Words by

Charlie Winters

Photo by

The Reykjavík Grapevine

Great power comes with great responsibility

With the world going to shit, it seems like everyone’s coming to me with their problems! Great power comes with great responsibility. Good thing I have neither. 

Seeking advice about the future? Problems with lovers? Just have something you need to get off your chest? Call Charlie! 

Olof asks: What is the Icelandic government doing to prepare its society for AI? Regulations? Vocational training? Anything? 

I asked ChatGPT, and it says Iceland is doing pretty well when it comes to AI. But that’s a biased source, I’d say, gonna go ask some other AI. Askur the chatbot on Island.is got really confused by my questions and tried to give me citizenship. Checked in with Elli, Landsbankinn’s chatbot. Things got a little flirty a little too quickly with Elli. She’s an AI that comes on strong. So, what I can tell you is that whatever the government is doing seems to be working, at least for me. 

Let’s just say a loan isn’t the only thing I’m taking out… for dinner. 

Let’s just say interest rates aren’t the only thing that’s rising. 

Let’s just say, I’m down bad for the Landsbankinn chatbot, and have a massive mortgage. 

I’m so broke. 

Georgia asks: What is journalism? 

I believe journalism, like gender, is at its core performative and shaped by our construction of cultural and societal norms. A journalist is someone who says they are as such and thus someone who dabbles in journalisticisms can be just as valid a journalistificant as anyone else. So, to be a journaphiliac and to commit journalism one must simply don an investigative fedora, carry an old-timey flash-photography camera, wear suspenders religiously, and speak in a transatlantic American accent. That is journalism. 

Anita asks: Is there a dating site for Americans to meet Icelanders? 

I’m not sure? I do all my dating on Islendingabok.is, the family heritage website. You just find your family tree and scroll a couple of cousins away, and you find a middling acceptable dating range. The dating pool in Iceland is a little stagnant. You can see the moss growing on the bottom. 

Allan asks: What beer in Iceland is your favourite? I know what mine is. 

Well, good for you, Allan. Some of us haven’t been able to decide yet. A couple of years ago, I might have said Tuborg or Carlsberg, but exposure to Iceland has made me despise the taste of colonialism. Can’t even have a goddamn Somersby anymore without remembering the Danes. I just drink wine now. 

Sometimes life is just a battle, you know, and it’s difficult to find a moment of peace. When I’m struggling, I tend to go to the beach and sit on the rocks and stare into the ocean. 

Luckynailblacksmith says: Go figure… when I’m struggling, I spend time with a donkey. 

Holy fuckin shit, Luckynailblacksmith, a donkey is so much better than a shitty-ass view of the ocean! Do you have pictures?! Oh my god, you’ve uploaded pictures. AAAAAAH! Shout out to Luckynailblacksmith and his donkey. You go, my man. 

The setting sun, and music at the close, as the last taste of sweets, is sweetest last! That brings us to the end of another episode of Help, Call Charlie? Tune in next time for all the answers to all your questions. So, if you have a question you’re dying to ask me, check out the Grapevine Facebook or Instagram page and submit your questions!