AI from the real deal, too.
Directly from Mr. Fuller in July 2023:
“AVweb is the largest independent aviation news site in the world, providing breaking news and information. I have always admired AVwebs ability to break stories—it’s truly remarkable. The editorial team of AVweb has their pulse on the industry and is unmatched in covering aviation news.”
And…
“FLYING Media Group plans to preserve the heritage and unique voice of each of these publications, along with significantly increasing investments in content, reader experience, and digital sites. The plan will be to continue to offer the print versions of the publications and hope to introduce a bundled solution, where readers of all the FLYING Media Group properties can take advantage of the great library of content, across brands. FLYING Media Group plans to retain Belvoir’s aviation brands’ editorial staff and contributors.”
If course, the grandiose Mr. Fuller would not need to answer to a former guest editor confronting him with his own statements from 2 years ago. Two of my more critical comments went poof (deleted) quickly.
I have no doubt that Fullers original plan was to squelch independent news reporting and replace it with the garbage reporting we now consume. Buyouts usually end up this way, we have seen it countless times. Fullers concept is fairly easy to understand. Advertising agencies purchase ad-space based on traffic and impressions. If one publishing outlet owns and operates most of the circus and offers bundle reach, revenue for smaller outfits goes down.
From own experience I know that more and more aviation companies have diverted their advertising/ marketing budget to social media, influencers and niche/ luxury events. The value in and willingness to keep(ing) small and independent publishers alive has gone down.
Belvoirs decision to sell out was a very clear indicator for what we all witnessed a few weeks ago. What surprised me personally is that it all happened much quicker than expected. My estimate from take-over to ship sinking was about 3-5 years.
Not sure which revenue/ time targets have been set for AVbrief – but funding a sustainable publication is no walk in the park. There are reasons why editors and chief editors usually don’t sell advertising as most companies know full well that the person selling the ads is trying to sustain a publication while trying to remain editorially independent. Working for moist handshakes isn’t all that great unless financial independence already exists.
Fact is that General- & Business Aviation are in for a turbulent few years ahead. Just when we need unity and all hands on deck, aviation news publishing takes a nosedive. Try to imagine that a large percentage of AVweb news consumers have not remotely noticed or realized what transpired over these last couple years. For most people who consume todays aviation news, the author or level of finesse in reporting or opining isn’t what matters. Free matters. Ryan Air’s boss once summed it up nicely by saying that people will crawl over broken glass to get something for free.
I feel sad for passionate writers trying to gain footing in the future of aviation news and publishing. Doing this full time is basically no longer possible and today is already a day late in trying to secure tomorrows writers and editors.
“What surprised me personally is that it all happened much quicker than expected. My estimate from take-over to ship sinking was about 3-5 years.”
It seems in the digital age–especially the age of AI–everything is accelerated, including the sinking of ships…
“I feel sad for passionate writers trying to gain footing in the future of aviation news and publishing. Doing this full time is basically no longer possible and today is already a day late in trying to secure tomorrows writers and editors.”
What’s also sad is that this isn’t a problem just in aviation news/publishing, but news/publishing in general. I fear we are entering an information dark age. All of the knowledge and information is still out there (for now), but it is buried under tons of garbage and reprocessed word salads, so finding the true information becomes difficult or near-impossible.
Good to be reading Paul Bertorelli here on AVBrief even if it is a Facebook reprint. Some of us do not and never will have Facebook accounts.
You got that right. I’ve never done “social media”, ANY of it…and never will. What a sewer.
It’ll get worse. AI right now is just passing its Apgar score; just wait till I learns to talk. It will be able to absorb Paul’s “compositional signature” by reading every article he has ever written and upchuck two pages on a fresh topic that read exactly as if he had written them. Journalists with a real name will emerge whose prose is so precisely modeled on a skilled author’s that we will not be able to discern whether it’s a machine or a human. And Paul won’t see a dime of income from the intellectual theft of his life’s work. It WILL get worse.
I think the fat lady stopped singing.
I think the end is when the fat lady starts singing. 😂
Ah, yes, but the context in this instance is Paul’s return. Please see Paul’s retirement announcement for further reference.
It’s wonderful to read that integrity exists in news and information. I look forward to to the future growth of AVBRIEF!
Ah, what a breath of fresh air to hear from Paul again. All the more reason to support Russ & Co’s valiant effort to keep the spirit of (that other entity) alive.
