PastMaster’s next jaunt is to Jacobean London under the guidance of Blue Badge Guide and self-professed Shakespeare specialist Marc Zakian.

The producer of Extraordinary Stories of Britain podcast leads Tan and Ryan on a journey starting in the slums of the capital in 1613. Enjoying a lads’ day out they pass through the city walls into London proper for a day of blood sports, debauchery and ribald merriment.

Listen in to see how our knowledgeable human history guide rates our AI GameMaster’s attempts at historical accuracy and insight.

S2E10 is out soon - check your podcast feed for updates.

A typical gambling scene in Jacobean London (according to Dall-E)

AI in the news

You wait forever for a bus and then three come along at once. So the saying goes.

Now a bus company called First Bus is using AI to help plan bus timetables to avoid the nightmare of ‘bus bunching’.

It has apparently has resulted in 20% more punctuality during some peak periods in trial areas including Glasgow and Bristol. However, passengers report that the bus services “remain irregular”.

Oh well. Small steps.

Could you rebuild civilisation?

The premise of PastMaster is ‘Could you survive and thrive in the past armed with nothing but the clothes you are wearing and the knowledge in your head?’

Out of curiosity I looked up (on ChatGPT) what sort of technologies would actually be plausible given the available means and would also be effective. It suggested: improved sanitation systems, basic medical knowledge (especially keeping wounds clean), crop rotation and wind & water mills.

I asked for something a bit flashier with more of a ‘wow’ factor and it suggested hot air balloons and telescopes would theoretically have been possible to create, and would arguably have gotten people more excited than a bit of old soap.

Read the full blog post here.

Until next time, Tan and the PastMaster Crew

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