Week in Review: The state of Seattle, abortion, and ChatGPT in the arts

Guest host Mike Lewis discusses the news with Publicola’s Erica Barnett, KUOW’s Mike Davis, and freelance health journalist Joanne Silberner.

On Tuesday, Mayor Bruce Harrell gave his State of the City address. He advocated for housing for all, effective drug treatment options, and a revitalized downtown. Does the mayor's call for "bold action" really mean returning downtown to early 2019?

There was a heavy emphasis in Mayor Harrell’s speech on revitalizing downtown. But Seattle, along with many other cities, is struggling to figure out exactly how to make that happen, and how to return to downtown pre-pandemic levels. Will people returning to the office effectively solve many of these problems?

It was one year last week since the official announcement of Partnership for Zero, which was designed to eliminate visible homelessness in downtown Seattle. The goal was to get it down to “30-ish” people living unsheltered in downtown in a year, according to King County Regional Homelessness Authority CEO Marc Dones. An announcement last week said that 56 people had been housed, far below the goal after a year. What are the existing impediments to the partnership getting closer to its goal?

Abortion patients and providers are listing Washington state as a safe place since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. But many providers are reluctant to move to or stay in Washington in favor of their home state where the can no longer do the procedure. Why are abortion providers staying in states where they can no longer provide abortions?

The controversial artificial intelligence software, ChatGPT, has been heavily debated over its potential role in classrooms and in journalism, with its limitations still being tested. But ChatGPT is also a topic of conversation in the art world. ChatGPT generates narrative text in a way that's similar to what Midjourney does with images: It scrapes the internet and "interprets" what its inquisitor wants. Does this enhance art as we know it or does it change it into its own new category?