My take on it is ITS A TOOL. It depends on how you use it. A hammer can build a house and it can be used to kill someone. My vast paranoia involves who/what is designing it and how it might be used for evil. It’s a time saver for sure and I’m all for that. The future will be the judge.
Yes, those are legitimate and grave concerns...because you're right, ai IS a tool, but it's one that is vastly different from any tool humans have come up with so far. I wonder about the consequences of its abilities to teach itself, and what agency it might have or acquire over time...all of it. We're watching re-runs of the TV show Person of Interest--and it's making me a little paranoid because some aspects of the show that seemed far-fetched in 2012 are now happening! Lordy. But as you say, the future will be the judge.
I use chat AI app all the time for gardening questions. And stuff I want answers to. I even used it to help with a title for my art. I took a picture of my painting and it gave me 5 different titles that were not bad. I used one. I was curious what it would do. But I still use my own intuition and Freedom to choose.
Wow, I never thought of asking for a title for a painting—I love that you did that. I’m gonna give that a whirl it seems like even if you do t use the exact title, it might help by sparking ideas in your own mind—thanks for sharing that you did that. Also, I’m gonna try asking gardening questions as well!
My impression of AI changed after listening to an interview with Andrew Wilson on Sea Change Radio about an article he wrote for MIT. In a nutshell, it's about AI and the toll it takes on our environment, energy grid, water supply, and carbon goals. Using ChatGPT, for example, uses much more energy than a typical Google search. AI is learning all the time, and its learning takes up more and more energy, right now mostly created by fossil fuels—the more complex the learning for AI, the more energy it requires. The demand is more, and the speed is more, so it's ramping up! I recently stopped following an artist on Instagram because their art is mostly AI-generated. The artist creates surreal, elaborate music eye candy videos. I thought, gee, that must have a huge carbon footprint! I have some very legit sources if anyone is interested in doing some further reading. Or, just google it, ha!
Yes, I was thinking that after I wrote that post, I forgot to mention that AI uses a ton of energy, and they actually think it's going to start affecting the grid soon. It's a big problem--as big as all the other concerns about AI for sure. Thanks for mentioning it!
Love this exploration and how you and J are using it! And especially how we can shape AI too. I have used it with dream interpretation- but the trick is the dialogue! I give my history, context and I have put in years of dreams from my dream journal. This takes time but it’s fun to have! I’ve also used it to help me write professional letters that I find laborious! Excited to try Claude!
Wow, dreamwork--that's so fascinating--it never occurred to me to use ai in that way--amazing! And yes, I can see how much time and energy it must take to equip AI with the context and information to create an effective dialogue and it's cool to see you just enjoying the process of slowly making that happen. Perhaps someone will read this and try it themselves!
I have another friend who uses ai to help with writing professional letters and another who uses it for research for her writing and finds it helpful. I'll be curious to hear what you think of Claude--my fave so far!
Thank you for this post. I guess I will have to take time to get acquainted with it, and I love how you ended it: let's have more people who do good in the world knowing how to use this.
My mentor and friend George Kao has been saying the same thing and I certainly identify with this. So thank you again!
I loved all of your post Sarah and am glad I have watched you speak before as that added to my appreciation (I wish you could do your posts as a live offering)....I love your address to this 'ai' Sarah, and just this morning as I reached for my laptop was amazed at the changes in my life (74) and agree with you about ai...it also reminded me of the concept of god being a giant mind gathering information to be what it is...and when you suggest we all are nourishing the mind of ai, I see a great 'happening' in that, a symbiotic happening which before this internet joining of minds, we were 'under a rock' so to say...we may not 'see' why there has been such a vast 'change' but as you say, it is on us to be surface dwellers, no more hiding... :)
Sarah this was a super engaging post. I am trying to understand AI in all its infamous glory and have been using it too. I was drawn to this post, because I love reading articles about AI, pro or con.
My experience with ChatGPT has been pretty great. I use it for bibliographies and sometimes headlines help or editing advice. I can see why people would use it to battle loneliness. I’ve been wanting to write a short horror story about someone who falls in love with their AI bot. It does seem to learn about you and the relationship develops over time.
I have noticed some errors occasionally, so I might check out Claude! Thank you for the suggestion. I love what you say about using it to better the information and experience for all. What a cool way to approach it. I will cautiously continue to use it while continuing to do research on the potential ramifications.
