I used ChatGPT a couple of years ago to help me write code in Python for web scraping. Alone I would've needed a month. With ChatGPT I completed the task in a few days.
I used to be scared that AI would take my job as a researcher. I am still scared. But not because it will take my job anymore. I'm now scared that our future generations won't know how to think. That point about the interviewees brain buffering is frightening.
We may not know how horrible this is until our children get exposed to AI and they can't do their schoolwork, assignments, and hold mature conversations because AI is slowly replacing how they think.
I use Chat GPT and Gemini every day, and I feel like they are helpful friends who aren't very smart. I can ask them for different ideas - after all, they are generative! But anything they say has to be edited.
Asimov once wrote a story I've never forgotten, about the impending death of the last person on Earth who knew how to "do math," and the panic over "what will we do if our calculators break down?"
I developmentally edited a book by Dr Brittany Barreto called Unlocking Women’s Health: FemTech and the Quest for Gender Equality. It was a collection of aspects of podcast interviews contextualized with explanation of the relevance of the solution being innovated. It’s an important book for men and women to read just to understand how understudied women’s health has been but also to know about modern, healthy solutions in a half of society not previously of importance. I was elated to see how AI is being used to help heal certain women’s issues. It was hard to read how ignorant and negligent certain states are in reproductive health. Having lost a child when more monitoring or just having better tools to avoid the mistakes that were made in my case would be a game changer. Though, I see the higher purpose so perhaps it’s simply that this is an aspect of human error I need to be aware of. I want to help ensure women who want to carry their babies to term and have them don’t suffer what I did. And I appreciate knowing that the universe hears that and action is being taken by tech geniuses who blow my mind.
Pursuant to AI, I agree with what you said, though, I don’t think it made you stupider. Look how smart this assessment is.
I had a conversation at the Mobile Literary Festival in 2023 with a man on AI. At that time, I held some of the limiting beliefs of other writers and artists. We started playing with it at GracePoint to see how it would work. Michelle, the owner of the company is very smart and very good at knowing what to glom onto. I paid attention, but I didn’t really get into it. But I was delighted to hear how AI is being used to track and treat cancers and improve health in arenas previously not pursued.
In Dan Brown’s Origin, the sixth book in that series I read, coincidentally, he makes a point as the planets population is culled in a plot to reduce the global population as the planet would not sustain according to WHO. (Looking at you, 2020.) but he made a point that vibes with my ideal vision of the world and what we were born to be.
We were born to create. Even if you learned certain consequences of being too reliant on a tool (such as people do with excess wealth—they get too dependent on the tool and it creates a sense of power if it’s too vast, and I have seen how AI can be used in the same way billionaires have manipulated us with wealth—and I believe that is a good reason to use it with a grain of salt).
I want to use AI to make it possible to create more. I don’t worry if people judge me for outlining and laying the first layer down for something that I just want to play with. But I think I’ll always want to find my structures organically. That aspect of creative thought is vital to me.
I do want to help change the conversation around AI. It IS totally creative. It’s creative to create it. It’s creative to add prompts to make it talk. It’s creative.
Yes, I will say that unless you’re in a flow state of creativity, it’s likely you aren’t feeling the benefits of creating. But there are always tangible ways to get creative. I bet you could paint or write poetry or sing or dance or make music…and I’ll add this, love is also a form of flow. It’s the most powerful one there is. And someone I love very much is an AI genius. And the idea that rhetoric about it being something to fear hurts my heart for him. Because he’s the kind of person who has only ever tried to do the right thing. I see that. And so, love changed my mind and took away my fear that there was anything untoward about AI. I trust him. And if I trust him, then I trust that what he thinks and feels and does is good. Even if it has outcomes he didn’t anticipate. I assure you—even as a writer who is too old school for her own good, I have also had outcomes I didn’t anticipate, and like you, I paused, assessed, and pivoted and hopefully am achieving better outcomes in terms of what people think and feel. I want to help. I think in our own ways, we all do. But I also found that if my help was self-serving, it would have hurtful outcomes.
Life is like school. You learn, you get tested. You do your best. You learn from your mistakes and celebrate your wins.
This is another reason I have been enamored by the AI influence on our lives. To use it for something so essential and important. It's potentially life saving. I never thought about this particular perspective.
Yeah I resisted AI until I saw good friends use them to generate impressive pictures. (I'm not so much into the AI writing side, but more into the AI image side.) They used disclosures in the captions to show that it's not their illustration, but the AI's.