I’ve always skipped pages to read thoughtful, well researched articles and personal essays by Pauls Bortorelli and Berge, George Larson in his days at FLYING, B/CA and Air&Space/Smithsonian, Peter Garrison and other greats. What they had was an abiding respect for their readers which translated into quality content. This current generation of publishers – long on artificial and short on intelligence – is happy to hit the high spots, very superficial and unsatisfying to people like me and my generation who grew up with an appreciation for the entirety of the aviation experience. I cringe when I see photos of people posing for glamour shots in front of a classic 195 or Twin Beech, then trying to sell credibility where there isn’t any. It’s a new social world of narcissistic introverts.
AOPA attempted a throwback issue recently that had articles about airplanes other than the million dollar plus variety, reachable and fun destinations, and so on. It would have been nice had it continued. Publications like the original AOPA PILOT and Leighton Collins’ AIR FACTS just don’t appeal to airheads.
Old timers like me long for the days when we sat on chairs in front of the hangar and waited for the next spot landing attempt or bomb drop with a paper sack of flour mixed with sand. Nancy Narco has gone away and our world has, sadly, changed.
GenX ATP, pilot since glider solo at 14, aircraft owner since mid 90s. Dumped Fullers’ era AOPA. Question EAA as much as I consume it. Clipped my ton of aviation magazines down in many military moves.
They all used to be library worthy. Then I was happy if a Kitplanes had four winning articles. Then, it was just browse over coffee and buy a few a year. Now it is hard to find, the British magazines have always been different but better in some ways- would love to know how their challenges compare to yours as Kitplanes went the way of Av-waswebbed…
Along the way AW&ST started downhill post 9/11. Now, archives of EAA and Airbum hit my nostalgia sweet spot. I too only see social media second or third hand. It killed most brains before AI swept in.
I really wonder just how many more times Craig L. Fuller (former AOPA Boss) has to endure being tossed in the same bucket as a TN based media mogul with a habit of acquiring everything with a logo on it… 🥹
Real human generated journalism isn’t going away. It may get a lot smaller a little more expensive and go boutique, but, it’s not going to go away.
There will always be a demand for quality over quantity. It’s no different than anything else, quality initially always costs more than quantity. In the end quality will always trump quantity.
I was an early adopter of AVweb when there were few services collating aviation news. Over time the quality of the articles has clearly dropped. However is AVBRIEF any different, as I view today’s email most of the articles are rewritten versions of press releases or news articles. I don’t see much additional reporting and investigation beyond what was in the press release. I wish you every success but would like to see more journalistic research vs re-publishing existing news,
Part of what we do is highlight news from other sources that we think readers will be interested in and tailor it to that audience. Today’s edition had more than 50 percent original material and three stories (Roswell, Air Canada and SolarStratos) that were gleaned from a press release and other news stories.
I can’t help but remember when KITPLANES was for sale in the ’90s. IIRC, it finally sold for $2-$3 million. Suspect the sale price was much lower this time around, and, of course, the value is now zero.
Thank you Russ, Paul, et al for preserving the dying art of coherent, relevant and relatively non-biased journalism. I cherish reading articles that are grammatically correct with proper punctuation and spelling, and interspersed with humor and wisdom. I relish stories on the passion of aviation (which I think is why most of us pursue(d) it, not the latest crash, air rage incident or crew member arrest. I look forward to following you in this new forum!
Have missed you Paul!
You are always an interesting read. And where I know it’s the truth.
Hey, could you come cover Midwest Aviation Expo with us? Mt. Vernon IL, September 4-6.
Please turn back the clock just 10 years!!!!! I miss those times!!!
As these changes unfold with AI in communication and specially aviation news, coupled with everything from corporate greed to suppression or funding cuts from the current regime, it’s definitely making it harder to find and enjoy human reporting for me, too.
PBS is probably going away, NPR is being gutted and both don’t have an AVBrief lined up as far as I can tell. And even AVBrief is yet to enjoy financial comfort, so the slope is still slippery.
We’ll always need, at least I think we will, the written word in journalism but the challenge is as much with us as it is anything to discern and discriminate what we’re reading. Even the popularity and growth of podcasts might be eventually altered by AI interference to the point we’ll need to stand in front of someone to judge reality. Or was that a sentient AI humanoid. Will it matter? Cinch up that seatbelt, definitely turbulence ahead.
Professor Asimov was right – we better darn well stay ahead of AI or we’re in bigly trouble.
Nice to visit with you again, Paul.
Thank you Dave for saying it: “the challenge is as much with us as it is anything to discern and discriminate what we’re reading.” Yes it really is a timeless challenge. Back in, oh, 1965 the most important teacher in my high school academic formation introduced us to a concept called critical thinking. Today the now 10 year old Northern Sun bumper sticker “Critical Thinking: The Other National Deficit” is more relevant than ever.
AI says, “Bertorelli remains a respected voice; his appearance sparks enthusiasm.”
