Interesting—and revealing experiment. I—like many other commenters here—am disturbed by AI, but if I try set aside my prejudices and be objective, I think AI did a good job with the essay. It is a competent piece—succinct, engaging.
It is a good demonstration of what AI can do. It can write copy, copy edit, write code, make pictures. One can see with this piece why AI is being used to replace a lot of junior-level tasks in the work world—it can handle the easy stuff surprisingly well.
I believe there’s an inherent problem with this in that we learn from the easy stuff whether we are writing, drawing, coding or whatever. We need to do that work to know how things come together. It’s the foundational idea play that our deeper work relies upon. What happens when we no longer bother with doing the easy stuff?
You are spot on about how we as humans still need to build foundations before we can get to the deeper work. This experiment only worked because I had created my own voice through the writing of the 50 blog posts I used to feed AI. The woman who developed the class and her AI voice clone for her new AI created podcast did all that successfully because her AI automation was fed 100 of her 400 podcast episodes. The part that AI didn't do so successfully was to understand context. It also can't tell my story. It takes time for a writer to learn how to unravel the layers to get to the interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Didn’t finish my thought…fully AI generated podcast using an AI program trained on her voice to speak on her behalf. The episode is fascinating - and, given that your girls are about my girls’ age, you might be able to teach them a thing or two.
I admit I don't read ypu often enough to know your voice but what I can say is that certain parts of this stirred emotion in me. I can't imagine AI alone could do that. #2 particularly gave me the feels because for my dog's whole life, I frequently pause to realize that I am all she has. When I brought her home as a puppy, I was aware of the fact that she'd just been ripped away from her siblings to come sleep alone in a foreign home.
Sorry to derail the point of your story but suffice to say, I think it did its job.
It did a pretty adequate job scanning 50 blogs and my book then pulling things together in 27 seconds! I would never use AI to write my blogs, but the exercise helps me contemplate how and where AI can help.
I don't know. It's an interesting experiment, and I know there's likely no stopping it from taking over everything (LinkedIn is full of posts celebrating its use and even people using it to write comments on others' posts which is really really odd to me), but in a world that desperately needs real human connection, I'm not a fan. I'm also still researching the ecological and economic impacts of the data centers used to teach/store data for AI learning and processing. I don't claim to understand all of it, but I think it's worth researching the impact of these enormous data centers on our natural resources. Ecological impact aside, as an artist I'm not a fan because many models are allegedly stealing artists' work in order to "learn." And I agree with Judy regarding the spirit and soul in writing (and art-making in general) by a human just not being found in AI generated work. Despite all of the words being your own, this is just a list to me. There's a flow and nuance found in the human act of organizing words to create meaning, emotion, connection. I would need to sit with it awhile to dissect this reaction, but if I know a blogger is using AI to create their posts, my knee-jerk reaction is to not trust their content. Just as in AI-generated photos (of three-fingered humans and five-legged dogs), AI-generated writing is a machine-calculated thing. Perhaps it's more of an ethical thing to me. Do I want to spit out content, or do I want to connect with other humans? One, to me, assumes a lack of time and effort. The other is a commitment to the giving of time and skilled effort, and I will always deeply respect (and prefer) that.
I used a blog automation as a jumping off point in my learning because I understand what I want it to do and could evaluate the result. I would never have AI write a blog for me, but it did provide plenty of things to contemplate.
Stephen Hawkins predicted that AI would be one of four things to bring about the end of humanity, along with WMD, global pandemics, and global warming. Not a fan. Would I be able to guess you didn’t really write it? Probably not. But I like to think that there’s spirit and soul in writing by a human that’s not found in artificial prose. Call me old school, I guess.
I was fascinated by the behind the scenes process of AI and the capability for problem solving. What makes AI work is the creativity it takes to talk to it in a manner that gets at the heart of the question. That is an art. Would I want to have AI write my blogs? No. It takes out the fun of the creative endeavor. It may, someday, help me be more efficient - but not sure where and how
I can see where it has its uses, like PR or instruction manuals. My photographer friend is very unexcited about the site Upsplash, where you can download photos without having to give credit, which is sort of similar. Depersonalized arts. Is it possible for a creative writer to embrace creative AI writing? It’s seductive in its way.
Sorry Cindy, I’m not interested in reading a fully AI-generated script. I read your newsletter (and any other) to hear what people are thinking, not what AI dreams up (and sometimes hallucinates) from whatever was fed into it. I do think there is a place for AI in a writer’s workflow, but as an assistant rather than generator of so-called thoughts. It can be helpful to find the right word or phrase at times, the right headline, to brainstorm to some degree, to help find silly typos or correct punctuation. But I strongly believe the human’s voice needs to come first.
I took the class to better understand what AI is capable of and how it works. I started from a place where I had some knowledge and could evaluate the outcome. I don’t intend to use AI to write for me. That would take all the fun out of the endeavor. I think it will be a helpful assistant - once I figure out what that means.
I’m fascinated by the fact that AI picked up on the nuance of my voice so as not to be so stiff in the writing. It certainly wasn’t perfect. It picked interesting stories that were out of context. I wouldn’t use it to write but I used a writing exercise so I could evaluate the result. Not sure what next steps are in how I might use it. Learning is keeping my brain young!
Interesting—and revealing experiment. I—like many other commenters here—am disturbed by AI, but if I try set aside my prejudices and be objective, I think AI did a good job with the essay. It is a competent piece—succinct, engaging.
It is a good demonstration of what AI can do. It can write copy, copy edit, write code, make pictures. One can see with this piece why AI is being used to replace a lot of junior-level tasks in the work world—it can handle the easy stuff surprisingly well.
