I’m so glad this will be an ongoing feature. AI is a menace to creativity in my opinion. Perhaps by more having material such as this circulating writers and students will be encouraged to believe they have the words and creativity to make something truly unique.
Okay, deep breath. I know I’m about to become the Favorite Person to Hate, but I dare to offer a different perspective: I love AI!
It’s a wonderful partner in my life. It has helped me illustrate stories I've written for my son, a project that otherwise would have taken years and thousands of dollars. In a great gift to my family, it has helped me understand my special-needs child's health circumstances with a rigor, kindness, and patience that no human doctor has ever shown us.
On a creative level, it’s a brilliant collaborator. It helps me dialogue about the fiction and non-fiction I’m reading and sort through my own tangled thoughts on an issue. It can be a wonderful sparring partner for chapter summaries and brainstorming. I've been keenly interested in AI through linguistics for years—long before ChatGPT—and the AI writing community I've found (gathered around tools like Sudowrite) is generally well-intentioned, helpful, and cares about the craft of writing.
Now, are there risks? Absolutely. Does it risk flooding the market and turning people away from reading? Does it risk deskilling writers and other artists? Does it risk depriving students of the critical judgment that comes from the hard work of turning a poor draft into quality work? Does it risk eliminating apprenticeships for novices who can't yet outmatch a bot? The end of "Ulysses" comes to mind as a reply to all of this: Yes I said yes I will Yes.
But if we write because we love the process—to the point of still using a pen and paper (as I love to do with Meg's prompts!)—and if we value the unique expression of a human soul that comes from that process, then I believe we are safe. There is room for all of us, for all our visions, and for our ever-changing relationships with art and technology.
For me, the biggest threat is losing readers, and the culprit is already here, and it isn't AI. When I talk to writers, especially in the Spanish-speaking world, the problem is clear. The true nemesis of our attention spans, our emotional worlds, and our relationship with deep thought is the wrecking ball that is social media. That, I believe, is the tyranny most urgently in need of resistance.
I care about you and am so glad it has been useful to you and family. It sounds like it's made an enormous difference in yours and your son's life, and Federico, I'm so happy to know it's positive. For most of us it's extremely negative, for many reasons. I don't think this new feature will be for you, and honestly it may be annoying to you and I'd be fine with taking you off the mailing list because I don't want to bug you. Your friendship means the world to me.
Hi, Meg. Thank you for such a kind and understanding message. I really appreciate it.
Please don't take me off the list! I've said my piece and am more than happy to listen now. I truly value being part of this community, and for me, that includes hearing perspectives I don't share. It's how we all grow and avoid our own echo chambers. I'd love to stay in the fold, if you'll have me.
Completely agree. We are screwed. I still haven't figured out anywhere to send my "Fuck AI" poem to, so I hope I can eventually submit it to you!
I’m so glad this will be an ongoing feature. AI is a menace to creativity in my opinion. Perhaps by more having material such as this circulating writers and students will be encouraged to believe they have the words and creativity to make something truly unique.
<3 Thank you! So glad you like the new feature!
Okay, deep breath. I know I’m about to become the Favorite Person to Hate, but I dare to offer a different perspective: I love AI!
It’s a wonderful partner in my life. It has helped me illustrate stories I've written for my son, a project that otherwise would have taken years and thousands of dollars. In a great gift to my family, it has helped me understand my special-needs child's health circumstances with a rigor, kindness, and patience that no human doctor has ever shown us.
On a creative level, it’s a brilliant collaborator. It helps me dialogue about the fiction and non-fiction I’m reading and sort through my own tangled thoughts on an issue. It can be a wonderful sparring partner for chapter summaries and brainstorming. I've been keenly interested in AI through linguistics for years—long before ChatGPT—and the AI writing community I've found (gathered around tools like Sudowrite) is generally well-intentioned, helpful, and cares about the craft of writing.
Now, are there risks? Absolutely. Does it risk flooding the market and turning people away from reading? Does it risk deskilling writers and other artists? Does it risk depriving students of the critical judgment that comes from the hard work of turning a poor draft into quality work? Does it risk eliminating apprenticeships for novices who can't yet outmatch a bot? The end of "Ulysses" comes to mind as a reply to all of this: Yes I said yes I will Yes.
But if we write because we love the process—to the point of still using a pen and paper (as I love to do with Meg's prompts!)—and if we value the unique expression of a human soul that comes from that process, then I believe we are safe. There is room for all of us, for all our visions, and for our ever-changing relationships with art and technology.
For me, the biggest threat is losing readers, and the culprit is already here, and it isn't AI. When I talk to writers, especially in the Spanish-speaking world, the problem is clear. The true nemesis of our attention spans, our emotional worlds, and our relationship with deep thought is the wrecking ball that is social media. That, I believe, is the tyranny most urgently in need of resistance.
I care about you and am so glad it has been useful to you and family. It sounds like it's made an enormous difference in yours and your son's life, and Federico, I'm so happy to know it's positive. For most of us it's extremely negative, for many reasons. I don't think this new feature will be for you, and honestly it may be annoying to you and I'd be fine with taking you off the mailing list because I don't want to bug you. Your friendship means the world to me.
Hi, Meg. Thank you for such a kind and understanding message. I really appreciate it.
Please don't take me off the list! I've said my piece and am more than happy to listen now. I truly value being part of this community, and for me, that includes hearing perspectives I don't share. It's how we all grow and avoid our own echo chambers. I'd love to stay in the fold, if you'll have me.
That's great, I will be following this.
I wrote this poem a few weeks ago that touches the subject.
https://gildedwounds.substack.com/p/artificial-incompetence
It's not every day we live through a paradigm shift; it feels so eerie.
Yes.
Here’s an article about songwriting, etc. and a fake band on the CBC news app. In Canada. Ridiculous. https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/ai-band-hoax-velvet-sundown-1.7575874
Ugh!!!