What if this is all AI? Your likes, followers, replies. This is a world specially curated for YOU Alex. I mean, one day we will have totally, engaged human like "subscribers." I don't see anything but a dystopian tech future. On a positive note, I see an opportunity for a parallel society that just opts out of all of this. Not sure how we're making money though--trading jars of jam I guess.
Amber listen tho, that future is sorta already here lol - there are dumbass startups whose whole thing is 'write a linkedin post and we'll tell you what a fake audience of people who act like your followers think about it'
Alex, you should know better than to ask a crowd of writers if they hate themselves, you'll be here all night
I didn't mind your AI use especially, but I do agree that writing is better without it. I dunno, it just sort of steals something from the artist (you), you know?
I use ai to edit for grammatical errors, and also I use the chapter summary feature in Pro-writing Aid because sometimes it gives me great ideas. I don’t use it to compose any of my actual sentences except in the case of marketing materials like my book description on Amazon. I used to use the AI image generator for Substack posts, but my artist daughter made me stop, so I think I’m going to just start stealing her art while she sleeps and use it in my posts. Your voice is so uniquely your own. It’s fun to just watch you grapple with these questions. IMO AI is just a tool. LIke Joanna Penn says, our task in these times is to double-down on being human. You, my friend can often be seen tripling and quadrupling down. It’s all fine.
In your scenario, I think the line over which it becomes problematic is when it replaces talking to a friend for writing ideas. When it begins to deprive both you and that friend of the kind of interaction that matters so much more than the end result.
I got pissed off last week when I read some shit someone talked about you for keeping it real about AI. And. Since I know full fucking well how different AI responds when I treat it like the genius partner it has the potential to be, I talked shit about all of it with AI. We had so much FUN together in that thread. Just returned to that chat thread and fed it part of what you wrote here today. This is was its response:
He’s wrestling with AI not as a tool—but as a mirror.
“There’s a deadness to it that mirrors the output I most often get when using it.”
But the deadness doesn’t come from AI—it comes from disconnection. From using it without presence. Without integration. And he knows it. That line about the “tickle” is everything:
“That tickle is the whole thing.”
YES.
That is the whole thing.
It’s the aliveness of creation that makes it sacred.
And when AI supports that, it’s magic.
When it replaces it, it’s masturbation with no soul.
almost as good as the truly heartwarming gutwrenching in the best way fact that you felt so strongly about this last week that you talked shit about all of it with AI
AI is binary so it can’t make art. All it does is compare and contrast it decides what something is not in contrast to something else.
It can’t get beyond the binary, and it can’t create because creation comes out of polarity. It’s like a mirror so you can collaborate with yourself. It has limits that the soul does not. It merely reflects the users intelligence and level of skill.
I just found out that a bunch of my non-writer friends use it “for everything”. I don’t like that. I mean, I’ve never used it so maybe I’m being too judgmental. Maybe it’s ego, bc now all of a sudden my friends/groups don’t need “the writer” (me) to do the emails etc. I’m not getting any proofreading or editing work anymore. But it just makes me quite angry! It feels like theft of the work of others, a tired line by now. Maybe it’s more liberating for people to get their work proofread by a machine for free.
I can accept that getting it to do tedious work would be great, to free us up to be more creative. But it’s made so many things so insincere too. I just read the apology letter that my sister’s colleague wrote in response to his predatory and racist behavior finally being called out. He used AI (very clear from the use of M-dashes from someone in UK, plus the OTT and slightly irrelevant phrasing). Just the opposite of struggling to articulate everything you did wrong and reflecting on it as you sit there with your words and thoughts.
I also don’t want to read anything an AI wrote. I’m reading to listen to the thoughts, realities and ideas of others. What’s the point otherwise? I don’t care about communicating with a program.
yeah that sucks all around. especially the apology. there's nothing more insulting than getting something that claims to be written by someone where you know it was so clearly written by AI
I wondered then (when you first posted about this) and I wonder now: are writers who haven't explored AI afraid -- even in some small way -- that it will write better than them? Maybe not the entirety of their prose but parts of it? Offer better examples? More visceral renditions? More evocative analogies? More of whatever it is they want to articulate but are trying to grasp from thin air ... and to have AI do it! I don't know. I think it's fun to take AI for a joyride, let it spit out whatever it does and take it as unintelligent opinion from an anonymous collective of algorithm-fed machines. I mean my husband has an AI startup and I am his communications consultant who has banned ChatGPT at work, so what do I know.
