Nows and Forevers

I’ve come down pretty hard against the new generative AI programs like ChatGPT, which didn’t have the best weekend in the offline world, did it? But I’ve also grudgingly used it.

We’re opening a dangerous chapter in history and, at some point, we’re going to have to come to terms with what AI might do to society. I’m thinking primarily of how it has the potential to destroy a lot of careers and lives in the process, just as the Industrial Revolution, the advent of the automobile and then the Computer Age. I have no desire, even as far along in my career as I am, of becoming the telegraph operator in the age of email. Or the horse-and-buggy driver competing against the Model T. And I can’t help but wonder whether AI will lead to even greater upheaval and potential existential crises down the line.

But put that aside, at least for a while. Some thinkers I admire say that concerns about AI are, either now or in the foreseeable future, overblown. In other words, we’re a long way from Skynet. So maybe I should spend less time wringing my hands and more time trying to understand the potential.

So, here goes.

I have a generative AI account. I haven’t been impressed, when you get right down to it, about some of its capabilities. I won’t use it, on principle, to write anything. That’s my job, and I’m OK with it, and I don’t want to give an inch on that.

But I realize that I’m not pure, either. Every time I use spell check or grammar check, I’m using AI. AI also helps when I book (or want to change) reservations on a travel website I have used. And as I’ve mentioned before, I sometimes use the AI editor on WordPress. It’s brought up some pretty good points, although it’s no substitute for a good editor.

Maybe some day.

I just used another type of AI to help me with what is time-consuming work when you’re a journalist: Transcribing an interview. I let the Microsoft Word transcribe feature run while I was doing an interview, at the same time I used another keyboard to type out my notes of the conversation. The results of the transcription made me wonder whether I really should even bother taking notes the way I have for so long.

Was it perfect? No. Was it better than I’ve seen from transcription in the past? Yes. Was it a major time saver, if only I would let it? Yes.

That’s the promise of AI, right? That I could use it to do things that would take me more time, so that I can spend them on other things that are higher value. That’s good for me, that’s good for my bosses, that’s good for the readers.

And that’s the whole point, isn’t it?