21 Comments
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Jenovia 🕸️'s avatar

I always love it when my fellow despisers of AI go off.

“It makes me a nightmare dinner party guest, because try as I do to bite my tongue, and believe me I do try, I at some point cannot help coming out with a casual and not at all offensive “oh, so you’re okay then, with the knowledge that you’re getting stupider every day, you’re saying you’re okay with that?”

😂🎯 SAME, CLARA!!

My friends know not to send me any AI videos/reels, because I refuse to watch them. I’ve never used ChatGPT or any other AI tool, and I don’t plan to. I feel lucky to have reached my big age without having to deal with AI. I’m comfortably set in my modes of learning, but witnessing kids rely on it so heavily is terrifying.

Clara's avatar

Agh, I know, I feel like by virtue of age I just managed to escape the sense of inevitability so many younger people seem to feel re genAI! Agreed that it’s slightly terrifying :(

Krystel's avatar

You should ready Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation!!!!

Di's avatar

and then you remind me why I subscribed, love this and you and look forward to more judginess stirred in honey or vinegar

Rachel C's avatar

I just finished the short novel Nostalgia by Iris Lake. I would recommend it to those contemplating reality, what the "ease" of technology actually means, and the hard work of being human.

Alex's avatar

Long time follower, first time commenter. Thank you as always for your insights. You articulate so well much of what I think about. Makes me want to become a better writer, which I’ve never really had the discipline for.

Anyway, I have been thinking a lot about friction recently from this article I just came across - the most valuable commodity in the world is friction… worth a read if you haven’t seen it yet!

https://open.substack.com/pub/kyla/p/the-most-valuable-commodity-in-the?r=1lu46a&utm_medium=ios&shareImageVariant=overlay

Clara's avatar

Thanks so much, Alex!! I really appreciate it—and have had that newsletter on my list for a while, thanks for sharing!

Michael Smolens's avatar

Brilliant writing & a large number of deep insights. Thanks & look forward to reading more

Tara Beth C's avatar

Excellent. One of your best posts as of late. Thoroughly enjoyed!!

Clara's avatar

Thank you, Tara!! x

vitajexjexjex's avatar

I was having coffee with a friend of mine recently and she related to me this story: “I told ChatGPT that I was feeling really tired, and it was like ‘Of course you are! You’ve been doing [x, y, z kind of deep work]! Go take a break!” And I said “so…. You talk to it like it’s a person?” She said, “Yeah, I do. It’s like a coworker” (she’s self employed). It just made me feel very sad. I’ve resolved to check in with her more frequently, but who knows, maybe talking to Chat GPT is less friction than talking to a person.

Pam B's avatar

Renee Good wasn't mocking the ICE agent. She said "I'm not mad at you, dude". Which was insulting to the ICE agent, who thought she should have been more afraid. So he killed her and called her a 'fucking Bitch'. He sure showed her, right?

I have never used Chat GPT, but Google make sure to show me an AI summary before it lets me look at the links it pulls up. So I admit I've looked at that before I 'do my own research'.

Reeve K's avatar

I recently learned thay when you Google if you add -ai at the end of whatever you are searching (so, for example, "why does ICE suck -ai") it will remove any ai results. Handy!

Allyssa Capri's avatar

beautiful post, love your brain connecting AI with ICE brutality with Plato.

also -- my husband did the exact thing you explained in your #1 footnote with me, saying for years they hated pineapple only to reveal (in couples therapy no less) that they've actually liked it for a majority of that time. are you a Taurus by chance? lol

Julia Bedell's avatar

Like you, I have not yet dipped my toe into genAI and don't intend to. It's interesting, though, to note the times I've considered using it. What task am I trying to outsource and why? Because there is no shortcut to anything worth having, it's nice to keep this list as a reminder of things I want to become good at. Once good enough at them, there would be no use to outsource them to AI. Glad I came across this piece, it's excellent

Andrea's avatar

The rabbit hole you sent me down trying to understand the parable of the cave I truly cannot forgive you for.

Steph Halchin's avatar

hell yeah. we would kill it at a dinner party together where genAI comes up btw

Ines Bellina's avatar

My favorite Catholic-tinged mom quote is: “Dios perdona pecados, no escándalos”

Morgan K's avatar

So many of my thoughts plucked out of my head and served on the most beautiful table scape. Thank you for thisssss, also yes I am just as petty especially about thugs that align with my values

Morgan K's avatar

Lolllll things, thanks auto correct

Allison's avatar

Yes. Thank you. As always. But especially now.