Read me with your kindest eyes!
I’m slightly nervous about posting this, because I know there are a lot of strong feelings around this topic and I’m afraid of receiving the hate and trolling that I know some others have experienced when talking about AI. But I may as well be honest upfront and risk it, and if you feel strongly enough against what I say that you decide to unsubscribe, that’s okay. If you’re AI positive, like me, or even AI curious, or even just AI tolerant – I’m happy to share my views and hopefully help you out a bit.
Right. You already guessed it, but here I am, coming out of the AI closet.
I, Jen, am AIP.
Here’s the disclaimer.
This does not mean that I think all AI is positive, nor that AI is always a good thing, nor that AI cannot be used in negative ways or in ways that negatively impact people. However, I am determined to remain open to the inevitability of AI and what good it can do, and what positive things it can bring.
I use AI tools regularly. (Newsflash: so do you, if you use google, amazon, or literally any big online company. AI tools have been around for decades – anything automated is a version of AI. It’s a formula – If this, then that – that has been developed and made more complex as time has gone on.) Its uses are becoming more open and obvious now, and also more available to the general public in a way that has never been seen before, and certainly never been known on this scale. This is perfectly in line with Pluto moving into Aquarius, the sign not just of new technologies and far-reaching ideas, but also the sign of community, and the power of the individual going up against the power of the governing forces. Couple this with Pluto’s power to dig up and bring to light anything buried, and his ability to bring deep transformation to those areas – community and technology – and we have a veritable groundswell of technological advancement waiting to be unearthed. The most obvious sign of this is the advancement of AI models such as ChatGPT, Claude, and NotebookLM, but the new technologies we’re going to see over the next few years are by no means limited to the obvious.
Still with me? Good! Let’s have some fun. I promise I’ll be quick today – I know my last couple of articles have gone on a bit… 🫣
I read a quote recently where someone said they wished AI would make dishwashers so they had more time for creativity, rather than making AI to create, so that they had more time to do dishes. I’ve butchered the quote, but you get the idea, and I completely agree. I want more time to be creative, and less time (please!) doing dishes! However, this depends on the person only using AI to replace creativity, and as a creative, that is the last thing I use it for. My creativity has skyrocketed since I started using AI tools. I’ve never needed it to write a book for me – an enormous amount of the pleasure in my life comes from creating stories, drafting and rewriting and editing and polishing. I love the whole process, even when it’s hard, even when I’m doubting myself, even when it feels like I’ll never finish. I have no need or desire to prompt ChatGPT to produce a story that I can stick on Amazon in ten minutes.
So what do I actually use AI for?
Loads of things. Here is a list of what I’ve used it for recently, just off the top of my head. This list is by no means exhaustive!
- A list of historical references, specifically books, that relate to lesbian societies in 1750s London.
- Drafting a comprehensive privacy policy
- Earthquake frequency in England and the specific earthquake details of 2008
- WordPress booking plugins and details of how to install them in layman’s terms
- An overview of Bermuda’s location and history, with contemporary references
- Collating the themes of one of my books and suggesting futuristic technologies based on the information I gave
- Reverse engineering for marketing creative problems and their solutions
- Creating a GCSE revision schedule
- Understanding spring tides, and researching sea related practices around the world
- A step by step guide to a specific process in HMRC
- Transcribing written notes from my notebook.
- Generating an audio overview1 of one of my books
This doesn’t mean that other people will use it ethically – but this is true of every industry known to man. This doesn’t mean that it can’t be misused – but ditto. But it’s not just coming. It’s here. These tools exist now whether we like them or not, so we can either be part of the conversation, or we can tar all AI users with the same brush and deride all those who dare to look.
You can guess where I stand.
I want to contribute to the conversation. I want to encourage people to see the opportunities there are, and to not be afraid of trying them out. I want people to feel lit up by and have fun with these tools – this might seem impossible right now, but I promise it really can be a creative joy! It hasn’t stifled or stolen my creative heart, and it has made me very determined – and happily so – to double down on what I believe is the most important thing.
I AM HUMAN.
I have a body, I have friendships and loves and joys and fears and a dog. I read astrology charts to see the human person behind the glyphs and symbols. You could get an AI tool that will generate a chart reading, but why would you?! My joy in life, my truth of being, my reason to be, is that I am human, I offer human intelligence and emotional intelligence to everything I do, everyone I interact with. AI is an incredible tool, and I use it to free up my time so that I can close my screen and look out at the world and be.
Let me know what you think! But please remember – I am human, and therefore I am sensitive, and prone to be hurt by unkind words. Please keep your responses respectful or vote with your feet – I won’t be offended by a different point of view – that is another thing about valuing humanity. We are all blessedly and beautifully different!
Attached is the AI overview of my middle-grade book Merryshields: The Island In The Attic.
1×
0:00
-10:37
For those who haven’t read it – many of the story components are wrong! AI is both amazing and definitely not human.Subscribed
This is a classic example of AI vs HI. I’ve attached it here – the program reads my text and generates an overview, but while many of the details are correct, a lot of the comprehension is hilariously wrong! You wouldn’t know that if you hadn’t read the book (this is where we have to learn where our information is coming from). So it’s an incredible example of how AI can be used, but it’s also an example of the fact that only humans can understand story, with all its subtle nuances and details.