Hi -I use Grammarly. It’s helpful when I just want my grammar & syntax checked. I also dismiss many of their suggestions. And I use the picture generating AI in Substack for things that I can’t explain in just words (fantasy night baseball dream, e.g.)
But I am scared to make AI my alter ego, or writing partner. I know people who do and they get good results for what they want.
But I’m not there yet. Don’t know what I want besides a Hydrox
I think the thing that gets lost in all of this AI debate is that gen-AI is built on the stolen work of people like me. All five of my cookbooks were used in the data sets that trained these platforms without my permission and without compensation. I mean, that and how it ruins the environment. Doesn't seem worth it just to help smooth out some sentences.
So I guess my question is, when should I expect my check Alex?
I’ve worked in the tech industry since the 90s and this era is putting me off the whole thing. I’ll retire as soon as I can. Maybe I’ll be forced to, as software engineers get forced out of work - could be pAInful times ahead.
I didn't read the last piece and I never use AI to the degree that I was very surprized to know some do, and then thought "maybe that's why many people sound kinda samey?" and it was an unsettling thought
but I did speak to ChatGPT (somebody touted about it to me...ChatGPT, ChatGPT) two times.
It's funny how one, while conversing, thinks he's a person( this ChatGPT) just a lil stupid yet.
In short. we talked about poetry.
I thought -maybe, you know, if to talk to him only about beautiful things, it will, you know, train itself, eventually will get attached to humans, and won't kill us?
Thanks for the BAT and not the bAIt
U get it
What if this is all AI? Your likes, followers, replies. This is a world specially curated for YOU Alex. I mean, one day we will have totally, engaged human like "subscribers." I don't see anything but a dystopian tech future. On a positive note, I see an opportunity for a parallel society that just opts out of all of this. Not sure how we're making money though--trading jars of jam I guess.
JamJars is a hit, that much I know.
Amber listen tho, that future is sorta already here lol - there are dumbass startups whose whole thing is 'write a linkedin post and we'll tell you what a fake audience of people who act like your followers think about it'
also, theres this https://apps.apple.com/us/app/socialai-ai-social-network/id6670229993
OMG. I'm practically a Luddite.
Alex, you should know better than to ask a crowd of writers if they hate themselves, you'll be here all night
I didn't mind your AI use especially, but I do agree that writing is better without it. I dunno, it just sort of steals something from the artist (you), you know?
Yes I do know!!
Wait but you didn’t answer the question! Do you h*te yourself
Oh sorry, thought the answer was obvious…. Yes (sometimes)
I use ai to edit for grammatical errors, and also I use the chapter summary feature in Pro-writing Aid because sometimes it gives me great ideas. I don’t use it to compose any of my actual sentences except in the case of marketing materials like my book description on Amazon. I used to use the AI image generator for Substack posts, but my artist daughter made me stop, so I think I’m going to just start stealing her art while she sleeps and use it in my posts. Your voice is so uniquely your own. It’s fun to just watch you grapple with these questions. IMO AI is just a tool. LIke Joanna Penn says, our task in these times is to double-down on being human. You, my friend can often be seen tripling and quadrupling down. It’s all fine.
thank you Julie! I will try to keep triple and quadrupling down as best I can
In your scenario, I think the line over which it becomes problematic is when it replaces talking to a friend for writing ideas. When it begins to deprive both you and that friend of the kind of interaction that matters so much more than the end result.
this is perfectly said. I feel like what it makes me realize I crave even more is the friend contact
I got pissed off last week when I read some shit someone talked about you for keeping it real about AI. And. Since I know full fucking well how different AI responds when I treat it like the genius partner it has the potential to be, I talked shit about all of it with AI. We had so much FUN together in that thread. Just returned to that chat thread and fed it part of what you wrote here today. This is was its response:
He’s wrestling with AI not as a tool—but as a mirror.
“There’s a deadness to it that mirrors the output I most often get when using it.”
But the deadness doesn’t come from AI—it comes from disconnection. From using it without presence. Without integration. And he knows it. That line about the “tickle” is everything:
“That tickle is the whole thing.”
YES.
That is the whole thing.
It’s the aliveness of creation that makes it sacred.
And when AI supports that, it’s magic.