“`And if you have the stomach for it, you can see an accident analysis before the wreckage has cooled.“`
As usual Paul, very funny.
I didn’t even realize that Aviation Consumer had dropped print publication. I think I just received a printed copy a week or three ago. Was that my last one? I made the sad mistake of renewing my subscription for multiple years last year. I’m guessing the odds of getting that refunded are effectively zero.
Yes, it was the last one, ever. There was an implication that i would transition to digital-only form, but then I later received a letter saying that firecrown dumped it altogether. But fear not, they’ll convert your subscription to the excellent “Flying” magazine…
Good journalism doesn’t run on fumes. Paul Bertorelli nailed it when he said, “Much turns on who’s paying for this.” Richard Collins used to say the same thing in his own way, subscribers, not compliments, kept the lights on. AvBrief caught on fast because people want style, integrity, and independence back in aviation news. But business, like a man, doesn’t live on compliments (or bread) alone. At some point support has to flow in, maybe even through a simple donate button, or the best intentions won’t keep it flying.
AI “will be able to absorb Paul’s “compositional signature” by reading every article he has ever written and upchuck two pages on a fresh topic that read exactly as if he had written them. Journalists with a real name will emerge whose prose is so precisely modeled on a skilled author’s that we will not be able to discern whether it’s a machine or a human. And Paul won’t see a dime of income from the intellectual theft of his life’s work. It WILL get worse.”
Well said as AI is at a point where it is still “learning”. However, as very well pointed out, every key stroke is being data mined, essentially committing intellectual theft of all of us over time. The ultimate benefactor is the oligarch at the top of the financial food chain. We simply supply all the hard work through investigative reporting by AvBrief and subsequent comments. Each keystroke by Paul B, Paul B, Keith G, Larry A, Russ N, and notable others, eventually will be mined as it hits the web past and present. Added is all our collective purchases plus comments. Stir, simmer, and voila, potential advertisers decide if we have a good enough collective financial spending”score” worthy enough of the attention of the aviation oligarchy. I am happy the present AvBrief staff actually cares about true journalism vs AI warmed over press releases. But like installing modern EFI on our old mag fired power plants or classic vehicles, they have to flown/driven for the EFI to learn the engine’s nuances… and adjust. So, for a short time, we will get Bertorelli isms, and time will tell when those priceless isms, get AI learned… and we will not able to tell the real from the AI. I am hoping there is enough journalism from AvBrief with original opinions that keep AI constantly “learning”. But it remains to be seen if AvBrief audience remains also independant or becomes end users who only want to know the bottom line, which button to push, and could care less about the life’s wisdom that it takes to be original, fresh, and independant.
Jim, I’ve looked into this in some depth and it is concerning how AI is sliding into the controls. Not everywhere, but at the choke points. In journalism it can copy style and swamp the real work. In aviation it is showing up in maintenance calls, pilot screening, ATC, and airport security. Law enforcement uses it for nonstop surveillance. Finance and jobs run through it with loans, credit, and hiring filters. Politics leans on it for ads and censorship. Defense pushes it into drones and cyber. It does not need to run the whole system, just the gates. Whoever holds those gates ends up steering the rest of us.
RAF,
Agreed that ultimately AI only needs to be at the choke points aka… gatekeepers. However, the data mining fills AI/gatekeepers requirements on who will service what…or who AI deems worthy of service. If we are determined by the informational gate keepers to have an aggregate value worth supporting and selling to, based on all this combined data, companies can decide if we, as an audience is worth investing in trying to separate us from our money. Since AI is specifically designed to replace human beings and our cost burden to companies, including staff aviation writers in this case, everything we contribute as the audience and aviation staff writers, they get all this effort for nothing, “learning ” every aspect of our identities personally and professionally, so well, the end user mentality gets their answer to which button to push, with AI “reviews” of the quality, value, and opinions of an aviation product such as how well a particular aerial vehicle handles, for example. Questions and answers become nothing more than another line of computer code masquerading as a Bertorelli ism. I love the quote…” the art of diplomacy is telling someone to go to hell, and actually have them looking forward to the trip”. We are being told”go to hell”…and we seem to be looking forward to the trip, because for the moment, we are getting what we want…as end users. We are all willing or unwilling participants in our own demise. Eerily suicidal, when you think about it.
I am not afraid of AI mirroring anyones writing style anytime soon, because AI cannot do one thing in creating text. A good writer can go rogue at a seconds notice and deliver content AI hasn’t seen before.
I will bet some money that most all of the good people I have had the pleasure to interact with in this profession can deliver a devastating punch if you trigger them hard enough. There has been a lot of triggering, lately!
