Joining the Ai Conversation

When it comes to Ai, there seems to be two different camps – those for it, and those against it – with each side having very vocal opinions. And it is a conversation that I have been avoiding. But, recently, I was reminded of a quote (and I am not 100% sure where/who said it so if you know, please let me know in the comments below) that goes along the lines of: “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” And I made the decision that it is time to share my thoughts on such a controversial topic. Because avoiding backlash isn’t really a good enough reason to let your voice be silenced.

So let’s get to it…

Fundamentally, I think the intentions behind the creation of Ai were good – to create an adaptable system that can help to solve problems. A system created to mimic human intelligence. Frankly, the idea is fascinating.

Wait, wait, wait! Please don’t grab your pitchforks and torches yet!

Human’s are complicated machinery, and thus can be contradictory. I believe that Ai is fascinating… in theory. In a more practical setting, it is far more damaging. And maybe that is simply a human mistake, an error in programming, the “human problem” that most movies depict? You know what I mean – Ai becomes so intelligent that it determines that humans are the problem with the world and then try to destroy us…

In my little echo chamber on the internet, I have seen a massive uptick in the use of Ai. Scrolling through Facebook, I am bombarded with stories that don’t make sense, opinions that state one thing but argue the truth of the other side, or even just blatant fabricated images. And maybe that’s my own fault, because who the f*ck scrolls through Facebook nowadays. Am I dating myself?!?!?

But, in particular, I see a lot of opinions in regards to Ai use in creative spaces, and that just seems wrong to me. I don’t want Ai to be writing my stories, I want it to be making my life easier so that I have the time to let my creativity flow. You know? (Sorry couldn’t resist adding a rhyme haha)

When it comes to creative spaces, the use of Ai leads to a loss of individualized voices. Think about it… Ai will scour the internet returning hundreds of results and then mashes them together based off of statistical likelihood of the next word to generate content based off of the prompt you have used. It literally steals the work of others and passes it off as it’s own. It’s almost like getting an assignment at school. You can only reword the same prompt so many times before it all starts to sound similar.

And with the insurgence in the use of Ai in these creative environments, you see so many people who maybe don’t use Ai at all being accused of using it because, shocker, Ai literally learns from real world authors. You use em dashes – Ai. You use the oxford comma, Ai. You use an ellipsis… Ai.

Ai, Ai, Ai…

Gone are the individualized perspectives that make creating so interesting. So human. This is the uprising of machinery, and we’re now just a cog in its mechanisms.

An argument I see a lot, particularly in regards to Ai use in writing spaces, is that Ai has made writing accessible for many people. And to that I say, “Bull.” Writing only requires a pencil, paper and a little imagination. But let’s say for the sake of this argument that you don’t have that. Public libraries are a great resource where you can use computers, and the internet for free. You don’t even need a subscription or to buy expensive writing software programs because there are free ones available, like Notepad, or heck even Google docs. And for those who can’t write, for whatever reason, things like voice to text are a thing.

Another argument I see is that people use it to edit their work, or lengthen sentences, or they edit the prompt into their own words so now it’s “their writing”. To that argument, please refer to the above paragraphs where I discuss Ai stealing the work of writer’s.

I understand the temptation to use it as an editing tool. I’ll be one of the first to admit that editing sucks… a lot. Using it to lengthen sentences takes away your individual voice. Editing a prompt doesn’t make it your own. Ai is still passing off work of writer’s as it’s own, and you’re unknowingly copying their work.

And if you want to use the accessibility argument then, again, libraries are a wonderful resource. Or you could watch YouTube videos, or read books. Heck, if you really wanted to, you could hire someone to do it for you (Honestly? Super tempting at times…)

But not only are we seeing a loss of creativity, we’re also seeing a systemic lack of critical thinking skills. I think that this is in part due to the loss of attention spans because of needs for instant gratification. The TikTok brain rot epidemic if you will.

Google used to be a place that I could go to fact check, but now the first thing that pops up is an Ai summary of my search results. Compilations of Reddit posts of opinions, little or no reference to peer-reviewed studies – all composed into a nice synopsis that presents opinion as fact. For those who are not skeptical, this sets a dangerous precedent of the spread of misinformation, whether intentional or not.

Let’s also not forget that we live in a capitalist society that values monetary gains over the health of individuals. Google is one of the primary search engines in the world, and for decades they have instilled a pay to play for companies to ensure that their results show up first when searched. Now, how big of a stretch is it to say that a company pays to present certain information as fact, an answer that sounds right but may not have all the information presented immediately? And with a decrease in attention spans… Well, I can leave that to your imagination.

Now, have you heard of Ai hallucinations? Ai making up information to answer a question? Or, how it can create an echo chamber of answers meant to placate the user? Not too dissimilar to how social media works if you ask me.

I haven’t even touched on environmental factors of large Ai data centers, or people getting sick from infrasound noise pollution, or the impacts on the computing hardware economy.

I’m aware that this all seems tin foil hatty… but in a world where people do not have your best intentions in mind, we have to be aware of the implicit costs. Because no one is going to advertises those to us. We have to approach the world with skepticism at the forefront of our minds.

Because Ai is damaging, not only in creative spaces, but in many spaces.

Because staying silent is being complacent.

Because Ai is not the solution we all thought it would be.

Okay, I’ll get off of my soapbox now, but I’m interested in knowing what your opinions of Ai are. Leave a comment below!