Oliver Twist

Because of the numbering system I use to save photos for my blog, I know last week’s dish on ice cream (ha) was my four-hundredth WordPress post. I’m not one to track statistics but unexpectedly, reaching this milestone begs the question: Will I make it to #500? Mind you, it’s not about staying in the game. Topics worth my exploration are endless and creative writing is a welcome escape. No, today begs a much more relevant question: What about artificial intelligence (AI)?

If I could meet you readers face-to-face in the Amazon rain forest I’d whisper a secret password for all to hear.  Then when I use that password in a post, you’d know it’s actually me, Dave, the human, and not some updated version of HAL 9000 doing the typing.  Surely you wonder, as I do, when will AI get so good at authoring documents, so genuine, you won’t even realize you’re reading something untouched by human hands?

“Hello, Dave.”

Before we go any further, I think “AI” sounds awfully impersonal.  I suppose impersonal is appropriate for a silicone wafer and a pile of circuit boards.  I just think we need a friendlier word for it; something we humans can better identify with.  How about “Oliver”?  Oliver is the third most popular boy name of 2023.  Oliver Twist was one of Charles Dickens’ most beloved characters (and AI will certainly be a twist on the way we ask for and receive information moving forward).  Let’s nickname it (him?) Ollie.

Wikipedia’s article on artificial intelligence (yes, there’s already an article) says one of Ollie’s primary goals is problem-solving.  Okay, that digests well.  But then you see goals like reasoning, learning, perception, and social intelligence and your stomach flips a flop.  My reasoning and perception are tools I use for this blog.  If Ollie develops those same tools, it’s only a matter of time before Dave 1.0 (me) is replaced by Dave 2.0 (machine).

Let’s go back to ice cream for a second.  Let’s say you want to read an opinion piece on ice cream.  If you have AI at your disposal, you could say, “Hey Ollie, write me a post about ice cream, 600 words or so, with arguments in favor of plain old ice cream over sundaes, bars, and other frozen treats.  Reference a few commercial ice cream brands, a few local brands, and finish by talking about the most expensive ice cream in the world.  Oh, and speak the page back to me in James Earl Jones’s voice.”  Then you’d hit the ENTER button and who knows?  Your screen might light up with something remarkably similar to my last post in Life In A Word.

Also consider, Ollie will have his own opinions on what you read.  After you ask about ice cream, he may spam you with posts on healthy lifestyle.  He also may counsel you about spending your time on more important topics.  Like world peace.  Newsflash, Ollie.  We’re all trying to figure out world peace.  How about you put your circuit boards together and come up with a post on that?

Here’s my point.  If you have Ollie you don’t need me.  In fact, you don’t even need the WordPress platform.  You could simply slip on a VR headset and ask for a post with just the right topic, tone, reading level, length, and restrictions. It’s like placing an order at the drive-thru of a fast food restaurant.  Seconds later, what you asked for is right there in front of you (no paper bag necessary).  And if Ollie “reads” all four hundred of my posts, he’ll write it pretty much the same way I would. 

At the rate I’m posting, I’ll publish blog #500 in about two years.  Two years.  Considering all we’ve covered today, how advanced will Ollie be in two years?  Enough to put WordPress out of business?  Enough to where you can generate your own Life In A Word posts by simply entering a handful of carefully chosen criteria?  I hope not.  I’m having a good time with you people (especially those of you who also write blogs).  Maybe all of us should pick up and move to the rain forest.  Then we could pass our handwritten pages around and keep this artificial intelligent party going.  Someone make sure Ollie doesn’t get an invite.

Some content sourced from Wikipedia, “the free encyclopedia”.

