Before I leave you mull over my thoughts below, I just wanted to say that I wrote this yesterday but due to ‘circumstances’ (an ‘Im Indoors disturbance), it didn’t get published. I will be sending two out today as a result. Happy reading.
I suppose there is the same amount of time as there is everyday but I don’t have much it today for here, the scribbling stuff. I overlay so I am late to it anyhow and I have stuff to do. We are taking a car that has been sold to the depot, I am going to a ‘literary lunch’ with Raynor Winn and I have a talk on Witches in Nottingham this evening.
I am not sure how ‘literary’ the lunch will be as, although I very much enjoyed the ‘Salt Path’, I would not really describe it as being in the literary genre. The lunch is in a village hall too so not sure what to expect with that either. The Witch talk (The History & Endurance of Witchcraft) is part of my research for the story story I am writing ‘Witch Will Be Next’. It is at a theatre in Nottingham that I am not familiar with. Today has lots of new stuff but it is exciting rather than scary.
I suppose that brings me on to AI (Artificial Intelligence). There continues to be huge debates about AI, especially in the creative industries. It seems like some are wanting us to be terrified about AI – the Robots are going to take over and kill us all! Still, I appreciate that not all of us are upset about AI for this reason so I have been doing some thinking and research around this subject.
OK – you may end up hating me but….. I have decided to adopt, move forward and accept AI in my life and in my writing process. We have had AI in our lives for many years, it is not going away and I want to be on the front of the wave, not just paddling in the shallows. Although every time we use our phones, computers etc we are using AI, I think we are on the cusp of a step change. I want to understand what I am doing with it rather than sticking my head in the stand and raging against the machine.
Is everything perfect with AI. Absolutely not. But I think it can help me become more human. The research I have done (and will continue with) has encouraged me to think more about what gives us that unique human quality. I will work with AI to ensure I can live my human life as positively as possible. To do this, I need to understand its capability and how I can work with it.
This doesn’t mean to say I don’t think we need to retain some old skills. A little like understanding how to do our sums on paper just in case the batteries on our calculators die. It is always a good thing to know how to do something without electricity. I still use a fountain pen and paper everyday to write because it gives me a feeling in my body and brain that I don’t get from typing. I like dealing with plants and nature without a computer being involved. I have to understand about writing craft in order to get the best results from using AI to help me research, edit, spell-check etc my work.
Final message, let’s not fear this thing but learn how to live with it to our best advantage. I am jumping in feet first and looking forward to the learning journey it will take me on.