Monday, November 27, 2023

[New post] The Dual Impact of AI on Our World – Navigating the Positives and Negatives

The Dual Impact of AI on Our World – Navigating the Positives and Negatives

keelyreeves

Nov 27

In the past few years, AI has blown up. Whether it's AI portraits, AI writing, or something else, it's all over. ChatGPT came out last November, and suddenly professors had to figure out how to prevent their students from using it. It's been a major topic in a Facebook group I follow. It's also been addressed in my social work classes too. One professor said we could ChatGPT to brainstorm, while another made it clear if we got caught using ChatGPT, we'd immediately get an F. She then stated that she wouldn't know if we had or not. AI is going to have a serious impact on our world. Just as the Internet shifted our world, AI is going to do the same. The debate on whether this is a good or bad thing is still going on.

A few weeks ago, I decided to play around with the free version of ChatGPT. I was bored at work since we were slow. I spent the entire day fooling around on ChatGPT. This is what I learned.

First, you have to be very specific on what you want the AI to do, or it won't give you what you want. The more details you have, the more it can give you.

Second, while it's impressive, you can tell that it wasn't written by a human. The writing is basic and bland. It is missing the emotion behind the writing.

Third, while it is basic and bland, it could be helpful to brainstorm ideas. However, I will say after a while, it starts to repeat the same ideas. It's like the AI is buffering, trying to come up with something, but as it's just a bunch of numbers and lines and dots and dashes (don't ask me how it works, I'm not a coder or a programmer) it can only give so much.

Now, I won't lie, I had a lot of fun playing around with ChatGPT. I used it mostly to generate titles for fanfictions and fiction stories. I am notoriously bad at naming things. I typed in what I wanted, and it generated some ideas.

Here's an example.

So I typed in: Give me a title for a blog on AI.

This is the first title it gave me.

"Beyond the Code: Navigating the Frontiers of Artificial Intelligence"

I didn't like it so I clicked the generate more button, which, if you haven't used ChatGPT, it's the circle with the arrow symbol.

"Unveiling the Future: Navigating the Landscape of Artificial Intelligence"

A better title, right?

Now, let's get a little more specific.

I typed in: Give me a title for a blog on AI and how it will affect our world in negative and positive ways.

More specific, right?

Here's what it gave me. I generated a few options.

"AI Horizons: Balancing the Blessings and Burdens of a Technological Tomorrow"

"The Dual Edge of Progress: AI's Impact on Our World, from Blessings to Challenges"

"Balancing Act: The Dual Impact of AI on Our World – Navigating the Positives and Negatives"

As you can see, it has some repetition. It's great for brainstorming but perhaps not the best for original thoughts after a while.

I had a lot of fun when I asked it to write some songs for Stranger Things fanfiction. I typed in: Write a rock ballad about the singer wanting to propose but being afraid to do so, how he and his girl have been through a lot, but it's all been worth it to get to this moment, use the phrase, "the question."

Here's what it gave me:

(Verse 1)

In the stillness of the night, I hold your hand so tight,

Underneath the starry sky, with you, everything's so right,

We've journeyed through the storms, and we've faced the darkest fears,

But now I stand before you, babe, with these trembling hopes and tears.

(Pre-Chorus)

You and I, we've climbed the highest mountains,

Faced the coldest winds, crossed the roughest seas,

Our love's a fire that forever keeps on burning,

But this fear inside of me is more than I can bear.

(Chorus)

So, I'm standing here tonight, beneath the moonlight's gentle glow,

With a promise in my heart, I'm afraid to let it show,

The question that's been haunting me, I'll ask you if I dare,

Darlin', I want you to know how much I really care.

(Verse 2)

Through the storms we've weathered and the battles we've fought,

In your eyes, I found the strength, your love's all that I've sought,

And though the world may doubt us, and the critics have their say,

With you, I've found a love that's worth the price we had to pay.

(Pre-Chorus)

You and I, we've climbed the highest mountains,

Faced the coldest winds, crossed the roughest seas,

Our love's a fire that forever keeps on burning,

But this fear inside of me is more than I can bear.

(Chorus)

So, I'm standing here tonight, beneath the moonlight's gentle glow,

With a promise in my heart, I'm afraid to let it show,

The question that's been haunting me, I'll ask you if I dare,

Darlin', I want you to know how much I really care.

(Bridge)

As I hold this trembling hand, reaching for your soul,

I hope you'll see the love I feel, the truth that makes me whole,

All the pain we've overcome, all the tears we've shared,

Now I'm on my knees, darlin', and I hope that you'll be there.