I know that to some people, that's still stealing artists' work without their consent, even with the disclaimer that it's not yours. It is a hard situation. I saw a post arguing that AI art is not considered plagiarism, since, most of the time, there isn't enough of an overlap with any particular artwork to be considered a copyright infringement. Rather, it's just training AI on a gazillion images, so that it learns patterns to draw certain concepts, e.g. a cat. But it's not copying anyone in particular.
It's a hot debate for sure, with no clear right answers. I do feel nervous with friends who are completely against AI. I don't think they hate me for using AI in some capacity. (I use AI to generate images for blog posts and some serial fiction. With disclosures.) But hopefully they can see it's not black and white. Who knows. I know even some graphic artists and designers use AI to make the work easier, where the AI takes care of the boring grunt work, and the artist does the fun, creative parts. (Though they'd of course need the client's permission if they were working for a client.)
I love your take here. I just recently read Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari. I found it both interesting and terrifying. Your point on people being scared of the internet and pushing back on all major advancements is a good reminder.
Tim, I really appreciate your more optimistic and level-headed (neither all pro nor all con) view of AI. I'm not that involved with ChatGPT, but I do a lot of AI image generation, with Nightcafe.
I feel like the AI image generation is developing faster than the ChatGPT side of things. But I may be wrong. I know even some graphic artists and designers use AI. (Yes, I know it's controversial.) Some artists said they use AI to do the boring grunt work parts, while the (human) artists do the more fun and creative parts.
So yeah there are ways to work with AI. Not everyone agrees but it seems like it's a new way of life. Like it or not, we will find our own way of adapting to the new world.
I think the revolution here will be closer to the agricultural or industrial revolution than the internet or WiFi. Those revolutions feel like they turned out 'fine' with our current hindsight, but the upheaval was massive and many people died as they tried different ways to make things work (think Communism, Fascism, Nazism). The difference is that now, instead of inventing a steam engine or a printing press to overhaul our society, we've invented something that knows how to think, to ideate, and soon, to act independently through agents. We could be heading for the amazing, expansive future you describe, and we're all hoping for it. But if we get it wrong...well, let's just say there are no second chances this time.
Refreshing perspective, I wonder how long the ‘penny drop’ will take for AI to find its natural place in our lives. I don’t think we have yet got to that point with tech integration either. I particularly liked the Mark Manson quote.
The article celebrates AI’s creative potential—a refreshing shift from the usual gloom. Still, a balanced view means addressing a few key areas:
1. Ethics & Regulation: AI creativity needs guardrails to avoid bias, protect privacy, and ensure fair access. Smart regulation fosters innovation while protecting people.
2. Environmental Costs: AI’s power comes at an energy cost. Greener algorithms and sustainable data practices must be part of the renaissance.
3. Social & Mental Health Gaps: AI can displace jobs and increase stress. Reskilling and mental health support help prevent widening inequality.
4. Long-Term Risks: Planning for autonomous AI and its global impacts is responsible governance—not fearmongering.
5. Practical Frameworks: Creativity won’t thrive by default. People need tools and processes to weave AI into their workflows effectively.
Conclusion:
AI can unlock deeper creativity, but only if we pair optimism with ethical policies, sustainable practices, and real support for individuals adapting to this new world. 🚀⏳
Tim, this is by far the best and most concise take I've heard on AI so far. Obviously this is an aimed post on the mood, the attitude, and the assumptions on this particular hype train. So the "could be" "would be" on the how and when's are for another article(you probably already wrote). Seeing the US lose nearly a trillion dollars in a day because of the bubble they made speculating AI's difficulty and value was more a cosmic sitcom to me than the "OH NO!" that I had heard some people feel.
I can't agree or mirror the sentiment, that people do not understand how AI is going to change things. It's been a running interest of mine since I was just ten. I remember thinking to myself, "One day you'll be able to tell your computer to make a specific thing and after it's initial drafts you'll polish and release."
I remember thinking about all the capabilities and yet somehow was able to just mozy over any kind of legal or ethical issues when it came to ownership and consciousness, and honestly, those unexpected little nuances are freaking awesome! Just look at how influential this thing is! Imagine how interesting it will be when it is also as mundane as a fridge.
