I am writing today to notify the regulars that I will never utilize artificial intelligence in creating my blog posts. Not even on ‘the Facebook.’
From this simpleton’s point of view, I think it borders on electronic plagiarism. Even if only used to gather an idea for a post. Yes, the strange things I come up with are rooted in my head. More it comes from seeing something with my own eyes. Take it or leave it.
Knowing that I am not up to date, in the know, and most likely couldn’t care less about computer-derived tools that will allegedly make me better, a friend claimed that he could create a post just like one of mine in minutes.
His theory is that if he could capture and use a few of my written works to “teach” an AI program my strange way of putting together a sentence, it wouldn’t be long before I was irrelevant. My style and lack thereof would be quickly adopted. I call it kidnapped, but he’s right.
I couldn’t disagree, not then. I had to spend the last couple of weeks watching many social media creators rave about this new technology. No, none of them admitted that they would employ it to write a book, but you know it will happen.
I did correct him about soon being irrelevant because I already am, at least in the grand scheme of things.
The worst part of my low-key research is that I have been inundated continually with raving ads for the new technology. It’s been a constant. AI is already present in social media; we all know that.
For thousands of years, we’ve depended on each other to exchange ideas, stories, quips, jokes, and intriguing asides. I’ve been quite content, truthfully.
For one thing, I am embarrassed that humans, just like me, are embracing this technology and fawning over it like it’s a miracle.
AI is only taking all it has learned and feeding it to you in a more concise and probably more grammatically correct version. AI would have nothing to give us if we hadn’t already given it the information, powered it up, and let it run wild.
I read a post this morning from a London-based blogger. He let one of the many current AI programs plan his entire day. Then he followed it to the letter. Going to a restaurant that it told him had the best breakfast, a park to relax, a riverboat ride, and more. I stopped reading his post right about there. It probably made his supper plans and advised him on the best position to fall asleep. As I said, I dropped it. I’m happily screwing up my own days.
For one, I realized I was letting AI generate what I was reading about. I was reading about a guy who let AI control his day, and I swore to all that is good and holy that I would never comply. That story was sent directly to me because I am already a victim of the whole mess.
I’ll avoid my morbid thoughts, not writing everything I think here for AI to collect and use against me later. But I would rather not be here than have the inability to free will my way through life.
If raised under totalitarianism and its principles, I hope I would let them pull the lever on me or at least be a cause for alarm and concern for the officials who ran the asylum.
As I get older, I can peer over my shoulder to see precisely how other humans can control other humans. There are so many examples. I hate seeing it in my rearview, but here we are, driving right into it and waving to our friends as the bottom drops out. I feel like just another sucker on some days.
It’s the slow boil of the frog swimming about in the comfortable depths of a cold pot until he suddenly becomes just a part of the soup. I am indeed sitting in warm water as I write this.
I know most folks won’t take the time or effort to recreate my stuff, but if they do, send me the royalty checks by mail. Better yet, drop it off at the end of the camp road. So far, they’ve been unable to replicate a walk in the woods. I can at least cling to that.
Hang in there.
TC