Full disclosure – I grew up a full throttle sci fan, watching Star Trek before it became fashionable, Star Wars when it first came out and every other dystopian adventure on the large and small screens, so that leaves me to ponder…how should I feel about AI.
Of course, that included the Terminator and Robocop movies with their tech gone bad stories of warning.
In high school, I was part of the launch of a pilot project to incorporate computers in the classroom. It’s funny. If a student today saw what that looked like, they would laugh. I had a Tandy 1000 for my first business and was an early adopter of the Internet at home, despite getting caught up like a lot of others with AOL scam of paying for ‘free minutes’ online. I have used the latest tech in a number of industries I have been involved with.
I have hardly been a Luddite.
I have also been in an industry where caution was critical. Where we worked behind bullet resistant (FYI – it’s never bullet proof) barriers, and every stranger was a potential thief looking to rob you.
Based on that, I come into the world of AI with more skepticism than some generations.
Convenience is not a reason for me to accept the ease of ordering food through an app or being on social media if I have to give up all of my private information to do so.
I know from dreadful experience there is a world of people out there who would gladly use any information they could, to make a buck. Or steal a buck if that’s easier.
I have also worked hard at honing my writing skills to be able to tell a compelling and entertaining story through words on paper.
Of course, like many I’ve chosen to go the indie route to get it out there. That effort took time. Hours sitting in front of a screen to pull words from my brain and make them appear coherently on my computer screen. That’s followed by reading and re-writing and editing and re-writing and then doing it all over again. And even more time simply thinking of plot lines, and characters and consistency and, well you get where I am going.
The fact is that I did not come by this without effort nor without sacrifice.
My stories are GOOD. But they did not come easily.
So, I ask, how should I feel about AI?
It is with disgust that I find myself, and I am hardly alone or the most aggrieved against, competing with people who would us AI to write a story in the vein of a famous author and who would use that shortcut to deliver words without any talent except the ability to prompt AI to do it for them.
Maybe each of us hits a Luddite point, where we see the newest technology as too much. I am not surprised people exist with the tech skill and psychopathy to use AI to both have a story created and then marketed for them.
What I am most upset with, is that the platforms on which they will win are potentially ok with this. They don’t care as long as the product sells. I hope this dystopian future doesn’t come to pass but it will take people of integrity to step up and say NO to this.
Just my two cents worth anyway.