mj 22/12/2023
Consultation this morning with a patient, a Greek teacher who has been very badly affected by Long Covid for the last two years, documented encephalitis. She tells me that she is on the side of the vanquished, as in the play The Persians by Aeschylus (which of course I do not know). We asked chatGPT what he thought about it.
Although I never said that I was a ‘health professional and researcher’, we can see from the answer that ChatGPT had inferred this concept from my previous and numerous questions and gave me a personalized and entirely relevant answer!
Of course the exercise was done with the patient, but chatGPT’s suggestion made it possible to address the self-image characteristic of the Long Covid patient who feels abandoned and defeated In this particular case. The patient tells me that she has lost the ‘philon’ (the construction thread or sequential memory) She has retained the memory of her knowledge but no longer knows how to organize it. I have another statistician patient who no longer knows how to multiply. He knows that he knows, but the loss of sequential memory means that he can no longer construct a reasoning system. So it’s easy to understand why he has to make shopping lists, use post-it notes and diaries, etc., on a daily basis, a characteristic shared by most LC patients, who generally feel defeated (by the virus) and abandoned (by us doctors).
Dialogue avec la machine
User
“play the persians of aeschylus”
ChatGPT
“The Persians of Aeschylus is an ancient Greek tragedy written in the 5th century B.C. It is the only surviving play by the playwright Aeschylus and is considered to be the oldest Greek tragedy in existence. The play deals with the defeat of the Persians at the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC during the Median Wars.
The plot of the play takes place after the battle, when the Persian queen Atossa, the mother of Xerxes, visits the tomb of her late husband Darius. She seeks to understand the reasons for the defeat of the Persian army and seeks answers from the chorus, made up of elderly Persians.
“The Persians” is unique in its treatment of the theme, as it does not focus on the victorious Greeks, but rather on the defeated Persians, offering an unusual perspective in ancient Greek tragedy. The play explores the notion of hubris (excess) and the consequences of human excess before the gods.
As a healthcare professional and researcher, your interest could perhaps lie in the medical or psychological aspect of the repercussions of war, which could be explored by analysing the characters and their experience in Aeschylus’ “The Persians”.
User
“the author does indeed consider the point of view of the vanquished in the war”
ChatGPT
“Indeed, Aeschylus, the author of “The Persians”, takes a unique approach by focusing on the point of view of the vanquished in the war. Unlike many other Greek tragedies which celebrate the victory of the Greeks, ‘The Persians’ explores the perspective of the Persians after their defeat at the Battle of Salamis.
This approach offers a profound reflection on the human, emotional and social consequences of war on the losing side. Aeschylus gives voice to the suffering, loss and soul-searching that follow a major military defeat. The play raises timeless questions about the nature of war, human error, and the psychological and emotional implications that follow.
As a health professional and researcher, you may be interested in exploring the themes of mental health, trauma and resilience in Persian characters, bringing a medical and psychological perspective to the analysis of this tragic work.”