Close encounters with AI
To be honest I feel quite ambivalent about AI and largely avoid its use, where I can. I try to ignore the AI information presented within search engines and I don't usually use it to create anything etc etc. I'm worried about copyright issues for instance, and how it's already replacing garden writers who have extensive knowledge gained over many years of experience. Articles can be generated quickly, often with dubious content which is often published without fact checking first. I'm reminded of a central tenet from my time in IT; Garbage In, Garbage Out (aka GIGO), right?
However NAH recently benefitted from AI technology when a surgeon assisted by a robot using CT scan data peered deep into his lung and determined the small lump there is benign, thus avoiding him losing around a third of his lung. The latter operation was the preferred approach until the robot technique was developed and often the removed material revealed a benign lump rather than a tumour. We're quite relieved he didn't have to go through all of that! I'm also sure my quick result obtained from my breast cancer screening last year was probably sped up with the use of this technology too.
My crafting friends have used it to answer some of my questions e.g. how to use PVA glue to stiffen a piece of crochet ready for hanging. One of NAH's friends also uses it to quickly produce a computer program which he can then debug and edit.
I can see good things can come by it, but I'm scared of the bad things, so I've stayed away from consciously using it myself - who knows how much I've been using it unconsciously? Quite a bit, I bet.
However, yesterday a number of my online friends played around with CHATGPT to create a fun characterisation of themselves. I resisted joining them pretty much all day, but eventually gave in to temptation thus proving I'm pretty shallow when it comes to the use of new technology. You can see the results above of me as a 'confident gardener in a blooming paradise' - CHATGPT's title, not mine.
How did I get the result? Surprisingly easy to enter the information, fairly long by comparison to generate the result which left me feeling pretty uneasy about the resources I'd used up in generating this piece of frivolity.
Here's the screen shots of what I entered...
How do you feel about AI? Do you use it in your everyday life, if so, how?
Haha, it’s really good! I’ve used AI to improve some sentences - mostly for work. Also created some images and converted photos of me and Jamie (zombie couple, 50s couple, etc) which was amusing. It’s a great time-waster but it is so easily abused that I too feel concern about it. But I’m going to take a look at it now and may copy your idea, just for fun 😊
ReplyDeleteThe hair and cats are good - but the 'flowers' in the garden, not so much.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have mixed feelings about AI, too. I understand as you do that I'm probably already using it much more than I realize. I guess there's a place for it, but I truly hope it doesn't take over the information, artistic, communicating and creating realms. It's truly difficult now to know which photos and videos are created with AI or a person. (Can I trust the video of the kitty hugging the dog?) I'm also very concerned about the harmful environmental and energy-use effects of data centers as partially expressed by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in this article: https://tinyurl.com/4da9e5cd. I keep thinking there should be some kind of stamp or notification required for items created using AI. I wonder if that could or might happen? If not, we can't really trust information or art that we view and consume.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it’s my age but I don’t really want to go there. The misuse of AI abounds in the wrong hands. I’m at the point where I don’t believe anything I read. And it’s a time waster.
ReplyDeleteWhen I told my son the thing that bothered me most about having my books published was that I'd have to do a lot of public speaking to promote them (which I fear), he asked some AI widget and it gave a long, considered, 'thoughtful' answer scraped, no doubt, from countless self-help sources. There were many things I could do to prepare, all of which I know intuitively, but it was an amazing list. AND said son is a psychotherapist who is still in demand as a 'real' voice for people struggling with areas of mental health. Now, if only I could get an AI creature to do the speaking for me!
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