Unknown's avatar

Author: Dave

Five hundred posts would suggest I have something to say… This blog was born from a desire to elevate the English language, highlighting eloquent words from days gone by. The stories I share are snippets of life itself, and each comes with a bonus: a dusted-off word I hope you’ll go on to use more often. Read “Deutschland-ish Improvements” to learn about my backyard European wish list. Try “Slush Fun” for the throwback years of the 7-Eleven convenience store. Or drink in "Iced Coffee" to discover the plight of the rural French cafe. On the lighter side, read "Late Night Racquet Sports" for my adventures with our latest moth invasion. As Walt Whitman said, “That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.” Here then, my verse. Welcome to Life In A Word.

23 thoughts on “Oliver Twist”

  2. One interesting note about AI is that they “train” the AI to write by having it read in books, articles, and even blog posts so it’s just possible that your writing will be the basis that future AI uses when it’s asked to write a blog posts about writing blog posts with AI …

    Like

  3. 8000 well known authors have signed a letter to the major AI companies urging these companies to figure out how they are going to obtain permission to use the copyright work they are incorporating into their technologies and how they will compensate creators for their work. If an agreement is not developed, then legal action will probably be next.

    Google apparently is very good at detecting AI generated content that has not been reviewed and edited by a human – so they are asking ‘publishers’ to be transparent about who created the content and how (was AI used.)

    In the not too distant future, it might be a good idea for all of us to clearly state (maybe in a widget) whether we use AI for any part of our writing!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I keep thinking, “well maybe I don’t care whether it’s human or AI-generated as long as the post is pertinent or entertaining or whatever.” But I do care (sigh). I prefer Margy 1.0 🙂

      Like

      1. I’ve been thinking a lot about why I should care and it comes down to my feeling that AI is at best about taking short-cuts and at worst outright cheating. It creates an unfair playing field where humans may have difficulty competing against human/AI’s.

        We might hope our posts would be somewhat competitive in search engine ranking. I don’t think we will compete well against AI’s ability to maximize that part of the mix.

        I think Ann Schreiber (Bloomquist) summed it up well: “How many decisions have we, as consumers made, based on content that we thought was prepared by a human, but was actually generated by a robot?”

        An extension of that would be, how many times have we felt connected to a blogger friend, only to discover their thoughts were not their own, they were a robots?

        Liked by 1 person

      1. I can’t get my hands around the impact of AI on education, Betsy. It’s feels like everything – learning, projects, testing – will need to take place face-to-face in the classroom to maintain a legitimate, healthy environment. Hope I’m wrong.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. That does seem like how it would have to be–in person writing. But research papers, theses, and whatnot. I don’t know how universities will deal with that. I hope software that can pick up AI writing will be in place.

        Liked by 1 person

  5. I hope and am sure you will make it to post #500 Dave. I know you will do it writing on your own and without using AI. At 67 years old, I have been thru a lot of technology in my time, but nothing as futuristic as AI. It’s a little scary to see how easily it can be used and misused. The world is spinning too quickly sometimes and I feel I would like to jump off.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I want to believe AI is just the next big thing (like the Internet) but the more I read, the more I understand how truly transformational it could be. I really need to stop reading about AI 😉

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Maybe the regulations introduced today by the President will help curb AI’s explosion. I stew and worry over crime and climate change … we cannot help ourselves Dave as we need to be knowledgeable about the news, as scary as it is sometimes. I know people who say to me “why do you listen to the news – I don’t.”

        Liked by 1 person

  7. Congrats on 400! I’m sure you’ll make it to 500, despite any [predicted by AI] AI takeover. I saw AI referred to as “plagiarism software” and that is how I continue to think about it. Not a fan of it, on principle. I agree, feel the same way: “My reasoning and perception are tools I use for this blog.”

    Liked by 1 person

  8. 400 is a feat to celebrate. I believe that you are the author, but how can you be sure it is not AI making this comment? Is there a WordPress version of a secret handshake we can use?

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Enjoyed this post… What makes the difference for humans creating things is their imagination, not a conglomoration of last similar items – arts, visual and written, music, etc. I don’t think Ollie would have thought of writing this post!

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.