{"id":144281,"date":"2025-05-30T14:09:08","date_gmt":"2025-05-30T14:09:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/144281\/"},"modified":"2025-05-30T14:09:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-30T14:09:08","slug":"will-ai-doom-the-last-of-us-as-a-writer-i-dont-feel-safe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/144281\/","title":{"rendered":"Will AI doom the last of us? As a writer, I don’t feel safe"},"content":{"rendered":"

As someone who makes my living with words and enjoys using them, I find AI’s uninvited intrusions into my day not just annoying, but alarming.<\/p>\n

\"play\"<\/p>\n

How to use AI rewriting tools<\/p>\n

Artificial Intelligence can instantly proofread your writing and make suggestions to tweak the tone of a message, paper or presentation.<\/p>\n

Problem Solved<\/p>\n

Many have commented lately about the supersonic rise of artificial intelligence<\/a> and what it means for our future<\/a> \u2013 and our very existence<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The questions that AI poses for our society, economy and democracy are valid and challenging.<\/p>\n

But I have a more down-to-earth worry: How much longer will I have a job as a writer, which I feel lucky to hold as my vocation?\u00a0<\/p>\n

AI seemed to happen gradually, then suddenly<\/a> (to quote Ernest Hemingway, one of my favorite human authors).\u00a0<\/p>\n

In recent months, I\u2019ve noticed that no matter what I\u2019m doing online \u2013 writing a column in Google Docs, an email in Outlook, a note to a friend on Instagram \u2212 an AI bot will pop in to ask if I would like \u201chelp\u201d crafting my message.<\/p>\n

As someone who makes my living with words and enjoys using them, I find AI’s uninvited intrusions into my day not just annoying, but alarming.<\/p>\n

I’ll admit, as an opinion columnist, I had thought that my skills were safe from robot replacement \u2013 at least in my lifetime.\u00a0Aren\u2019t reason and persuasion uniquely human abilities? What does it mean if they aren\u2019t?<\/p>\n

Opinion: <\/strong>Dems are mad about Biden book. Jake Tapper must be a deep undercover MAGA agent.<\/a><\/p>\n

Hot takes from an artificial ‘mind’? No thanks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lest you think I\u2019m overreacting, real-world newspapers in the United States already are turning to AI to craft news and opinion for their readers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

For instance, the Los Angeles Times has started offering<\/a> online readers the option to read AI-generated counterpoints to the opinion columns it runs. The \u201cInsights\u201d feature judges the piece’s point of view and then spits out an opposing argument.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That was the brainchild of Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, who wants the opinion pages to reflect a broader range of views.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you just have the one side, it\u2019s just going to be an echo chamber,\u201d Soon-Shiong told Fox News about the project<\/a>, saying he thinks it’s important “that all voices be heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, as a conservative writer in a liberal media world, I respect Soon-Shiong’s quest for balance. And I appreciate that my newspaper has crafted an opinion team<\/a> with many different points of view \u2013 something that wasn\u2019t always the case.<\/p>\n

But robots? Is that where we want other perspectives to come from?<\/p>\n

Opinion: <\/strong>NPR has a right to exist. That doesn’t mean it has a right to my tax dollars.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Times, as you might expect, has already run into some awkward AI offerings<\/a>. It isn’t alone, though.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This month, several newspapers, including the Chicago Sun-Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer, ran a syndicated summer book list that included books … that don\u2019t exist.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Only five of the 15 recommended books were real<\/a>, although I\u2019ll acknowledge that some of the made-up titles sounded interesting. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The writer who \u201ccreated\u201d the list has admitted to using AI, and has since been fired<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The idea of news and commentary coming from a bot is unsettling, and not just because of my job security. Plenty of Americans feel the same way. New research from the Poynter Institute and the University of Minnesota<\/a> found nearly half of those surveyed don\u2019t want news from generative artificial intelligence. And 20% said the media shouldn\u2019t use AI at all.<\/p>\n

I decided to take AI for a test drive. What do you think of the result?\u00a0<\/p>\n

Given my fear of being replaced by a robot, I\u2019ve stayed away from sites like ChatGPT, although I\u2019ve received many examples from friends and family of what it can do.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But I decided to give it a simple prompt: “Write a column in the style of Ingrid Jacques of USA TODAY.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

Opinion: <\/strong>Not funny, John Oliver \u2013 Standing for religious liberty doesn’t equate to ‘hate.’<\/a><\/p>\n

In mere seconds, it \u201cwrote\u201d a 675-word column, complete with a headline and byline.\u00a0I\u2019ll share the first few lines of what popped up:\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Uncomfortable Truth About Wokeism<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Ingrid Jacques<\/p>\n

The American cultural landscape is being shaped by a force so pervasive, so influential, that it seems to touch every corner of our lives. I\u2019m not talking about the rise of artificial intelligence, nor the latest social media craze. No, I\u2019m referring to the ideology of \u201cwokeism,\u201d which, like a slow-moving storm, is now fully entrenched in our schools, workplaces, and public discourse.<\/p>\n

Not bad, right? And I thought the nod to AI was apropos, given the topic of this column.<\/p>\n

It’s still creepy, though.<\/p>\n

Opinion alerts:<\/b> Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don’t have the app? Download it for free from your app store<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With the current political divisions in our country, I believe that sharing different points of view in a civil way is more important than ever, and I worry about the implications if those \u201cthoughts\u201d are coming from something nonhuman.<\/p>\n

So, while this may come as a disappointment to some of you, you\u2019re stuck with the \u201creal\u201d me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For now.<\/p>\n

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com<\/a> or on X: @Ingrid_Jacques<\/a><\/p>\n