I believe there’s an inherent problem with this in that we learn from the easy stuff whether we are writing, drawing, coding or whatever. We need to do that work to know how things come together. It’s the foundational idea play that our deeper work relies upon. What happens when we no longer bother with doing the easy stuff?
You are spot on about how we as humans still need to build foundations before we can get to the deeper work. This experiment only worked because I had created my own voice through the writing of the 50 blog posts I used to feed AI. The woman who developed the class and her AI voice clone for her new AI created podcast did all that successfully because her AI automation was fed 100 of her 400 podcast episodes. The part that AI didn't do so successfully was to understand context. It also can't tell my story. It takes time for a writer to learn how to unravel the layers to get to the interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
I just thought of you as a podcaster and wondered what you would think about her use of AI to create a fully AI generated
Didn’t finish my thought…fully AI generated podcast using an AI program trained on her voice to speak on her behalf. The episode is fascinating - and, given that your girls are about my girls’ age, you might be able to teach them a thing or two.
That was freaky
Did you watch the Speaking Your Brand episode 433? I thought of you and your podcast. That episode is freaky.
I did not. Should I? I’m hesitant about this AI in writing stuff. What in it made you think of my podcast?
I admit I don't read ypu often enough to know your voice but what I can say is that certain parts of this stirred emotion in me. I can't imagine AI alone could do that. #2 particularly gave me the feels because for my dog's whole life, I frequently pause to realize that I am all she has. When I brought her home as a puppy, I was aware of the fact that she'd just been ripped away from her siblings to come sleep alone in a foreign home.
Sorry to derail the point of your story but suffice to say, I think it did its job.
It did a pretty adequate job scanning 50 blogs and my book then pulling things together in 27 seconds! I would never use AI to write my blogs, but the exercise helps me contemplate how and where AI can help.
What a great experiment. I'm the same, I'd never use it to wrote for me but I absolutely use it to help me streamline certain processes.
I don't know. It's an interesting experiment, and I know there's likely no stopping it from taking over everything (LinkedIn is full of posts celebrating its use and even people using it to write comments on others' posts which is really really odd to me), but in a world that desperately needs real human connection, I'm not a fan. I'm also still researching the ecological and economic impacts of the data centers used to teach/store data for AI learning and processing. I don't claim to understand all of it, but I think it's worth researching the impact of these enormous data centers on our natural resources. Ecological impact aside, as an artist I'm not a fan because many models are allegedly stealing artists' work in order to "learn." And I agree with Judy regarding the spirit and soul in writing (and art-making in general) by a human just not being found in AI generated work. Despite all of the words being your own, this is just a list to me. There's a flow and nuance found in the human act of organizing words to create meaning, emotion, connection. I would need to sit with it awhile to dissect this reaction, but if I know a blogger is using AI to create their posts, my knee-jerk reaction is to not trust their content. Just as in AI-generated photos (of three-fingered humans and five-legged dogs), AI-generated writing is a machine-calculated thing. Perhaps it's more of an ethical thing to me. Do I want to spit out content, or do I want to connect with other humans? One, to me, assumes a lack of time and effort. The other is a commitment to the giving of time and skilled effort, and I will always deeply respect (and prefer) that.
I used a blog automation as a jumping off point in my learning because I understand what I want it to do and could evaluate the result. I would never have AI write a blog for me, but it did provide plenty of things to contemplate.
Stephen Hawkins predicted that AI would be one of four things to bring about the end of humanity, along with WMD, global pandemics, and global warming. Not a fan. Would I be able to guess you didn’t really write it? Probably not. But I like to think that there’s spirit and soul in writing by a human that’s not found in artificial prose. Call me old school, I guess.
I was fascinated by the behind the scenes process of AI and the capability for problem solving. What makes AI work is the creativity it takes to talk to it in a manner that gets at the heart of the question. That is an art. Would I want to have AI write my blogs? No. It takes out the fun of the creative endeavor. It may, someday, help me be more efficient - but not sure where and how
I can see where it has its uses, like PR or instruction manuals. My photographer friend is very unexcited about the site Upsplash, where you can download photos without having to give credit, which is sort of similar. Depersonalized arts. Is it possible for a creative writer to embrace creative AI writing? It’s seductive in its way.
Sorry Cindy, I’m not interested in reading a fully AI-generated script. I read your newsletter (and any other) to hear what people are thinking, not what AI dreams up (and sometimes hallucinates) from whatever was fed into it. I do think there is a place for AI in a writer’s workflow, but as an assistant rather than generator of so-called thoughts. It can be helpful to find the right word or phrase at times, the right headline, to brainstorm to some degree, to help find silly typos or correct punctuation. But I strongly believe the human’s voice needs to come first.
I took the class to better understand what AI is capable of and how it works. I started from a place where I had some knowledge and could evaluate the outcome. I don’t intend to use AI to write for me. That would take all the fun out of the endeavor. I think it will be a helpful assistant - once I figure out what that means.
Interesting... Sounds a bit "white bread" to me. Not nearly as engaging as your voice.
I thought so, too. What shocked me was how it synthesized some of my writing so succinctly. It definitely provided some food for thought.
Yikes. This sounds eerily human. And as a recent adopter, I second the advice. I’ve never used AI and don’t intend to start.
I’m fascinated by the fact that AI picked up on the nuance of my voice so as not to be so stiff in the writing. It certainly wasn’t perfect. It picked interesting stories that were out of context. I wouldn’t use it to write but I used a writing exercise so I could evaluate the result. Not sure what next steps are in how I might use it. Learning is keeping my brain young!