A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post about a news publisher having to update and correct several articles that had been written by A. The post was titled “Is a robot coming for my journalism job?”
I concluded: decidedly not.
I’m not worried. Judging from what I know about journalism and the kinds of stories referenced, if AI can do those types of stories, mostly explainer and fact-based articles, more power to it.
That was in mid-January Today, nearly two months later, I’m not so sure.
Why? Because since then, we’ve gotten a look at the latest-generation AI that have been unleashed on the world, including Big and ChatGPT. And what I have read, in The Washington Post and The New York Times among others, isn’t reassuring. The transcripts of the chats, including where the AI objected to being interviewed, were downright terrifying. And that’s even apart from Bing — or should I say Sydney? — saying it can feel and think.
Now I’m concerned. And it’s not just for my job, but for human life in general. Merge this type of AI with control over key parts of our world, including say the electrical grid, and it doesn’t take too much imagination to wonder what might be on the horizon. Are we living in Caprica, a la Battlestar Galactica reboot? Or maybe Star Trek’s “The Ultimate Computer,” first aired in the late 1960s?
Neither scenario will be science fiction for long at this rate.
My friend and former colleague, Edgar-nominated mystery writer Tom Kies (read his Geneva Chase books!), talked about what it means for writers and editors on his TypeM5Murder blog. And he concludes:
As a mystery writer, should I be looking over my shoulder for robots wielding a pen? Yes. I think all authors should. AI will only get better with time.
Sadly, I think he’s right. And I don’t know where that leaves us carbon-based writers or life forms.
Nows and Forevers 
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