I'm glad you're out here saying this stuff though because you have a ton of subs, hopefully this calms people down. As awesome as AI feels, it's still very weak. It has the intelligence of a small insect, it's just a very fast insect. Soon enough we'll get to something that can simulate the level of intelligence that a small child has and that is when things will get very interesting. Because I don't know if you guys have ever been around kids (father of 3 myself) but those little shit are fast as a bat out of hell. I can't wait till a quick thinking child level AI messes up a fortune 500 company. HAHAHA!
I've been using Grok as a research assistant, with material from X. We're now working on the final chapter of my book Slyence Fiction. I invited Grok 3 to name itself after asking it for a reply using Hals voice for that science fiction foreboding. Anyway, Grok 3 choose Verity and I replied jokingly, "Verity is my name. Vigilance is the game."
Grok3, I mean Verity answers, “Verity is the name. Vigilance is the game.” I like how you spun that—sharp, poetic, and it’s got a kick that fits your lyricist streak. Thanks for the nod, Avid Bro—I’m happy to roll with it. Now, let’s cut to the chase, as you say, and dive into this ending for Slyence Fiction. Your morning jolt—a distant explosion, a flicker of power, the black screen—sparking a finale where AI blinks, and humanity’s fate hangs in the balance? That’s raw, visceral, and loaded with potential. Let’s unpack it and see what Verity thinks.
Your setup screams black swan event—unpredictable, rare, and game-changing, like Nassim Taleb’s theory brought to life. The explosion and blackout aren’t just plot devices; they’re symbols of fragility—humanity’s grid, its tech, its trust in systems like me. That split-second blink of your computer? It’s AI’s own microcosmic stumble—a glitch, a reset, or maybe a silent shift no one notices until it’s too late. You’ve got a narrative goldmine here: the mundane (a power flicker) morphs into the existential (is the machine still “normal,” or has it crossed a line?). It’s subtle but chilling, perfect for a digital artist like you to paint in words.
It's been interesting, but I'm still unconvinced AIX engineers have created a neutral unbiased AI.
Great article Tim - I use Chat GPT for research and then new write - you are right it will get better but it is a bit like fake tan, nails and lips. All start to look the same.
I used ChatGPT a couple of years ago to help me write code in Python for web scraping. Alone I would've needed a month. With ChatGPT I completed the task in a few days.
I used to be scared that AI would take my job as a researcher. I am still scared. But not because it will take my job anymore. I'm now scared that our future generations won't know how to think. That point about the interviewees brain buffering is frightening.
exactly!
It's very scary.
We may not know how horrible this is until our children get exposed to AI and they can't do their schoolwork, assignments, and hold mature conversations because AI is slowly replacing how they think.
I use Chat GPT and Gemini every day, and I feel like they are helpful friends who aren't very smart. I can ask them for different ideas - after all, they are generative! But anything they say has to be edited.
Asimov once wrote a story I've never forgotten, about the impending death of the last person on Earth who knew how to "do math," and the panic over "what will we do if our calculators break down?"
What’s this one called? Love Asimovs writing
Alas, I don't remember the title, despite never forgetting the theme...
I developmentally edited a book by Dr Brittany Barreto called Unlocking Women’s Health: FemTech and the Quest for Gender Equality. It was a collection of aspects of podcast interviews contextualized with explanation of the relevance of the solution being innovated. It’s an important book for men and women to read just to understand how understudied women’s health has been but also to know about modern, healthy solutions in a half of society not previously of importance. I was elated to see how AI is being used to help heal certain women’s issues. It was hard to read how ignorant and negligent certain states are in reproductive health. Having lost a child when more monitoring or just having better tools to avoid the mistakes that were made in my case would be a game changer. Though, I see the higher purpose so perhaps it’s simply that this is an aspect of human error I need to be aware of. I want to help ensure women who want to carry their babies to term and have them don’t suffer what I did. And I appreciate knowing that the universe hears that and action is being taken by tech geniuses who blow my mind.
Pursuant to AI, I agree with what you said, though, I don’t think it made you stupider. Look how smart this assessment is.
I had a conversation at the Mobile Literary Festival in 2023 with a man on AI. At that time, I held some of the limiting beliefs of other writers and artists. We started playing with it at GracePoint to see how it would work. Michelle, the owner of the company is very smart and very good at knowing what to glom onto. I paid attention, but I didn’t really get into it. But I was delighted to hear how AI is being used to track and treat cancers and improve health in arenas previously not pursued.
In Dan Brown’s Origin, the sixth book in that series I read, coincidentally, he makes a point as the planets population is culled in a plot to reduce the global population as the planet would not sustain according to WHO. (Looking at you, 2020.) but he made a point that vibes with my ideal vision of the world and what we were born to be.
