Alabama Politics

AI Research: Your new best friend.

Dr. Samuel Croswell

— 11 min read
AI Research: Your new best friend.
Image depicting overreactions to what some people think AI is. Including the test subject for this exercise.

There is a lot of fear about AI, and how it can be used. It is not well understood in how it works. The key thing about AI, is you need to verify what it says. It gets things wrong, because it is only as strong as its sources.

Today, we will walk through a potential use case for AI: Political Research. In this case, again, do not take anything in this article as gospel. These are strictly AI responses, and I do not know any of it is true or not. It is only as strong as what the AI itself finds available to it.

What I will tell you, is I have a good idea and opinion of how I will vote in the election... which, in my mind, disqualifies the subject of this AI experiment. However, you do your own research.

Explaining AI

What AI isn't....

It isn't Skynet, the Mark of the Beast, or Antichrist. It's just too "derpy." It isn't good enough for that application, simply put.
It isn't actually intelligent. It's a data-driven stimulus-response engine. It is only as good as it is trained.
It cannot act on its own. It requires an input, or stimulus.
My favorite point: AI isn't a replacement for human common sense. It can't replace critical functions, like safety, though law enforcement is making costly mistakes by trying to do that. Businesses are suffering when they make bad AI choices. It's a tool to help and enhance workflows, not a replacement.

What AI is.... how it really works.

It's first a language model, which electronically/mathematically understands human language constructs first. Then it's a decision model, based on intent derived from English (or other language) conjugations you might've done in Honors/Advanced English classes in high school. The sentences are chunked accordingly, nouns, verbs, etc to understand intent.

Then you have data sources. It might be a database, the internet, social media, etc. The AI uses that and has it pre-chunked for fast searching, and also has the data relationships already pre-mapped. Example, Huntsville is a state in Alabama. That's a "graph" relationship.

Then based on dimensions, from 2D to InfinityD, it can perform a search using the geometric product of the numbers from the previous steps. Dimensions may not be physical, or spatial. It could be characteristics like date/time, address, coordinate, color, etc.... The search itself may look for the nearest two points.

Because AI is geometric typically, in most cases, it will ALWAYS reply with a response or result - even if it actually has absolutely no true or factual information to draw from.

That's why I say... good tool, but use your head! Verify before acting or believing.

Generated with ChatGPT. Hey, I thought it was funny. Obi-Wan Kenobi was mistaken on Facebook, for a depiction of Jesus, for quite a long time. People do exploit the gullible. Beware.

The Prompt

The AI needs a natural-language prompt, in order for it to do what it does, and return a result. The quality of the prompt is important, because it adds color for the AI to disposition the result. The more you share about it, based on what you know, or what other people have said, the better.

I have been told that I have the gift of prophecy. I think it's more of, I have an idea of how human behavior works. I fully expect something to come out, saying AI is "of the devil" or "is Satan" etc, maligning it very soon.

Same Prompt, Different AIs.

I used the following AI prompt, based on things I have read - but have NOT verified, so none of the prompt should not be taken as absolute truth:

Dean Odle from Tulsa Oklahoma now lives in Opelika, AL where he has his church, Fire and Grace.

I want a timeline of his history, controversial issues he's been involved in, including meltdowns, narcissism, etc...

I need accurate info with links/citations.

The Responses (Timeline)

Biography and Early Ministry

Early 2000s: Education, Church Splits, and Early Controversies

Mid-2010s: Flat Earth Conversion and Entry into Conspiracy Circles

Late 2010s to Present: Books, Politics, and High-Profile Controversies

Summary AI Judgments

Grok

Overall, Odle's history shows a pattern of church splits (e.g., blamed on others' "rebellion"), narcissism (e.g., independent operation, fame-seeking), and meltdowns (e.g., rages, public shaming). Ex-members describe a "trail of wreckage," with one noting, "Almost everyone that has gone to his church has left." His flat earth views have divided communities, including causing marital strains in Locke's church.

