We’re in the age of AI.
I’m sure that you’ve used it by now in one way or another.
I do use ChatGPT fairly often, to the point of paying for the plus plan.
One of the things that I do the most is to translate between the three languages that I speak: Spanish, English and Japanese.
Sometimes I’m not sure how to say something in the right manner, or I may look up the meaning of a specific word or phrase.
Besides that, I may use ChatGTP as a search engine, to write generic emails, and to create illustrations that I use at work.
But today I decided to ask AI about tea.
I received good answers to questions such as “what is fukamushi sencha“, “what are the most important tea producing regions in Japan?”, and “how to choose a kyusu teapot”.
When I asked about instructions on how to brew specific Japanese teas, the quality went down.
For example, it told me to prepare genmaicha without boiling water (like other Japanese teas), and all the preparations are specified in a Western way (high volumes of water) even if I tell ChatGPT that I want to do it in a traditional Japanese way.
Furthermore, it believes the myth about using boiling water to lower the caffeine content of tea.
One problem is that it uses all the data from the internet, so if many sites talk about one thing, it would take it as the right information even if it’s wrong.
The saying “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”, is definitely something to watch out for in AI.
I also asked ChatGTP to work as a timer. But it doesn’t calculate time correctly, it immediately says that time’s up.
It’s still a useful tool nevertheless, especially to ask a quick question when you don’t have the time to look at different search results.
There’s also the GPT function, where you can use a custom made ChatGTP.
I didn’t find one for tea in general, but I saw two about the tea ceremony, and another for gongfu style brewing.
In the future, I think that we might be able to learn about many topics in a hands-on manner with the guidance of AI.
May 21, 2025
Bonjour Ricardo,
Nous avions échangé il y a quelque temps. J’apprécie beaucoup votre bibliothèque sur les cultivars !
Il m’arrive aussi de faire des recherches sur le thé : la qualité des réponses dépend de la qualité de nos questions. Et de celle du support consulté, tous ne se valent pas.
Comme dans tous les domaines, on ne peut tirer un bon parti des réponses que si l’on connaît bien le sujet. Car le piège est de lire globalement une réponse en partie correcte et riche et de laisser passer un gros contresens ou un amalgame contradictoire. Mais si on lui signale, il en tient compte.
A la fin de chaque recherche, je lui demande ses sources et les confronte : certaines sont obsolètes, d’autres permettent de mesurer le sérieux de la réponse.
En lui signalant où il s’est trompé, le chat GPT corrige et renvoie une réponse améliorée. Je l’utilise pour obtenir des réponses sur l’évolution contemporaine du thé qu’il me faudrait sinon plus de temps à obtenir.
Encore merci pour vos articles et votre site !