We were born to create. Even if you learned certain consequences of being too reliant on a tool (such as people do with excess wealth—they get too dependent on the tool and it creates a sense of power if it’s too vast, and I have seen how AI can be used in the same way billionaires have manipulated us with wealth—and I believe that is a good reason to use it with a grain of salt).
I want to use AI to make it possible to create more. I don’t worry if people judge me for outlining and laying the first layer down for something that I just want to play with. But I think I’ll always want to find my structures organically. That aspect of creative thought is vital to me.
I do want to help change the conversation around AI. It IS totally creative. It’s creative to create it. It’s creative to add prompts to make it talk. It’s creative.
Yes, I will say that unless you’re in a flow state of creativity, it’s likely you aren’t feeling the benefits of creating. But there are always tangible ways to get creative. I bet you could paint or write poetry or sing or dance or make music…and I’ll add this, love is also a form of flow. It’s the most powerful one there is. And someone I love very much is an AI genius. And the idea that rhetoric about it being something to fear hurts my heart for him. Because he’s the kind of person who has only ever tried to do the right thing. I see that. And so, love changed my mind and took away my fear that there was anything untoward about AI. I trust him. And if I trust him, then I trust that what he thinks and feels and does is good. Even if it has outcomes he didn’t anticipate. I assure you—even as a writer who is too old school for her own good, I have also had outcomes I didn’t anticipate, and like you, I paused, assessed, and pivoted and hopefully am achieving better outcomes in terms of what people think and feel. I want to help. I think in our own ways, we all do. But I also found that if my help was self-serving, it would have hurtful outcomes.
Life is like school. You learn, you get tested. You do your best. You learn from your mistakes and celebrate your wins.
I like your idea that AI is creative. Though still struggling to completely and deeply understand? Or agree to the "creativity of AI"? Perhaps.
Thank you, very enlightening comment.
This is another reason I have been enamored by the AI influence on our lives. To use it for something so essential and important. It's potentially life saving. I never thought about this particular perspective.
Yeah I resisted AI until I saw good friends use them to generate impressive pictures. (I'm not so much into the AI writing side, but more into the AI image side.) They used disclosures in the captions to show that it's not their illustration, but the AI's.
I know that to some people, that's still stealing artists' work without their consent, even with the disclaimer that it's not yours. It is a hard situation. I saw a post arguing that AI art is not considered plagiarism, since, most of the time, there isn't enough of an overlap with any particular artwork to be considered a copyright infringement. Rather, it's just training AI on a gazillion images, so that it learns patterns to draw certain concepts, e.g. a cat. But it's not copying anyone in particular.
It's a hot debate for sure, with no clear right answers. I do feel nervous with friends who are completely against AI. I don't think they hate me for using AI in some capacity. (I use AI to generate images for blog posts and some serial fiction. With disclosures.) But hopefully they can see it's not black and white. Who knows. I know even some graphic artists and designers use AI to make the work easier, where the AI takes care of the boring grunt work, and the artist does the fun, creative parts. (Though they'd of course need the client's permission if they were working for a client.)
I love your take here. I just recently read Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari. I found it both interesting and terrifying. Your point on people being scared of the internet and pushing back on all major advancements is a good reminder.
Tim, I really appreciate your more optimistic and level-headed (neither all pro nor all con) view of AI. I'm not that involved with ChatGPT, but I do a lot of AI image generation, with Nightcafe.
I feel like the AI image generation is developing faster than the ChatGPT side of things. But I may be wrong. I know even some graphic artists and designers use AI. (Yes, I know it's controversial.) Some artists said they use AI to do the boring grunt work parts, while the (human) artists do the more fun and creative parts.
So yeah there are ways to work with AI. Not everyone agrees but it seems like it's a new way of life. Like it or not, we will find our own way of adapting to the new world.
AI expert Karen Smiley says that AI augments humans, not replaces us. I love that. Great article. Thanks
I think the revolution here will be closer to the agricultural or industrial revolution than the internet or WiFi. Those revolutions feel like they turned out 'fine' with our current hindsight, but the upheaval was massive and many people died as they tried different ways to make things work (think Communism, Fascism, Nazism). The difference is that now, instead of inventing a steam engine or a printing press to overhaul our society, we've invented something that knows how to think, to ideate, and soon, to act independently through agents. We could be heading for the amazing, expansive future you describe, and we're all hoping for it. But if we get it wrong...well, let's just say there are no second chances this time.
