Ok, well, I'm not trying to wield AI at all because I'm just a little hobbit who can recognize a tool of Sauron when she sees it. Maybe that will put me behind on work and maybe that will make me a worse writer and certainly it will make me out of touch with society, but I don't care. I'm not going to pick up the ring, because I'm weak and it's evil.
I actually deleted youtube from my phone a while ago, because every other video was like the one you described of flat boring screenreader guys reading off an obvious ai(edited) script.
But still, I do use ai almost every workday, mostly for very narrow and very specific one-off things I want. Two recent examples are the crafting of a comprehensive overview of all kinds of literature forms, genres, styles, and such + author examples I could read for each of the types and another things was producing the HTML+CSS for a quiz (quiz contents I made myself). But I won't ever use it for writing my essays or fiction or for thinking for me.
Still, I have been lured in previously in sharing more than I actually want with LLM's and since then (the start of the year) I have taken to creating a new account every month because I got tired of LLM's trying/asking to do the thinking for me and bringing in the context of other conversations I had with it.
Anyway, long story short. Yes, I think it is immensely dangerous to wield, and every time I do I am cognisant of it being a trade-off between efficiency and soul. It's why I think it shouldn't be used for soul-filled/tasteful/art works.
And also why I think it's good to have some distance between a human and the LLM's, also why I hate human-level voice in ai. Please just give me the robotic voice so my subconscious doesn't get tricked into, for a fraction of a second, thinking I'm listening to a human.
"It gives us the power to transmute the fear of vulnerability into control of ourselves and others." I wish more people had this level of insight. There is a dangerous paradox to AI usage where it insidiously amplifies the very problem you're using it to solve.
For instance, if you're worried about the veracity of your arguments, and you turn to AI to run its Sauron-like eye over them, you're weakening your own ability to spot inconsistencies.
Or if you're worried your essays don't read well, and you turn to AI to add a fluency filter over the top, you're further weakening your ability to craft a well-written essay yourself.
As you depend upon AI to rescue you from vulnerability, the vulnerability grows.
We learned to talk to machines before we learned to talk to all the animals.
For me it is the last bastion. We let it track our bodies. Our purchases. Our likes and subscribes. Our network. Now we let it into our very thoughts? What is left? The net is complete. And we all clamor, at least we have being left! But wordsmiths are already working on that as well.
Great Article. For someone to say that they do not use AI these days makes me distrust that person. I do like your tool analogy, but would say that ones reliance on a tool establishes the "who owns who" relationship. For example, I know how to start a fire using a lighter, but I dont know how to start a fire without one. Therefore, I am dependant on the lighter to achieve the outcome I seek. I need it.
I see AI in the same way.
As long as I can perform a function without it: write my own stuff, own my prose, and create my own ideas, I see AI as a means to enhance that.
There are times when I find myself in a writers block and know AI could solve the problem and do the work for me. Sometimes I give in to that desire, yet bear the horror of seeing my writing get turned into something that isn't me. Sometimes im feeling lazy and tell AI to do the proofreading for me.
It is a razors edge of a relationship of "who owns who" between a writer and AI, but I think it is possible to wield it.
I really dig the idea that "dopamine" is the closest thing we have to the concept of "sin" in online secular cerebral discoursey spaces - lovely article!:)
Great article! Peter Kreeft's The Two Greatest Novels Ever Written had a similar take comparing the One Ring to technology, though not to AI exclusively.
Very well written post here: it opens the door to a perspective on AI I have not yet heard. Admittedly, I'm not sure of the degree to which you're suggesting we abstain from its use, but I agree with your assertion that we ought to drastically moderate our relationship with and use of it--similar to how we have with atomic bombs. It seems that artists especially have a duty to moderate their relationship with tech, which I suppose is a good thing, considering we're often the first to genuinely contemplate our relationship with it. Perhaps from this contention we may emerge with a more generalizable ethical code for the masses. Idk.
Ok, well, I'm not trying to wield AI at all because I'm just a little hobbit who can recognize a tool of Sauron when she sees it. Maybe that will put me behind on work and maybe that will make me a worse writer and certainly it will make me out of touch with society, but I don't care. I'm not going to pick up the ring, because I'm weak and it's evil.
I actually deleted youtube from my phone a while ago, because every other video was like the one you described of flat boring screenreader guys reading off an obvious ai(edited) script.