Interesting to use it for bibliographies Lyns--I guess it takes the tedium out of that? That seems super practical!
And just this week news about a new AI broke that has come out of China that is supposed to be super powerful and it's also open source, so big tech here freaked out and so did the stock market. Serves big tech right of course. But it also gives us a glimpse of how it's all unfolding everywhere. People have been downloading it like mad. I think it's called Deep Seek.
I like the cautious aware approach as well. It seems like we should have our eyes wide open...TY!
Yeah I don’t know jack about works cited. I spent hours putting them together myself and then finally just asked AI to check my work or to find some obscure info about a source and it snowballed from there. I do think it can only help, as I know I would make mistakes if I tried to do it myself. Or put the wrong info. I do double check that the info is correct but at least I don’t have to worry about formatting.
Very interesting analogy here with guns. It's interesting to think that guns were once a new technology, made up by some dude, and obviously brought a lot of pain and suffering on the world....I guess when you think about it, all technology once it is dreamt up and put into the world has been imposed on human kind without consent.
I've used AI extensively, but with a similar skepticism to yours. The implications of it are horrific. I hate how it's been rolled out without any initiatives to educate the public on how to engage with it. On the other hand, I'm freaked out by how many people are unwilling to have a conversation about it at all. I've honestly been thinking about writing something about it, but I feel a little nervous to talk about it. The reality is that It is here, weather we like it or not, and it will certainly be used against us...so I'm of the belief that there should be a movement to teach people how to use it with critical consciousness. AI is going to speed up the pace of life exponentially...it feels like if you don't try to use it for your own good, it will be impossible to keep up with the pace of things.
I've used it to explore my ideas deeply, and test them. It's kinda like a sounding board. It has improved my confidence in my own writing, though I limit what I share of my creative work now for some obvious reasons. It's given me incredible suggestions for films to watch, books to read tailored to my idiosyncratic obsessions. When you think about it, it really is incredible to have access to a thing that can answer any question you want (even though the answers aren't always entirely accurate).
So many great points Jeremy. I love how you say "it's been rolled out without any initiatives to educate the public" which is such a great point. And I can see how that didn't even occur to the people rolling it out because their obsession is making money from it. We DO need to use it with a critical consciousness. I'm still grateful I know what life was like before computers, even though I am also happily using a lot of technology that helps my life--it's a weird and constant tension. I love how you've gotten film and book recs from it--I think I'll try that too as I've got some idiosyncratic obsessions myself! Also, I really appreciate the link to the article--I will definitely check it out!
Fantastic essay! Reading it the other day already inspired me to try using AI in a new way - asking it to explain to me scientific topics I need to understand better to do my work. It has been helpful already; in one case it used an analogy.
I also want to say that I was fascinated by your story about the gun behind bar where you worked in Memphis. I like that you thought, "well I don't like guns but I don't know anything about them, so I should at least find out more." (By the way, did you manage to hit anything?) It's such a great, open-minded approach.
Sarah, I haven't used AI at all, even ChatGPT. I appreciate reading about your experience and the suggestion about getting started with Claude.ai. I'm working up to it. :-)
I’d like to ask something of AI, then ask the same AI to fact check it. I wonder if it would catch its own lies? I do know of friends who have asked it things they already know about, and that AI made stuff up that was not factual when answering.
It’s just not something I’m interested in using.
My sense is that it tends to stifle creativity and investigative skills. Just my inexperienced thoughts.
Hahaha--asking it to fact check itself is good. I don't know if you saw my footnote, but I shared a comment from Claude who didn't want to answer a question I asked that was too broad because it said that if it did, it was highly likely to hallucinate--so maybe those guard rails are more in place now.
So far, Claude has only assisted my creativity rather than stifle it--in ways that have surprised me. :)
My take on it is ITS A TOOL. It depends on how you use it. A hammer can build a house and it can be used to kill someone. My vast paranoia involves who/what is designing it and how it might be used for evil. It’s a time saver for sure and I’m all for that. The future will be the judge.
Yes, those are legitimate and grave concerns...because you're right, ai IS a tool, but it's one that is vastly different from any tool humans have come up with so far. I wonder about the consequences of its abilities to teach itself, and what agency it might have or acquire over time...all of it. We're watching re-runs of the TV show Person of Interest--and it's making me a little paranoid because some aspects of the show that seemed far-fetched in 2012 are now happening! Lordy. But as you say, the future will be the judge.