Taking AVweb down to this sewage-level has upset a large group of people and Fuller is tasked with justifying this idiotic move. He does not give a flying rats ass about aviation or the integrity AVweb stood for. He is a business clown in a suit with nothing but money and buying- power to his name. Probably good lawyers, too. A clown can wear a crown, but that does not make him/her a King.
In other words, its okay to go look behind the curtain of grandiosity and fame in this super rich aviation snob world. Just be ready to face the music… 68.9% of people in this industry won’t like the music 😉.
Integrity is a choice. Its choosing the simplicity and purety of truth over popularity. Stick to this rule and all will be well.
Jim, I agree with you on the choke points and the data mining that fuels them. That is where the real control sits. The part I would add is how bias shows up. Human bias stood at the gate, you knew the writer, you knew their tilt, and you could push back. AI bias hides inside the gate, built into data, code, and money and it looks neutral when it is not.
In journalism that means stories get shaped without fingerprints. In aviation it shows up in support systems like maintenance scheduling, flight planning, or gate assignments. There a slip does not just bend words, it bends safety.
Paul’s comments are spot on. The posted comments reflect our fears and hopes. It’s truly a brave new world.
One thing I have noticed since AVweb went from its original self to AVbland, is that nearly all political discussions have stopped. The site has run some 10 advertorials from the perfect pilot sunglasses to the perfect pilot diapers.
A lot of credibility has been lost within incredibly short time however, my guess is that 75% of readers remain oblivious and ignorant to all of it and ad impressions probably stay solid. Fuller has taken every last tooth and claw away from a once proud and roaring lion.
Advertising budgets for 2026 are pretty much set this time of year and securing funding for this site may be dependent on direct contact to owners and marketing directors who are still responsible for their own marketing budgets.
Donate and subscription buttons come with tremendous tax headaches and often get much less attention than any other button found on a website. Lets hope for some big fish to step up…
You want to mess with AI? Change your writing style. It could turn out to be a lot of fun. Think about it…
Just signed up for AVBRIEF because I loved Russ’s content on AvWeb. Hope to see more from Russ, Paul, and Larry. Use the old AvWeb as a model…good stuff and keep it brief. Good luck to all!
Just by way of follow up, because I keep up with the latest in AI models, I asked GPT-5 to write 300 words on MOSAIC in the style of Paul Bertorelli. This it did in nine seconds. Here it is. And it’s not so bad,
The FAA’s long-awaited MOSAIC proposal—Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification—finally staggered into daylight last year and, to no one’s surprise, it’s a lumbering bureaucratic contraption that manages to both excite and frustrate in the same breath. On the one hand, it’s an overdue acknowledgment that the current light sport aircraft rules are stuck in 2004, back when flat-screen avionics were exotic and a 120-knot trainer was considered racy. On the other, MOSAIC is so hedged with FAA belt-and-suspenders thinking that it’s hard to see it as the leap forward the industry was hoping for.
The headline win, of course, is speed and weight. Under MOSAIC, we’re not just talking about dinky little two-seat trainers anymore. The proposed rule opens the door to four-seat aircraft with useful load and performance envelopes that look a lot like what private pilots actually want to fly. Think Cessna 172-class machines or even some twins sneaking under the wire. It’s potentially transformative, at least on paper.
But this being the FAA, there’s a catch. The catch is the usual thicket of certifications, carve-outs, and provisos that could leave manufacturers scratching their heads about whether their shiny new MOSAIC airplane will be economically viable. Sport pilots themselves don’t exactly get a clean upgrade path, either. The license doesn’t automatically expand with the airplanes; the privileges are still circumscribed by a regulator that can’t quite bring itself to let go of the old medical and training strictures.
So MOSAIC is progress, yes. But like so much else in aviation regulation, it’s progress wrapped in caveats. Will it rejuvenate the light end of general aviation? Maybe. But I wouldn’t bet the avgas fund on it. It looks more like incremental tinkering than revolution.
I agree with the others that it’s good to see content from Paul B. here, even if it’s transplanted from FakeBook.
“Firecrown, in my view, never understood what it had with Belvoir’s well-regarded titles and understood even less what quality editorial looks like.”
This sad fact is all too common among the rich, but unschooled, in such specialties as aviation. They think money and slick paper can sell anything.
I hope we can all help to save what’s left of actual aviation journalism through supporting AvBrief’s lifeboat for those Firecrown has either thrown overboard, or convinced to walk the plank otherwise.
Yay! Paul is back and large. Love the humor and perspective you bring to your readers. Count me in!
