Artificial Intelligence
By Joe Rector
I’ve just sat through a few tutorial videos on the use of Microsoft CoPilot. Most of them appear to be geared toward the business world. I have no desire to create a social media campaign, training session or marketing plan. Instead, my goals are to write better columns. This thing doesn’t seem to be at all what I need for that activity.
To someone with limited experience and little knowledge of the technical world, CoPilot looks more like an Artificial Intelligence program that can integrate already existing pieces of information. I don’t get it, and I sure don’t like it. As an old English teacher, I spent a career teaching students ways to write compositions that would help them pass college English or simply be proficient in correspondence with customers, companies and families. At the same time, I pounded correct grammatical usage into their heads, as well as correct spelling of words. When someone tried to chock full a paper with extraneous materials, I had a red stamp with a bull’s behind that covered the useless filler.
Writing is a personal act. Anyone who’s ever attempted the task finds that putting words on a screen or a piece of paper can be difficult. I learned from Don Williams that writer’s block didn’t exist. The way to begin writing is to ask, “What is the truest thing I know today?” Immediately, a list of things comes to mind. The chore then becomes to put meat on the bones of that one thing and to develop it into a broader idea. It’s that simple. Hey, if writing were that difficult, I’d never have been able to do it for even a day.
I know that somehow AI will make life better for folks, but I’m not sure how. I don’t trust it when writing is concerned. It is easy to sit down and ask AI to write a paper on any subject. In just a couple of seconds, one will appear on the computer screen. The piece will be well written and correct in all ways. A student can submit it to a teacher or professor and possibly receive an excellent grade for such work.
I’m not impressed. Writing is a more personal thing. It demands that the writer invest a part of himself in the process. The ideas that are included often are examples that come with the emotions that they caused. AI can make up the same stuff, but those feelings will be hollow without the human component.
If I were still teaching, all compositions written by students would be written on paper during class time. No one would be allowed to look at a computer or a phone during the process. Yes, that would cause a stir because so few students can write legibly; my handwriting has suffered from arthritis and my cut off finger that was sewn back on.
Artificial Intelligence has its place in our world. It is a “tool” for use in so many applications. However, it should never become a substitute for thinking and creative humans. If AI becomes the go-to for tasks, we will become a dumber species with diminishing thought processes. Before long, those AI programs will be smarter than we are and could well become our masters and bosses. Yes, it might be far-fetched, but the possibility exists if folks stop thinking on their own and allow something else to do their thinking and creating. As for writing, everyone should do it often. It presents interesting insights into life and the possibilities that exist. Give it a try and see what you discover.
