Artificial Intelligence, Real Trout, and a Curious Irony

Artificial Intelligence, Real Trout, and a Curious Irony

How AI helped me plan a fly-fishing trip on a river that AI might be helping to change.

The other morning, while sitting in my hot tub, I found myself contemplating something rather amusing.

I was planning an upcoming Project Healing Waters Knoxville float trip on the Clinch River. It's been roughly 15 years since I've organized such a trip, and I needed to brush up on a few things.

Where should we put in? Where should we take out? Which shoals should we fish? How long would the float take? And, most importantly, how would TVA's generation schedule affect our plans?

Naturally, I turned to that trusted companion of the modern outdoorsman: artificial intelligence.

Yes, I was using ChatGPT to help me go fly fishing.

There's something inherently funny about that. Here I am, preparing to escape technology, enjoy nature, and spend a peaceful day floating down a beautiful East Tennessee trout stream.

And I'm asking a computer how to do it.

But then another thought occurred to me.

A fellow fly fisherman recently expressed serious concerns about the growing electricity demands of AI data centers and their potential impact on TVA's generation schedules, particularly on the Holston River.

His concern is that increasing demand for electricity could change how our dams operate, potentially affecting fishing opportunities and the delicate ecosystems that make our tailwaters so special.

The actual impact and the altered generation schedule due directly to data center demand has yet to be verified. But the broader concern about protecting our natural resources is certainly worth considering.

And that's when the irony struck me.

I was using artificial intelligence to help me fish a river that artificial intelligence might be making more difficult to fish.

You can't make this stuff up.

To make matters worse—or perhaps better—ChatGPT was genuinely helpful.

It helped me think through potential generation scenarios, launch times, takeout locations, fishing opportunities, and the all-important deadline for getting off the river safely.

Without that assistance, I'm fairly certain my planning would have been considerably less organized.

Of course, AI doesn't replace experience, common sense, or checking actual TVA generation schedules before getting on the water. But it certainly makes a useful planning companion.

So here we are.

Artificial intelligence may be contributing to increased demands on the electrical infrastructure that influences our rivers.

Meanwhile, artificial intelligence is helping us figure out how to enjoy those same rivers.

I'm not entirely sure what the lesson is here.

Perhaps it's that technology and nature have a more complicated relationship than we sometimes appreciate.

Or perhaps it's simply that we've reached a point in human history where even going fishing requires consulting a supercomputer.

Either way, I'm looking forward to getting back on the Clinch.

And if the trout aren't biting, I suppose I can always ask ChatGPT why.