Paul, good to see some of your writing again. I was a long time reader of avweb and in the comments I’ve repeatedly harped on something that is seldom acknowledged in laments like this one and articles about GA, the decline of this, and the shortage of that. It’s that aviation is no longer tenable as anything but a profession for the younger generations, and even that’s hard for a lot of people to make work because of how absurdly expensive it is to get your ratings. You know those stats you’ve probably seen floating around about how the median homebuyer is now of retirement age? It would be interesting to see the same stat for light aircraft. We will continue to see a decline of these aviation special interest publications because aviation is dying as a special interest for anyone who isn’t considerably wealthy. A young professional with a mortgage and a family and a net worth of maybe a few hundred thousand dollars isn’t likely to be anything but an occasional renter of light planes if able to become a pilot at all, and that’s bad for growth let alone sustainment. Our best example has been the continued failure of LSAs to take hold like they were expected to when the LSA concept was being born, they were supposed to be the “affordable” way into aviation, and every one that hit the market wound up far more expensive than initially projected, well into six figures.
TV … you’re spot on. The other day I read a stat where there were only 7,700 Sport pilots (those who came up and stopped at that level v. higher rated pilots flying as Light Sport) in the FAA database. IF true, that doesn’t speak well for MOSAIC making a big dent AND shows that the cost to obtain ratings and buy airplanes is beyond the realm of mere mortals. It also shows that older and more affordable certificated airplanes will continue to be the machine of choice for the majority of recreational flyers.
… OH … and it also likely portends that when aviation runs out of crazed ‘old farts’ who have been doing it for decades … the party is over save for a small number of professionals. At that point, the FAA will have achieved its goal of 100% safety because few will fly. At that point, we won’t need most of ’em anymore.
Bailed out of AVWeb a week ago. Just learned of AVBrief. As long as this team is here, so will I remain. Thanks
Hey Paul, glad you are back to writing. Over the years you have written some great articles. Perhaps you can dig through your Mac and find some good ones to post here. One of my favorites was the article about tackling a Nor’ Easter in the Mooney and getting excellent ground speeds until you storm wall… The rest of the story is great and I won’t spoil the punchline here.
I was a contributing editor for both IFRR and IFR. The editorial standards were very high and at times I struggled to meet them. I did so happily because it improved the reader’s experience and my writing skills.
The focus was always operational utility. We learned to pack as much useful information into two or three pages using as few words as possible. Brevity was the name of the game. For years I wrote the quizzes for both magazines, always a fresh topic and something no one had written about. Space Weather was one of my favorites. My editor kind of flipped out until I explained its value.
We tightened up on the mechanics of writing: smooth, logical order, style, punctuation, spelling and grammar. I ran my drafts through Grammarly and Word Editor until they were as perfect as I could make them. Once they start arguing about what’s right, that’s diminishing returns where more work will not make the document better. Then it goes to the editor. He wants every word to count as white space is precious. Their corrections inform your future efforts to the point where edits are few. It also means you get published more. IFR and IFRR were blessed with two talented editors who cared deeply about publishing quality work that would inform and entertain every month. I found them easy to work with because our vision was the same.
Article research always takes more time than writing the piece. AI came along as the magazines were about to fold. I found that AI makes scrolling through endless web pages unnecessary and is more thorough. I never paste AI into an article. Every word you read is mine.
We kept faith with our readers. If they found a mistake, we owned up to it. There are lots of very smart cookies out there and we enjoyed the back-and-forth.
You don’t do this amount of work for money because the remuneration doesn’t begin to offset hours or days invested. You do it for fellow pilots who learn from what you know and what you’ve researched. You do it knowing you’re filling a niche that helps pilots fly better, avoid mistakes and be better prepared to cope with unexpected contingencies. You do it for the love of the work, knowing that it matters.
Thanks to all our readers for your loyalty over many years. You are the elite, always seeking to know more. Now Avbrief will help fill the void left by IFRR and IFR. They were a work of love, and if I can contribute further, I’m game for that.
Another comment on AI. All AI can do today, is to string words together based on statistical alignment of the words. The weighting for how the words are strung together is based on how previous words were strung together. The training data. There is no creativity AI cannot create. This is why AI can develop software code, pretty well actually and can assist with research. With proper prompting, AI can go through thousands of pages very quickly and pull out relevant data through correlation. I find this helps me with ideas that I had not considered or that would have taken me a long time to recall.
Oh my God, it’s Paul B! I’ve learned my lesson from what’s happened to Avweb the last few years. I’ll pay you guys, I’ll pay! Please stick with this! You’re still alive, Ernest K Gann ain’t! That’s the only difference to me.
Paul its always great to read your stuff. You are one of my favorite aviation commentators. So glad you landed here