I use chat AI app all the time for gardening questions. And stuff I want answers to. I even used it to help with a title for my art. I took a picture of my painting and it gave me 5 different titles that were not bad. I used one. I was curious what it would do. But I still use my own intuition and Freedom to choose.
Wow, I never thought of asking for a title for a painting—I love that you did that. I’m gonna give that a whirl it seems like even if you do t use the exact title, it might help by sparking ideas in your own mind—thanks for sharing that you did that. Also, I’m gonna try asking gardening questions as well!
My impression of AI changed after listening to an interview with Andrew Wilson on Sea Change Radio about an article he wrote for MIT. In a nutshell, it's about AI and the toll it takes on our environment, energy grid, water supply, and carbon goals. Using ChatGPT, for example, uses much more energy than a typical Google search. AI is learning all the time, and its learning takes up more and more energy, right now mostly created by fossil fuels—the more complex the learning for AI, the more energy it requires. The demand is more, and the speed is more, so it's ramping up! I recently stopped following an artist on Instagram because their art is mostly AI-generated. The artist creates surreal, elaborate music eye candy videos. I thought, gee, that must have a huge carbon footprint! I have some very legit sources if anyone is interested in doing some further reading. Or, just google it, ha!
Yes, I was thinking that after I wrote that post, I forgot to mention that AI uses a ton of energy, and they actually think it's going to start affecting the grid soon. It's a big problem--as big as all the other concerns about AI for sure. Thanks for mentioning it!
Love this exploration and how you and J are using it! And especially how we can shape AI too. I have used it with dream interpretation- but the trick is the dialogue! I give my history, context and I have put in years of dreams from my dream journal. This takes time but it’s fun to have! I’ve also used it to help me write professional letters that I find laborious! Excited to try Claude!
Wow, dreamwork--that's so fascinating--it never occurred to me to use ai in that way--amazing! And yes, I can see how much time and energy it must take to equip AI with the context and information to create an effective dialogue and it's cool to see you just enjoying the process of slowly making that happen. Perhaps someone will read this and try it themselves!
I have another friend who uses ai to help with writing professional letters and another who uses it for research for her writing and finds it helpful. I'll be curious to hear what you think of Claude--my fave so far!
Also, wondering what you think Jung would think of AI?
I learned so much from reading your writings today. It’s terrific knowing a creative writer (you) willing to dive in with AI!
Glad it was helpful Barb! ☺️
You are amazing! Thanks for this post. Definitely an eye opener for a luddite like me.
Haha, thank you Monte! I hope you give it a go!
Thank you for this post. I guess I will have to take time to get acquainted with it, and I love how you ended it: let's have more people who do good in the world knowing how to use this.
My mentor and friend George Kao has been saying the same thing and I certainly identify with this. So thank you again!
Oh, I love it—thank you—and let me know how it goes!
I loved all of your post Sarah and am glad I have watched you speak before as that added to my appreciation (I wish you could do your posts as a live offering)....I love your address to this 'ai' Sarah, and just this morning as I reached for my laptop was amazed at the changes in my life (74) and agree with you about ai...it also reminded me of the concept of god being a giant mind gathering information to be what it is...and when you suggest we all are nourishing the mind of ai, I see a great 'happening' in that, a symbiotic happening which before this internet joining of minds, we were 'under a rock' so to say...we may not 'see' why there has been such a vast 'change' but as you say, it is on us to be surface dwellers, no more hiding... :)
Thank you Phyl--I love that you're here with me! Also loving your perception of us affecting AI as a great 'happening'...xo
Sarah this was a super engaging post. I am trying to understand AI in all its infamous glory and have been using it too. I was drawn to this post, because I love reading articles about AI, pro or con.
My experience with ChatGPT has been pretty great. I use it for bibliographies and sometimes headlines help or editing advice. I can see why people would use it to battle loneliness. I’ve been wanting to write a short horror story about someone who falls in love with their AI bot. It does seem to learn about you and the relationship develops over time.
I have noticed some errors occasionally, so I might check out Claude! Thank you for the suggestion. I love what you say about using it to better the information and experience for all. What a cool way to approach it. I will cautiously continue to use it while continuing to do research on the potential ramifications.
