A business associate excitedly tried to sell me on “AI” the other day. I don’t know if she even knew what she meant.
As a researcher and writer I have been using things like ChatGPT since they became available. It’s great for creating skeleton outlines or jumpstarting my brain when I can’t think straight. When researching, a few questions will sometimes show up a piece of information I might have left out organically. For me it’s just a starting point, or a pointer, on which to build. I am very careful not to let it lead or contain my thinking too much. I like my words to be, well, my own words.
As she chatted on about how I, “… must use it. Everyone is doing it, dahling!” and, “How can I (she) help you with this?” I quietly smiled and nodded. I don’t mind true excitement and the urge to help. It’s dear.
But sometimes I think if I hear the abbreviation “AI” one more time, I’ll just barf!
It’s not that I dislike AI. I am just tired of the hype and anti-hype and the random use of the word by people who have no real clue what AI actually IS.
We live in exciting times. A hundred years ago (1924) we had widespread electrification, the telephone, radio, cars, planes, silent movies, fridges, and even vacuum cleaners. In 2024 our fridges can automatically shop for us, analyse our shopping preferences, and help with meal planning. The bot revolution is well underway, and people are secretly quivering in fear over job losses and Terminator-style futures. I guess this is how we felt when factories first became techified and Ford invented assembly lines.
Ok, so here’s the thing (in my humble opinion)…
AI is a fabulous tool… really. But like any tool we need to learn to use it properly, safely. Like a knife, if we hold it by the wrong end, we might cut ourselves.
The pitfalls are insidious:
- At present, AI like Gemini and ChatGPT can only search what is already there. They cannot generate new thoughts. The problem here is that this creates a filtering and bias towards what we already know, and does not allow for NEW ideas that much.
- Social media mavens love to push content. “You gotta get X number of posts out there to engage with your followers,” they cry religiously. Well, I would rather have one or two high-quality reads than 100 bot-generated bits of bumpf. More is not better if it’s shit. Time is precious and I will block the people who deluge me with meaningless, empty bot-copy.
- AI cannot empathise or remotely understand the human experience. It can base answers on facts, but it can’t on its own know what to do when little Johnny is crying.
- We might get lazy, relying on bots for all our thinking. Thar be dragons, for sure! Even when doing basic research for a recent psych article I wrote, some of the “facts” needed checking and correcting. Some of the suggestions made by the AI were puerile.
Lastly, but most importantly for me as a creative, we must remember that it is the act of creating that we organics need. Right now, as I type this while drinking my morning coffee, I feel alert, energised, motivated, and full of joy. Even though I know I have quite a day ahead, and some big challenges to face, the act of thinking, creating and writing these words has done something for me that no amount of meditation or therapy ever could have.
It’s made me come alive in a way that nothing else can.
AI? It’s as useful as any tool in my home or office. But thankfully I can still think and create quite well without it.
I do not fear it. I do not avoid it. I do not rely on it either.
I’ll end on a reflective note: “The real problem is not whether machines think, but whether men do.” — B.F. Skinner
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Happy writing!
