(not) writing about AI
Earlier today, I read a post on another blog (hating on AI writing), and then the NYT article linked in that post. Both were interesting reads, and my reaction was something you'd call hagedō in slightly antiquated Japanese online slang: "Vehemently agreeing." They made me think about my own opinions and stance towards LLMs again.
I have an art hobby, and I write for fun on the internet, so naturally, I have a lot of thoughts about so-called "AI." Mostly negative thoughts. However, I tend to avoid writing about it because I feel it's one of those things that becomes more powerful the more time you devote to it (thinking, writing, getting angry). It sucks that auto-generated drivel is filling the world now, and that you run the risk of being mistaken for a robot if you use certain punctuation marks. Also, the thought that LLMs are shaping how I write and think, even if I go out of my way to not use them, just because they're now part of the environment and there's no easy filter to shut them out, is scary (a "creeping sense of dread" kind of scary, sometimes subtle, sometimes more pronounced).
But what can you do, really? The best "solution" I've found for myself so far is to be stoic about it. Acknowledge that the technology exists, deal with it when necessary (they basically force us to use Gemini at work...), and focus on what I can personally do to minimize the negatives.
If I see an image or piece of writing that's clearly auto-generated, I stop engaging with it (as much as the current situation allows for). If I can't tell right away, and somehow notice that was generated later on, I stop engaging with it then. On the "production" side, I simply have to decide to not worry too much about what people will think about my writing. There's always the possibility that something about it will set off people's "AI alarm bells", and that they'll stop reading because of it. But that's not really something I want to spend time worrying about. As long as I know that I'm writing this using my own fingers and brain, and that I'm enjoying the process, it's fine.
This is a pretty simplistic view that ignores a lot of edge cases. I do think that the technology has its useful sides, just not in the "creative" space. But instead of spending energy on mapping out all this stuff in writing, I'd rather not write about AI. So I want to make this my first and last post on this blog that puts this topic front and center.