But still, I do use ai almost every workday, mostly for very narrow and very specific one-off things I want. Two recent examples are the crafting of a comprehensive overview of all kinds of literature forms, genres, styles, and such + author examples I could read for each of the types and another things was producing the HTML+CSS for a quiz (quiz contents I made myself). But I won't ever use it for writing my essays or fiction or for thinking for me.
Still, I have been lured in previously in sharing more than I actually want with LLM's and since then (the start of the year) I have taken to creating a new account every month because I got tired of LLM's trying/asking to do the thinking for me and bringing in the context of other conversations I had with it.
Anyway, long story short. Yes, I think it is immensely dangerous to wield, and every time I do I am cognisant of it being a trade-off between efficiency and soul. It's why I think it shouldn't be used for soul-filled/tasteful/art works.
And also why I think it's good to have some distance between a human and the LLM's, also why I hate human-level voice in ai. Please just give me the robotic voice so my subconscious doesn't get tricked into, for a fraction of a second, thinking I'm listening to a human.
If only we had definitive magisterial teaching to help us navigate these times
This was a great read.
"It gives us the power to transmute the fear of vulnerability into control of ourselves and others." I wish more people had this level of insight. There is a dangerous paradox to AI usage where it insidiously amplifies the very problem you're using it to solve.
For instance, if you're worried about the veracity of your arguments, and you turn to AI to run its Sauron-like eye over them, you're weakening your own ability to spot inconsistencies.
Or if you're worried your essays don't read well, and you turn to AI to add a fluency filter over the top, you're further weakening your ability to craft a well-written essay yourself.
As you depend upon AI to rescue you from vulnerability, the vulnerability grows.
(I just wrote an article about the dangers of reading and writing AI-generated content and would love your thoughts if you get a spare moment: https://hereisyourbrain.substack.com/p/ai-generated-content-mind-virus)
The sin/dopamine comparison was bars. You should call yourself the metaphor the way you use metaphor.
We learned to talk to machines before we learned to talk to all the animals.
For me it is the last bastion. We let it track our bodies. Our purchases. Our likes and subscribes. Our network. Now we let it into our very thoughts? What is left? The net is complete. And we all clamor, at least we have being left! But wordsmiths are already working on that as well.
Thank you for this. Your writing is wonderful.
Great Article. For someone to say that they do not use AI these days makes me distrust that person. I do like your tool analogy, but would say that ones reliance on a tool establishes the "who owns who" relationship. For example, I know how to start a fire using a lighter, but I dont know how to start a fire without one. Therefore, I am dependant on the lighter to achieve the outcome I seek. I need it.
I see AI in the same way.
As long as I can perform a function without it: write my own stuff, own my prose, and create my own ideas, I see AI as a means to enhance that.
There are times when I find myself in a writers block and know AI could solve the problem and do the work for me. Sometimes I give in to that desire, yet bear the horror of seeing my writing get turned into something that isn't me. Sometimes im feeling lazy and tell AI to do the proofreading for me.
It is a razors edge of a relationship of "who owns who" between a writer and AI, but I think it is possible to wield it.
I really dig the idea that "dopamine" is the closest thing we have to the concept of "sin" in online secular cerebral discoursey spaces - lovely article!:)
Great article! Peter Kreeft's The Two Greatest Novels Ever Written had a similar take comparing the One Ring to technology, though not to AI exclusively.
This is brilliant, thank you! That’s how I feel but can never articulate
Nicely put. 🙏🏽💙👍
Outstanding metaphor. And in my opinion plainly correct.
Excellent metaphor… my precious.
Very well written post here: it opens the door to a perspective on AI I have not yet heard. Admittedly, I'm not sure of the degree to which you're suggesting we abstain from its use, but I agree with your assertion that we ought to drastically moderate our relationship with and use of it--similar to how we have with atomic bombs. It seems that artists especially have a duty to moderate their relationship with tech, which I suppose is a good thing, considering we're often the first to genuinely contemplate our relationship with it. Perhaps from this contention we may emerge with a more generalizable ethical code for the masses. Idk.
I can wield AI tho
Gandalf’s face when Frodo says he can take the ring
Bro but did u see how those movies end????
dude no spoilers
Wheeew! This is fire my boy 😮💨