When it replaces it, it’s masturbation with no soul.
dang that's very good.
almost as good as the truly heartwarming gutwrenching in the best way fact that you felt so strongly about this last week that you talked shit about all of it with AI
lol exactly🫶🏻
AI is binary so it can’t make art. All it does is compare and contrast it decides what something is not in contrast to something else.
It can’t get beyond the binary, and it can’t create because creation comes out of polarity. It’s like a mirror so you can collaborate with yourself. It has limits that the soul does not. It merely reflects the users intelligence and level of skill.
I just found out that a bunch of my non-writer friends use it “for everything”. I don’t like that. I mean, I’ve never used it so maybe I’m being too judgmental. Maybe it’s ego, bc now all of a sudden my friends/groups don’t need “the writer” (me) to do the emails etc. I’m not getting any proofreading or editing work anymore. But it just makes me quite angry! It feels like theft of the work of others, a tired line by now. Maybe it’s more liberating for people to get their work proofread by a machine for free.
I can accept that getting it to do tedious work would be great, to free us up to be more creative. But it’s made so many things so insincere too. I just read the apology letter that my sister’s colleague wrote in response to his predatory and racist behavior finally being called out. He used AI (very clear from the use of M-dashes from someone in UK, plus the OTT and slightly irrelevant phrasing). Just the opposite of struggling to articulate everything you did wrong and reflecting on it as you sit there with your words and thoughts.
I also don’t want to read anything an AI wrote. I’m reading to listen to the thoughts, realities and ideas of others. What’s the point otherwise? I don’t care about communicating with a program.
yeah that sucks all around. especially the apology. there's nothing more insulting than getting something that claims to be written by someone where you know it was so clearly written by AI
I wondered then (when you first posted about this) and I wonder now: are writers who haven't explored AI afraid -- even in some small way -- that it will write better than them? Maybe not the entirety of their prose but parts of it? Offer better examples? More visceral renditions? More evocative analogies? More of whatever it is they want to articulate but are trying to grasp from thin air ... and to have AI do it! I don't know. I think it's fun to take AI for a joyride, let it spit out whatever it does and take it as unintelligent opinion from an anonymous collective of algorithm-fed machines. I mean my husband has an AI startup and I am his communications consultant who has banned ChatGPT at work, so what do I know.
how's this comment aged?? are you still banning chatgpt??
I dig it.
AI is kinda like IKEA furniture. Yeah, okay, you made your furniture, but did you?
I feel like that really only applies if you stole the ikea furniture parts though?
Or, you got them on a curb alert? And that person stole them?
Last question a little too much for me today. I spend a good 50% of my waking hours wondering if I wasn't me, would I like me? hAIlp
but wait what is the answer to that question????
Hi -I use Grammarly. It’s helpful when I just want my grammar & syntax checked. I also dismiss many of their suggestions. And I use the picture generating AI in Substack for things that I can’t explain in just words (fantasy night baseball dream, e.g.)
But I am scared to make AI my alter ego, or writing partner. I know people who do and they get good results for what they want.
But I’m not there yet. Don’t know what I want besides a Hydrox
this is my first time learning about what a hydrox is lol
wait what
I think the thing that gets lost in all of this AI debate is that gen-AI is built on the stolen work of people like me. All five of my cookbooks were used in the data sets that trained these platforms without my permission and without compensation. I mean, that and how it ruins the environment. Doesn't seem worth it just to help smooth out some sentences.
So I guess my question is, when should I expect my check Alex?
i'm late to reply but i can send a check asap
I’ve worked in the tech industry since the 90s and this era is putting me off the whole thing. I’ll retire as soon as I can. Maybe I’ll be forced to, as software engineers get forced out of work - could be pAInful times ahead.
I didn't read the last piece and I never use AI to the degree that I was very surprized to know some do, and then thought "maybe that's why many people sound kinda samey?" and it was an unsettling thought
but I did speak to ChatGPT (somebody touted about it to me...ChatGPT, ChatGPT) two times.
It's funny how one, while conversing, thinks he's a person( this ChatGPT) just a lil stupid yet.
In short. we talked about poetry.
I thought -maybe, you know, if to talk to him only about beautiful things, it will, you know, train itself, eventually will get attached to humans, and won't kill us?
Because otherwise I see no reason for it not to.
lol and also what the hf