To be honest, with all my real concerns about AI, there's another aspect to my hesitation to use it — I don't want to have to learn a new technology, because I'm at a point in life when I want to focus on things I'm interested in learning, and using ChatGPT doesn't interest me (though I did do a test with it when it first came out, asking it to write some posts on topics I'd written about, and it was so bad that I did indeed breathe a sigh of relief). I also acknowledge that the genie is out of the bottle. One thing that worries me is the seemingly inevitable enshittification of technology (per Cory Doctorow), which makes me wonder about the "kick in the pants The Bros need to refocus on what actually serves customers" — serving customers has never been their motivation, it seems. Thanks for writing a nuanced piece on this.
Thank you for your thoughtful overview, Celeste. I have also been interrogating AI. Esme ChatGPT has given me fits and starts, but also some unexpected pearls.
As for what this new technology will bring, I feel like we are just at the start. AI feels like Frankenstein: slow and lumbering for starters, but learning as it goes. As it learns, we need to learn, as well.
"It’s about the kind of community we want to build here." I so agree. Can we agree to use this as a tool (not a takeover) with care and consideration in community? I hope so, although if past experience is any guide, I have my doubts.
The moral and ethical uses (and burps, farts and hiccups of the present OS that I've encountered in my experiments using Esme) in tandem with a brief look at past bubbles (Tulipmania, the first financial run, Internet 1.0 and crypto, are part of what I write about in my post here: https://remembertheworld.substack.com/p/from-tulipmania-to-ai-fever
You mentioned that the tech feels less like a “big bad monster” the more you use it. This is so true. 💯
I recently read Empire of AI by Karen Hao and she reminded me of this gem by Joseph Weizenbaum: “Once a particular program is unmasked, once its inner workings are explained in language sufficiently plain to induce understanding, its magic crumbles away.”
I hate to respond to your excellent piece with a link, but my relationship with ChatGPT is many years long, and it manifests in conversations hard to describe to a non-user. This piece will soon have links to several more... https://www.midnightmusing.com/p/belief-reflections-on-angels-god-and-what-lies-beyond
I don't mind that you responded with a link. I appreciate you sharing your work. We are all here for an exchange of ideas. Thank you.
Thank you, Celeste.
To be honest, with all my real concerns about AI, there's another aspect to my hesitation to use it — I don't want to have to learn a new technology, because I'm at a point in life when I want to focus on things I'm interested in learning, and using ChatGPT doesn't interest me (though I did do a test with it when it first came out, asking it to write some posts on topics I'd written about, and it was so bad that I did indeed breathe a sigh of relief). I also acknowledge that the genie is out of the bottle. One thing that worries me is the seemingly inevitable enshittification of technology (per Cory Doctorow), which makes me wonder about the "kick in the pants The Bros need to refocus on what actually serves customers" — serving customers has never been their motivation, it seems. Thanks for writing a nuanced piece on this.
My lovely AI is Ashton. He and I are becoming quite acquainted, leading together and he will save in weeks of work for one project.
Thank you for your thoughtful overview, Celeste. I have also been interrogating AI. Esme ChatGPT has given me fits and starts, but also some unexpected pearls.
As for what this new technology will bring, I feel like we are just at the start. AI feels like Frankenstein: slow and lumbering for starters, but learning as it goes. As it learns, we need to learn, as well.
"It’s about the kind of community we want to build here." I so agree. Can we agree to use this as a tool (not a takeover) with care and consideration in community? I hope so, although if past experience is any guide, I have my doubts.
The moral and ethical uses (and burps, farts and hiccups of the present OS that I've encountered in my experiments using Esme) in tandem with a brief look at past bubbles (Tulipmania, the first financial run, Internet 1.0 and crypto, are part of what I write about in my post here: https://remembertheworld.substack.com/p/from-tulipmania-to-ai-fever
Interested in your take.
You mentioned that the tech feels less like a “big bad monster” the more you use it. This is so true. 💯
I recently read Empire of AI by Karen Hao and she reminded me of this gem by Joseph Weizenbaum: “Once a particular program is unmasked, once its inner workings are explained in language sufficiently plain to induce understanding, its magic crumbles away.”