Interesting to use it for bibliographies Lyns--I guess it takes the tedium out of that? That seems super practical!
And just this week news about a new AI broke that has come out of China that is supposed to be super powerful and it's also open source, so big tech here freaked out and so did the stock market. Serves big tech right of course. But it also gives us a glimpse of how it's all unfolding everywhere. People have been downloading it like mad. I think it's called Deep Seek.
I like the cautious aware approach as well. It seems like we should have our eyes wide open...TY!
Yeah I don’t know jack about works cited. I spent hours putting them together myself and then finally just asked AI to check my work or to find some obscure info about a source and it snowballed from there. I do think it can only help, as I know I would make mistakes if I tried to do it myself. Or put the wrong info. I do double check that the info is correct but at least I don’t have to worry about formatting.
I will have to check out Deep Seek!
Very interesting analogy here with guns. It's interesting to think that guns were once a new technology, made up by some dude, and obviously brought a lot of pain and suffering on the world....I guess when you think about it, all technology once it is dreamt up and put into the world has been imposed on human kind without consent.
I've used AI extensively, but with a similar skepticism to yours. The implications of it are horrific. I hate how it's been rolled out without any initiatives to educate the public on how to engage with it. On the other hand, I'm freaked out by how many people are unwilling to have a conversation about it at all. I've honestly been thinking about writing something about it, but I feel a little nervous to talk about it. The reality is that It is here, weather we like it or not, and it will certainly be used against us...so I'm of the belief that there should be a movement to teach people how to use it with critical consciousness. AI is going to speed up the pace of life exponentially...it feels like if you don't try to use it for your own good, it will be impossible to keep up with the pace of things.
I've used it to explore my ideas deeply, and test them. It's kinda like a sounding board. It has improved my confidence in my own writing, though I limit what I share of my creative work now for some obvious reasons. It's given me incredible suggestions for films to watch, books to read tailored to my idiosyncratic obsessions. When you think about it, it really is incredible to have access to a thing that can answer any question you want (even though the answers aren't always entirely accurate).
Also, I read this article recently you'd probably find interesting: https://lineofbeauty.substack.com/p/on-angels-demons-and-artificial-intelligence?r=6wgrf&utm_medium=ios&triedRedirect=true
So many great points Jeremy. I love how you say "it's been rolled out without any initiatives to educate the public" which is such a great point. And I can see how that didn't even occur to the people rolling it out because their obsession is making money from it. We DO need to use it with a critical consciousness. I'm still grateful I know what life was like before computers, even though I am also happily using a lot of technology that helps my life--it's a weird and constant tension. I love how you've gotten film and book recs from it--I think I'll try that too as I've got some idiosyncratic obsessions myself! Also, I really appreciate the link to the article--I will definitely check it out!
Fantastic essay! Reading it the other day already inspired me to try using AI in a new way - asking it to explain to me scientific topics I need to understand better to do my work. It has been helpful already; in one case it used an analogy.
I also want to say that I was fascinated by your story about the gun behind bar where you worked in Memphis. I like that you thought, "well I don't like guns but I don't know anything about them, so I should at least find out more." (By the way, did you manage to hit anything?) It's such a great, open-minded approach.
I love that it helped you with an analogy! Great idea to let ai assist you with a time consuming task so you can focus on what you do best.
And you know, I don't remember if I hit any of the cans during my shooting lesson. Maybe a couple three? :D
Sarah, I haven't used AI at all, even ChatGPT. I appreciate reading about your experience and the suggestion about getting started with Claude.ai. I'm working up to it. :-)
I look forward to hearing about your experiences if you take the plunge!
I’d like to ask something of AI, then ask the same AI to fact check it. I wonder if it would catch its own lies? I do know of friends who have asked it things they already know about, and that AI made stuff up that was not factual when answering.
It’s just not something I’m interested in using.
My sense is that it tends to stifle creativity and investigative skills. Just my inexperienced thoughts.
Hahaha--asking it to fact check itself is good. I don't know if you saw my footnote, but I shared a comment from Claude who didn't want to answer a question I asked that was too broad because it said that if it did, it was highly likely to hallucinate--so maybe those guard rails are more in place now.
So far, Claude has only assisted my creativity rather than stifle it--in ways that have surprised me. :)