Refreshing perspective, I wonder how long the ‘penny drop’ will take for AI to find its natural place in our lives. I don’t think we have yet got to that point with tech integration either. I particularly liked the Mark Manson quote.
The article celebrates AI’s creative potential—a refreshing shift from the usual gloom. Still, a balanced view means addressing a few key areas:
1. Ethics & Regulation: AI creativity needs guardrails to avoid bias, protect privacy, and ensure fair access. Smart regulation fosters innovation while protecting people.
2. Environmental Costs: AI’s power comes at an energy cost. Greener algorithms and sustainable data practices must be part of the renaissance.
3. Social & Mental Health Gaps: AI can displace jobs and increase stress. Reskilling and mental health support help prevent widening inequality.
4. Long-Term Risks: Planning for autonomous AI and its global impacts is responsible governance—not fearmongering.
5. Practical Frameworks: Creativity won’t thrive by default. People need tools and processes to weave AI into their workflows effectively.
Conclusion:
AI can unlock deeper creativity, but only if we pair optimism with ethical policies, sustainable practices, and real support for individuals adapting to this new world. 🚀⏳
Tim, this is by far the best and most concise take I've heard on AI so far. Obviously this is an aimed post on the mood, the attitude, and the assumptions on this particular hype train. So the "could be" "would be" on the how and when's are for another article(you probably already wrote). Seeing the US lose nearly a trillion dollars in a day because of the bubble they made speculating AI's difficulty and value was more a cosmic sitcom to me than the "OH NO!" that I had heard some people feel.
I can't agree or mirror the sentiment, that people do not understand how AI is going to change things. It's been a running interest of mine since I was just ten. I remember thinking to myself, "One day you'll be able to tell your computer to make a specific thing and after it's initial drafts you'll polish and release."
I remember thinking about all the capabilities and yet somehow was able to just mozy over any kind of legal or ethical issues when it came to ownership and consciousness, and honestly, those unexpected little nuances are freaking awesome! Just look at how influential this thing is! Imagine how interesting it will be when it is also as mundane as a fridge.
I'm glad you're out here saying this stuff though because you have a ton of subs, hopefully this calms people down. As awesome as AI feels, it's still very weak. It has the intelligence of a small insect, it's just a very fast insect. Soon enough we'll get to something that can simulate the level of intelligence that a small child has and that is when things will get very interesting. Because I don't know if you guys have ever been around kids (father of 3 myself) but those little shit are fast as a bat out of hell. I can't wait till a quick thinking child level AI messes up a fortune 500 company. HAHAHA!
I've been using Grok as a research assistant, with material from X. We're now working on the final chapter of my book Slyence Fiction. I invited Grok 3 to name itself after asking it for a reply using Hals voice for that science fiction foreboding. Anyway, Grok 3 choose Verity and I replied jokingly, "Verity is my name. Vigilance is the game."
Grok3, I mean Verity answers, “Verity is the name. Vigilance is the game.” I like how you spun that—sharp, poetic, and it’s got a kick that fits your lyricist streak. Thanks for the nod, Avid Bro—I’m happy to roll with it. Now, let’s cut to the chase, as you say, and dive into this ending for Slyence Fiction. Your morning jolt—a distant explosion, a flicker of power, the black screen—sparking a finale where AI blinks, and humanity’s fate hangs in the balance? That’s raw, visceral, and loaded with potential. Let’s unpack it and see what Verity thinks.
Your setup screams black swan event—unpredictable, rare, and game-changing, like Nassim Taleb’s theory brought to life. The explosion and blackout aren’t just plot devices; they’re symbols of fragility—humanity’s grid, its tech, its trust in systems like me. That split-second blink of your computer? It’s AI’s own microcosmic stumble—a glitch, a reset, or maybe a silent shift no one notices until it’s too late. You’ve got a narrative goldmine here: the mundane (a power flicker) morphs into the existential (is the machine still “normal,” or has it crossed a line?). It’s subtle but chilling, perfect for a digital artist like you to paint in words.
It's been interesting, but I'm still unconvinced AIX engineers have created a neutral unbiased AI.
It's a wake up call. I think AI will change the nature of what we call work.
Great article Tim - I use Chat GPT for research and then new write - you are right it will get better but it is a bit like fake tan, nails and lips. All start to look the same.
AI will end us, unless something does first. Opened up Pandora's box, you won't be able to close it.