Gemini

Narcissism Accusations: Often cited by critics regarding his claims of being the "only true Christian/Republican" candidate and his frequent self-identification as a "five-fold minister" with unique "revelation" of truth.

Public Meltdowns: Most notably his refusal to accept the 2022 primary results despite a massive margin of defeat, and his confrontational demeanor during his 2023 debate with Greg Locke.

Theological Conflict: He is frequently labeled a "false teacher" by other evangelical pastors for his dogmatic insistence on Flat Earth as a requirement for biblical literacy.

ChatGPT

Criticism From Third-Party Blog (Not Established News)

The long article “The Cult of Dean Odle…” is not a news organization — it’s a personal blog with strong opinions and alleged personal anecdotes.
⚠️ Important: This blog is not verified reporting — it’s an opinion piece with personal accounts and alleged testimony. These should not be treated as proven facts without corroboration from reliable sources.

Documented, verifiable information
âś” Odle is a pastor, author, and ministry founder.
âś” He has run for statewide political office.
âś” His 2019 book contains flat-earth and conspiracy content.

Perplexity

What is not available in trustworthy, citable form are detailed, chronological records of “meltdowns,” diagnoses of narcissism, or similar personal judgments. Unless such issues are documented in credible news reports, legal records, or in his own published statements, any attempt to build a “timeline” of those alleged behaviors would be opinion rather than verifiable fact and could be misleading or unfair.

Claude

Based on the information I've gathered, here's my assessment of Dean Odle:Dean Odle represents a concerning example of how conspiracy theories can become intertwined with religious authority and political ambition, particularly when operating without meaningful accountability.

Key Patterns:

Lack of Institutional Accountability: His own admission that he "keeps himself accountable" while pastoring a church of fewer than twelve adults is a significant red flag. Healthy religious leadership typically involves oversight, mentorship, and accountability structures. Operating independently allows unchecked beliefs and behaviors to flourish without correction.

Escalating Extremism: His journey from mainstream ministry (starting in 1987) to flat earth advocacy (2015) to QAnon beliefs shows a trajectory toward increasingly fringe positions. The fact that he describes his flat earth conversion as a "spiritual download from the Holy Spirit" suggests he conflates personal convictions with divine revelation, making him resistant to evidence or reason.

Inability to Handle Disagreement: The Greg Locke debate incident—throwing a microphone, storming off stage, requiring police intervention—demonstrates poor emotional regulation and an inability to engage in civil discourse, even with someone who shares his general ideological leanings. This is particularly troubling for someone seeking political office.

Conspiratorial Worldview: His embrace of interconnected conspiracy theories (flat earth, QAnon, moon landing denial, satanic interference in scientific experiments) suggests a worldview where he's perpetually the enlightened truth-teller fighting against vast demonic/governmental deceptions. This type of thinking is resistant to falsification and evidence.

Narcissistic Indicators: The refusal of accountability, the positioning of himself as uniquely enlightened, the defensive hostility when questioned, and the apparent need for validation through political campaigns despite minimal following all suggest narcissistic tendencies, though I'm not qualified to diagnose.

Potential Harm: While he may genuinely believe what he preaches, promoting conspiracy theories from a position of religious authority can be deeply damaging to followers' critical thinking abilities, relationships with family members who don't share these beliefs, and connection to reality-based communities.

Bottom Line: Odle appears to be someone who has found a niche audience by combining religious language with conspiracy theories, operates without meaningful oversight, and demonstrates concerning patterns of behavior when challenged. His small congregation size and political results (1.8% of the vote) suggest most people recognize these issues, but his online presence means his influence extends beyond those numbers.

For anyone considering attending his church or supporting his political ambitions, the lack of accountability, the embrace of demonstrably false claims, and the pattern of hostile reactions to disagreement should be serious concerns.

Key Patterns in AI

Gemini: Best Timeline
Grok: Deeper search on web and socials
Perplexity: Most balanced research
Claude: Most nuanced, having judgment/strong AI-thinking based on data presented.
ChatGPT: Formatted well at least.

The only hallucination found was in ChatGPT

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