“Must See” Movie-Length Documentaries per Artificial Intelligence, the U.S. Affordable Housing Crisis, and the Predicament of the 21st Century Manufactured Housing Industry – Videos, Facts, and Analysis
According to the Productivity School, the number one artificial intelligence (AI) search engine, paid or free, is the one by available from Microsoft’s Bing. According to Dictionary.com, a thesis is defined as follows. Thesis definition: “a proposition stated or put forward for consideration, especially one to be discussed and proved or to be maintained against objections.” Per ThoughtCo: “A thesis (THEE-ses) is the main (or controlling) idea of an essay, report, speech, or research paper, sometimes written as a single declarative sentence known as a thesis statement.” Bing AI was asked the following questions by this writer for Mobile and Manufactured Home Living News (ManufacturedHomeLivingNews.com or MHLivingNews.com).
The broad subject of the first several questions aimed to get Bing AI to provide a snapshot, summary or ‘the thesis’ of what the documentary was about. MHLivingNews is adding after each of those Q&As the video in question for ease of the readers/viewers convenience.
> “What is the thesis for documentary CitizenFour?”
> Bing, you responded in 7 of 30 [note to MHLivingNews readers i.e.: the question above] that: “I am sorry, but I could not find any information about a documentary called “Riding the Dragon” in my predefined internal tools.” Can you elaborate on what that means and what those “predefined internal tools” are?”
My mistake, I can’t give a response to that right now. Let’s try a different topic.”
After that last reply, Bing AI shut down that Bing AI Chat thread. No more questions on that thread were possible at that point. See the screen capture below, keeping in mind that in some devices and web browsers, it can be clicked to expand to a larger size.
One of the videos that this writer did not get to in that Q&A with Bing AI was the acclaimed documentary Kill Switch. While has a few similarities with CitizenFour, it covers other topics and individuals, so it is not focused on Edward Snowden. Along with others, MHLivingNews hereby recommends it for viewing, but cautions for the use of some foul language in the presence of younger children.
What is the Relevance to the Above to Manufactured Housing?
A new report on Manufactured Home Pro News (ManufacturedHomeProNews.comor MHProNews.com) explores some of these topics in the light of recent events in San Fransico, CA.
In response questions put to Bing AI, is the following. This is a composite of various replies given by Bing AI, that have edited out some apparent factual glitches.
Manufactured housing has come a long way since the trailer house and mobile home era. According to Manufactured Home Pro News (MHProNews)
Year
New Manufactured Homes Produced
1995
344,930
1996
363,345
1997
353,686
1998
373,143
1999
348,075
2000
250,366
2001
193,120
2002
165,489
2003
130,815
2004
130,748
2005
146,881
2006
117,373
2007
95,752
2008
81,457
2009
49,683
2010
50,056
2011
51,618
2012
54,881
2013
60,228
2014
64,334
2015
70,544
2016
81,136
2017
92,902
2018
96,555
2019
94,615
2020
94,390
2021
105,772
2022
112,882
The figures are based upon information gathered on behalf of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD is the primary federal regulator for HUD Code manufactured homes.
Critics of HUD and the leading brands involved at the Manufactured Housing Institute including Clayton Homes, 21st Mortgage Corporation, Skyline Champion, Cavco Industries, and several land lease manufactured home community (MHC) operators that are prominent at MHI have raised concerns about the significant consolidation of the manufactured housing industry in the 21st century. These concerns are not yet litigated allegations of what Samuel Strommen called “felony” monopolization, but an array of evidence from multiple sources that include the individuals, organizations, and companies named support the allegations of collusion .
The thesis of critics of HUD and the leading brands involved at the Manufactured Housing Institute is that the industry is being monopolized in an oligopoly fashion. Critics argue that the industry is facing challenges related to financing, regulation, and public perception, which have contributed to a decline in production and shipment of new manufactured homes in the United States over the past year .
The Department of Justice antitrust division and the Federal Trade Commission are responsible for enforcing antitrust laws in the United States. If you believe that antitrust laws have been violated, you can file a complaint with either agency.
I hope this information helps. If you have any other questions or concerns, please let me know.
It should be noted that states can also act in the enforcement of antitrust laws. Private attorneys can also sue for damages under antitrust and RICO laws. In fact, several antitrust actions have been filed by private attorneys on behalf of residents in the manufactured housing industry. See those and related reports linked below.
Note that for months on end, the next report was the most read on MHLivingNews. It is still relevant, perhaps more so, in the light of the fresh 2023 class action lawsuits involving other Manufactured Housing Institute members. If you haven’t read it yet, or need a refresher, don’t miss it.
When you wonder how it is possible to have such issues, keep in mind that this isn’t just manufactured housing. It is other industries, including conventional housing producers. Documentaries, like those above, have explored the impact of corporate advertising, ownership, and other influences on media coverage or on big tech. Once you’ve watched those documentaries, you will be better understand how modern society actually works. We recommend watching them all in the same week, or within a few days of each other, as your non-work schedule permits.
We plan a follow up special report on some of the insights, as well as the glitches, found in using Bing AI. Briefly, we find the Bing AI chat tool to be useful. But it almost requires that a well-informed expert on manufactured housing be reading the information it provides in its replies, because when Bing AI does glitch, it may not be apparent to the average user. In several cases, we noted that Bing AI, when confronted with factual or logical errors, will admit them. More on that, the affordable housing crisis, and the reasons why manufactured housing is underperforming during an affordable housing crisis in the linked reports and coming in the days ahead. Stay tuned. ###
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How quickly they grow! Our son is about the same height as dad now. On that occasion recalled by this photo, all on Capitol Hill were welcoming and interested in the discussion of manufactured housing-related issues in our 12.3.2019 meetings. But Texas Congressman Al Green’s office was tremendous in their hospitality. Our son’s hand is on a package that included a copy of the Constitution of the United States and other goodies. MHLivingNews and MHProNews has worked with people and politicos across the left-right divide.
Tony earned a journalism scholarship and earned numerous awards in history and in manufactured housing. For example, he earned the prestigious Lottinville Award in history from the University of Oklahoma, where he studied history and business management. He’s a managing member and co-founder of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com. This article reflects the LLC’s and/or the writer’s position, and may or may not reflect the views of sponsors or supporters.