All very sensible and I appreciate your thoughts. I don't fear AI but I am apprehensive as to what purposes it may be put to by some. Perhaps it is only a personal peccadillo but I also find the name: Artificial Intelligence to be something of an oxymoron.
Contrary to some, I've not yet personally read anything written by AI which comes close to more than the most pedestrian of human efforts. However, it doesn't surprise me that some will consider to have found such because discerning evaluation, levels of comprehension and real understanding of language are at possibly their lowest levels ever. Indeed, it appears that in the supposedly educated and intelligent societies I know, people become dumber every day and increasingly attracted to puerile entertainment such as 'reality' shows; moronic right wing influencers who know only how to deride, abuse and denigrate; and mis and dis information spread by everyone from blatant fools to educated, wealthy and arrogant demagogues.
Just as 'Rap' has replaced quality and nuanced song writing and as 'heavy metal' replaced the same in music, I do expect the tragedy of AI (non)literature to replace inspirational, satisfying, questioning, developmental and insightful literature written with exceptional style, plot, characterisation, point of view and stimulating and enticing vocabulary. Fortunately, I will probably no longer be alive to suffer it.
I wish I shared your guarded optimism. Personally, I see AI as the end of creativity. It's not the end of the world; in fact it's fascinating to watch its progression, but as a writer/photographer/videographer, it is a career ender. I've already read AI generated fiction as good as anything I could write and as for camera work, there's nothing so interesting that AI can't compile and create it.
It was foolish, borderline criminal for Medium to push out Jessica, Umair and Harry and to have alienated so many others, who now stand with feet in both ponds. Currently, I spend more time reading Substack than Medium. I expect the trend will continue, as more of the best writers emigrate fully from there to here.
Agree about Jessica and Umair and the others. My Substack earnings are working their way up to my Medium stuff and there will likely be a day that I leave Medium. As for AI, humans create because we can, AI can only create when someone asks it to. I could prompt it to write a fantasy novel but it would simply be slicing and dicing previously published work. I just can’t get worried about it but it will definitely dumb down a lot of things. But writing is just one use case…
I have used Vonneguts quote many times in the last 30+ yrs
All very sensible and I appreciate your thoughts. I don't fear AI but I am apprehensive as to what purposes it may be put to by some. Perhaps it is only a personal peccadillo but I also find the name: Artificial Intelligence to be something of an oxymoron.
Contrary to some, I've not yet personally read anything written by AI which comes close to more than the most pedestrian of human efforts. However, it doesn't surprise me that some will consider to have found such because discerning evaluation, levels of comprehension and real understanding of language are at possibly their lowest levels ever. Indeed, it appears that in the supposedly educated and intelligent societies I know, people become dumber every day and increasingly attracted to puerile entertainment such as 'reality' shows; moronic right wing influencers who know only how to deride, abuse and denigrate; and mis and dis information spread by everyone from blatant fools to educated, wealthy and arrogant demagogues.
Just as 'Rap' has replaced quality and nuanced song writing and as 'heavy metal' replaced the same in music, I do expect the tragedy of AI (non)literature to replace inspirational, satisfying, questioning, developmental and insightful literature written with exceptional style, plot, characterisation, point of view and stimulating and enticing vocabulary. Fortunately, I will probably no longer be alive to suffer it.
I wish I shared your guarded optimism. Personally, I see AI as the end of creativity. It's not the end of the world; in fact it's fascinating to watch its progression, but as a writer/photographer/videographer, it is a career ender. I've already read AI generated fiction as good as anything I could write and as for camera work, there's nothing so interesting that AI can't compile and create it.
It was foolish, borderline criminal for Medium to push out Jessica, Umair and Harry and to have alienated so many others, who now stand with feet in both ponds. Currently, I spend more time reading Substack than Medium. I expect the trend will continue, as more of the best writers emigrate fully from there to here.
Agree about Jessica and Umair and the others. My Substack earnings are working their way up to my Medium stuff and there will likely be a day that I leave Medium. As for AI, humans create because we can, AI can only create when someone asks it to. I could prompt it to write a fantasy novel but it would simply be slicing and dicing previously published work. I just can’t get worried about it but it will definitely dumb down a lot of things. But writing is just one use case…