Posts

Introducing Basma, the Blog’s AI Assistant

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My Beirut Chronicles just passed 6 million views. An amazing milestone. I should have popped a bottle. Or two. Or three. But somehow, celebration didn’t feel like enough. This milestone didn’t call for champagne. It called for a revolution. A profound and meaningful change. So I started with what you can see: a new layout. Deeper colors. Sharper contrast. Black, gold, a touch more edge. A design that finally matches the evolving tone of this blog. But I didn’t stop there. This blog has always been in tune with the present. Now, it’s learning to whisper with the future. Let’s talk about AI. Artificial Intelligence. Strange phrase. Very science-fiction. Very unsettling for some. Many already use it — to paraphrase, to avoid paraphrasing, to rewrite, to fix, to format. Few admit it. Maybe they’re afraid it undermines their credibility. That the magic fades when a machine lends a hand. Some say it cheapens the writing. Dilutes the voice. Makes you wonder who’s really behind the words. Per...
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The blog has just passed 6 million views

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The blog has just passed 6 million views. It’s hard to put into words what that really means to me. Especially considering how irregular my posting has been in recent years. Despite the pauses, despite the silences, My Beirut Chronicles kept resonating — with readers in Lebanon, and far beyond. It’s not a publication backed by institutions. It doesn’t follow trends. It doesn’t seek to please. It’s not lifestyle, fashion, food, or feel-good content. It’s just one voice — mine — sharing thoughts, questions, convictions, and doubts. And yet, here we are. Six million. No sponsored posts. No PR campaigns. No paid ads. Just you. Word of mouth. Curiosity. And maybe, a need for something a bit different from the polished noise of the mainstream. Over the years, the blog kept growing. You kept reading. My Beirut Chronicles exists because of you. You read, you shared, you reacted, you challenged me, and in doing so, you kept it alive. You are the reason this blog exists, and endures. Thank you. ...
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Looking Humanity in the Face

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There’s something elusive — almost unnameable — that separates a human-made image of a person from one generated by a machine. We call it humanity. It’s not realism. AI can now render humans with flawless accuracy. It’s something else. A “je ne sais quoi.” An emotional fingerprint. A kind of quiet truth. This is the foundation of an experiment I’m launching on Instagram. Can AI create humanity? We already know it can simulate faces with stunning precision — skin, light, expression, detail. But can it create authenticity? Emotion? Veracity? The experiment is called Visages . It focuses only on women’s faces — across ages, ethnicities and moods, presented in a visually harmonious, aesthetic way. No distractions. No props, no context, no action. Just faces. Why women? Because we respond differently to female emotion, complexity, and expression — consciously or not. The question is simple: Can artificial intelligence truly create images that feel human? Some results are beautiful. Others a...
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