By skyforbes 
Come to think of it, that was my gut reaction, too
I usually stay far away from using AI for my writing. The major exception is when I use AI to write tests for my English as a Second Language class, a university course that I teach two days a week. A colleague and I have two hours to write the test, complete with outline, comprehension questions, and answer key. So, with the administration’s approval, we use ChatGPT as the foundation for the test.
I clean up ChatGPT’s pompous verbosity afterwards, but some instructors use the AI-generated text as is.
In my latest test-making session, I worked with a new-to-the-university colleague who had never used ChatGPT. A self-proclaimed literature nerd, Chad had taught English for decades until long Covid forced him into retirement. This was the first professional job he’d held since 2019.
I helped Chad set up a free ChatGPT account and craft a prompt that would deliver the kind of text we wanted. He had the idea of writing about the benefits of using moss in major cities. Apparently, it sucks up pollutants and uses them as nutrients. I’d never heard of that, but it sounded interesting. So we tacked the moss idea onto the end of the prompt and let ChatGPT do its thing.
Seconds later, it spat out our text.
Somberly, Chad scanned the text and admitted that it was acceptable. “I would have been happy if my freshman English students had turned in something half this well-written,” he mused. Then he went on to lament:
“It did it so quickly. It hurts your soul.”
I’ve been dealing with the fallout from AI writing for a few years now, so I’d buried my feelings about it. It’s safe to say that I’d become resigned to it.
But Chad was absolutely right.
Writing and editing are the two things I do better than anything else. Rearranging and replacing words to optimize meaning and persuasive power is my favorite thing to do. Now ChatGPT can do that almost as well as I can if it has access to the stories I’m using.
And it often has — or takes — access since it steals everything.
I still write and edit using my own brainpower, but I feel like I’m swimming against the tide of a tsunami. AI has stolen my superpowers. All to make the rich richer.
I have no problem outsourcing directions to GPS. But that makes life easier. I don’t think it’s eliminated too many jobs, except for cartographers.
Although, come to think of it, GPS paved the way for self-driving vehicles, which will eventually put millions of truck drivers out of work.
I have a problem with AI sucking up jobs like a black hole, straining infrastructure with its insatiable demands for power and causing energy bills to climb, and taking over creative enterprises like writing and art.
Where do we draw the line? And shouldn’t we have figured that out before we let these greedy soon-to-be-trillionaires unleash their genies on the world?
God help our kids deal with the dark side of AI.
Thanks for reading! If you’re interested, here’s another story I wrote about people vs. AI: