I wanted to compare Alpaca wool and sheep’s wool, to see if it’s more ethical or environmentally friendly.
So I asked Google AI search, and it claimed Alpaca wool is ethically superior to sheep’s wool, because Alpacas need shearing for their welfare.
This is a justification frequently given for sheep shearing, which masks the fact that humans deliberately domesticated and bred modern sheep to overproduce wool - hence why they now require shearing.
Knowing this, I asked further questions, to see if the AI would mention this point.
So I asked various follow up questions: “Why do alpacas need shearing?” “Why did alpacas need shearing in the first place?” “Do alpacas need shearing because they were bred to overproduce wool?”
Every time, essentially same answer, “nothing to see here, Alpacas need shearing for their welfare”
Until I literally point blank asked “What did alpacas do in the wild before humans sheared them?”
Viola, it gave the answer:
“Alpacas have no wild ancestors; they are domesticated animals descended from the wild vicuña. Therefore, the question is based on a false premise, but the vicuña, their ancestor, lived in the wild by grazing on mountain forage in the Andes and, like wild sheep, likely sheds its fleece naturally”
So in other words, alpacas were bred from wild vicuñas, to overproduce wool. Exactly like sheep were. Which it is still essentially refusing to concede.
If this was a human response, you’d almost call that “false premise” comment a snide remark.
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