I Have AIs in the Back of My Head
It always feels like somebody’s sampling me
Do you sense trouble from AI? Like Spiderman, are your spider senses tingling?
AI, in my imagination, is like a giant sampler. Visualize it pulling from all the samples it has stored for a very long time(likely 1950/60s when AI laboratories were birthed). In my mind’s eye I see a robot with many very long arms that feed its giant mouth! Perhaps the minute we share our work online or record into our phones, we are surrendering to this hungry machine. Then I wonder, rather than artists having to cite AI, why hasn’t AI cited us for the years and years that it has been sampling from human creatives?
AI does not actually sample. Instead, AI pulls data from data centers all over the world, and then analyzes that data. AI is more like a massive data processor. So yes, if the data centers have our work (voice, image, writing, songs, paintings, etc.), so does AI. AI is using data pulled from anything and anyone.
Heart and soul
Machines cannot create with heart, and they certainly cannot create with spirit or soul. We are spirit souls inside a physical body. Humans have free will and choices. We have humanity and the ability to care. We have gut feelings. We have intuition, just like the eyes in the back of our heads. Now we have AI too.
In today’s world we can all think of examples where human employees (yes actual humans) exist, but their job role is to act like robots. As adults we feel this almost every time we need to make a phone call regarding an adulting issue; insurance issue, billing issue, internet issue, home repair, etc. We can do better. We cannot let this unconsciousness seep into our rich creative world.
The bank’s robots closed my business account recently after a (estimated) year of what I refer to as, Bank Robot Drama 23/24 (every adventure needs a fun title right?). My role was the relaxed victim of an annoying small robotic banking error. (The bank needed one tiny piece of information, an area code. I provided this to them multiple times using all the inputs; phone, online and in person. Somehow their robots continually insisted that they never received this 3-digit number, though anyone could plainly see it staring at them online.) I was overjoyed, mistakenly, to finally get past the actual robots to talk to a human. I talked to numerous humans over several days. I wasted so much time explaining the issue to their human staff. Nothing I said to their robotic humans made any difference, and no notes of anything I said were taken (later, I received a robotic summary letter to prove that).
“I thought you record these phone calls?” I asked. Apparently, I was talking to myself.
This situation was a colossal waste of my time and breath. Finally, I decided my best bet was to fix it by rebooting the entire situation. I ended up closing the account, then going into the branch and reopening the account (yes just like we reboot our phone, laptop or TV!) Knowing when you’re dealing with robots is often less stressful and easier if you just surrender to that fact and reboot. This story took place over a year. I stayed relaxed because I understood that their error was robotic, and now I know their humans act like robots too! What can we do? It is what it is.
What matters is what we choose as humans
Humans can choose to care about the sources. Today, more than ever we need to think about caring where something comes from. Robots do not care about the sources. Humans can choose to care or not care. This is a concern that makes my spider senses tingle.
We are what we eat, and we are what we read/see/hear
As a plant-based eater, I question the sources of my food. I do my best to not buy into the greenwashing, bluewashing or use of adjectives such as humane or safe to market food. We need to ask questions such as, “Where did this food come from?” Humans can care to ask, animals cannot ask, and robots don’t care.
As writers of today, the awareness to care about where ALL things come from matters. Sure, we can all enjoy a pretty picture but we lose ourselves as creators, as artists, if we fail to ask, “Who painted this?” “Who took this photo?” “Who wrote this?”
We all know people who read and share everything. As writers/creators, we mostly already know we need to ask, “Is this fake news?” We need to curate our input. Help someone else curate their input today!
Adults also have a time and capacity threshold. Do we have time to ask all these questions? The good news is that the more aware we are, over time, the easier it will become. The AI questions are new-ish, so be graceful with yourselves.
Imagine AI as a giant celestial computational toolbox and we’ve been gifted the key. We can choose to use tools or not. Cavemen did! We applaud animals, like otters, when they use tools. As creative humans we must figure out the best human ways to use these tools, and to start developing more care about our sources.
There is no stopping AI.
Humans can use AI.
There is no stopping spirited creation unless we fail to lean into it.
Humans can choose to act like robots or humans.
Humans can choose to care about the sources.
The first time I ever noticed robots writers was near 2016/2017 when Steemit started as a blogging platform. On Steemit, writers were compensated in “Steem”-coin, and fake writers were really racking up some large balances. The AI profile writing was good enough to go undetected for years. Those fraudulent Steemit robot profiles were absolutely created by humans. I have no idea how that all turned out, I just noticed that it happened, and that the AI writing did “Wow” me.
That was a long time before ChatGPT (2022) was popular. ChatGPT really woke everyone up to the possibility of AI writing, AI graphics and AI songwriting. Here in California, the entertainment industry certainly noticed. I’m not going to list every AI app or use case on the planet. We all know of tools we’ve used, today and yesterday, for grammar help, capitalization help etc. Tools are good. Tools never run the show.
Writers run the show
I can feel it in my gut that Medium writers are going to spearhead how best to use AI as a tool, while respecting ourselves, and each other, as creatives. With the eyes in the front of my head, looking forward, I see with confidence that writers will lead the charge to prompt sources for all things. Leading by example, as authors do, others will start to differentiate if this is 100% human created, human created with AI tools, or simply AI. Medium-ites, that is the way.
Love Authenticity?
Visit some fantastic actual human (not AI) Medium writers:
Nicole Akers
Selma
Gurpreet Dhariwal
Melissa Bee
Martine Weber
Tooth Truth Roopa Vikesh
Galit Birk, PhD
Carolyn Riker
Debbie Walker
Marilyn Flower
Randy Shingler
Stephen Dalton
Connie Song
Special thanks to Dr Mehmet Yildiz (Tech) and the distinguished Illumination Curated for hosting this post!
Michele is passionate about Your Health and Earth Health, protecting the ocean, making music, SCUBA diving, technology and writing. Let’s connect!
