The assignment was to have AI write a series of articles about AI and how it can be used to make our lives easier. It was not assigned to a writer, but to AI. As a journalist and writer, I strongly objected, as did a colleague. So, a staff writer at The Suburban took on the challenge.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you write it better than AI?\u201d she was asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re damned right I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAI won\u2019t replace people,\u201d she wrote, \u201cbut people who don\u2019t embrace AI will be replaced by more efficient people who do.\u201d<\/p>\n
That sounded like a threat from the future.<\/p>\n
As a writer, using AI to circumvent the creative process, the human creative process, offends me. But ChatGPT says that I am missing the point.<\/p>\n
Yes, ChatGPT and I had a conversation about it.<\/p>\n
I asked it if it had a name, like Siri or Alexa, or if people give it names. It said that, yes, sometimes people give it names to create the illusion of personal interaction. I thought of calling it HAL. Or Jarvis. But that would have been a little too on the nose.<\/p>\n
I will perhaps not-so-begrudgingly admit that AI can be useful in the same way that a spellchecker or GPS is useful. I know how to spell and use grammar, but a second set of eyes, albeit electronic, is useful. I know how to get around the city, but a GPS can tell me where the traffic and construction sites are. But it\u2019s still me doing the writing and the driving.<\/p>\n
I do use AI. But what I use it for is what\u2019s important. AI is absolutely used in journalism. \u201cThe distinction,\u201d ChatGPT said, \u201cis between using AI as a journalistic tool and using AI as the journalist.\u201d I have often said that, either way, using AI in this way is a slippery slope to being replaced by machines.<\/p>\n
That won\u2019t happen, ChatGPT assured me, though I think a little skepticism can be forgiven.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are still the reporter,\u201d ChatGPT said. \u201cYou decide what\u2019s interesting. You decide whom to call. You conduct the interview. You decide what\u2019s significant,\u201d and perhaps most importantly as a writer at The Suburban, \u201cyou understand your community.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a freelance podcaster, I recently produced an episode that didn\u2019t sound as good as I had hoped it would. I uploaded the episode to ChatGPT and asked it to equalize the voices and music beds. The final product is still mine \u2013 my personality, my interview questions, me directing the conversation and helping the guest to feel at ease.<\/p>\n
But ChatGPT also told me that my initial objection to this assignment, my discomfort, was understandable. So, it suggested I tell the boss \u201cI\u2019ll cover AI, but I think we should cover it as journalists rather than as promoters.\u201d A community newspaper, it said, \u201ccould do something much more valuable than cheerleading for AI.\u201d<\/p>\n
It suggested a series called This week in AI.<\/p>\n
So, over the next few weeks, I will test AI tools and report back. But with a caveat.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t want it to plan weekly meals, to help me organize household tasks, to make shopping lists, or plan my workouts. Even ChatGPT agrees that I shouldn\u2019t outsource my executive judgement or give up my personal agency. But I\u2019m willing to try it for things like budgeting, which I suck at, home or auto repairs, writing my will, and yes, editing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The assignment was to have AI write a series of articles about AI and how it can be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141639,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[24,25,580,6797],"class_list":["post-141638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ai","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-chatgpt","tag-human-communication"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}