(Chorus)

So, I'm standing here tonight, beneath the moonlight's gentle glow,

With a promise in my heart, I'm afraid to let it show,

The question that's been haunting me, I'll ask you if I dare,

Darlin', I want you to know how much I really care.

(Outro) With a ring of gold and a love so bold,

I'm asking you, my love, to be with me 'til we're old,

The question that's been haunting me, I'll ask you if I dare,

Darlin', I want you to know how much I really care.

Is it perfect? Definitely not. Would I rewrite this and make it my own? Definitely. However, it gives a nice base. Though I'd never just use this. As I said, it's missing the emotion. I also noticed that, at times, ChatGPT sounds a bit silted. People don't write how they speak typically, and it can't replicate that. So it comes off awkward or a bit too formal when that's not what you want.

The problem with AI is that, well, there are a few.

As I said, it's basic and bland. It's repetitive. It's awkward. AI can't capture how someone speaks or how they write. They can't capture the emotion behind the text. Is it a useful tool for brainstorming or for fun? Sure. Should it be used for actual writing? No. Base, sure. Actual writing? No. It has flaws. Did I put in some fanfiction and see where it took it? Yes. Some of it was helpful, while others were less helpful. I get stuck writing like all writers do, so I used ChatGPT to try to get unstuck. It worked. More or less. Some of it did not work. It made assumptions. AI can't read my mind and know where I'm going with a fanfiction or an original story.

Would I ever just use what ChatGPT wrote? Hell no. I'd use it as inspiration but not use the writing itself. More of a base. But I'd never just use what ChatGPT wrote and claim it as my own.

Let's be real, I have issues with ghostwriters. Not because they're bad writers. They aren't. My problem with ghostwriters is that the author gets the credit while the ghostwriter does not. (But that is an entirely different blog post.)

AI writing is not writing. I don't consider it writing. Programs like ChatGPT open the stage for people to let it write for them when it isn't their original thoughts. As a writer, I have issues with this. Writing is difficult. This would be like cheating.

Part of the writers' strike was because of their fear AI would take their jobs for them. Can you imagine a show being completely written by AI? Yeah, that'd be awful. Now, sure, ChatGPT can do some cool shit. One person put in the entire Song of Fire and Ice books to predict what the last books would be. Now, of course those have since been deleted because of copyright, and George R. R. Martin probably got in a tizzy. Totally get that.

Another issue is actors' and singers' likenesses being replicated through AI. This can open the doors for writers to lose their jobs. Why hire a writer when AI can do the same thing? It can't. It misses the emotion. Also, if an actor doesn't want to return to a role, what's to keep the director from creating their likeness? Ai is seriously going to shift the creative world. especially with movies, music, writing, and art. We've already got singers who are allowing their voices to be replicated using an AI.

So now that we've talked about ChatGPT, let's discuss AI art. Now, I've used an AI portrait maker for uh, another fanfiction (don't judge me). It was fun.

Here's an example.

I typed in "goddess of creation" into a free AI art maker, and this is what it gave me. (I can't remember which one. There's so many AI generative art websites.)

Pretty right? Here's another one using NightCafe. I typed in "goddess of creation" as well.

Also pretty.

Now, would I ever claim it as MY art?

No.

Never.

As an artist, I know how long it takes to create something. I have spent hours painting a barn. I have spent hours coloring a Medusa drawing and adding in details. (See both below).

The barn was done with acrylic paint on canvas. Medusa was done in Prismacolors on paper.

The point is, even though the other two are both super cool, I would never claim them as my art. I didn't spend my blood, sweat, and tears drawing or painting them. I typed in some words, and they were generated. Poof. That's it.

AI art is not art. It takes away from true artists. Can you have fun with things like NightCafe? Oh, most definitely.

Check out some cool fandom portraits AI created.

Game of Thrones Characters via AI

Harry Potter Characters via AI

Aren't those cool? I haven't read A Song of Ice and Fire, so I didn't know how much they aged up the characters in Game of Thrones. Also, I loved my mom when she saw these. She's like, wait, Sirius Black is handsome? What? I mean, no offense to Gary Oldman, loved him as Sirius, but he's not how I pictured Sirius Black. The Black family was known for all being ridiculously handsome and beautiful. Even Bellatrix and Sirius after Azkaban were still considered good-looking. I told Mom, "Yes, Sirius Black was a Snack."

I digress.

Can AI do some cool things? Yeah, it can. However, it is going to have, or rather, it already has had, a major impact on the creative world. It is going to change the way we think about media, such as TV shows, movies, art, writing, etc. Perhaps at some point, creators will become obsolete because AI will become so good that who needs writers and artists and, hell, even actors? What about singers? But we have to consider that the information an AI gets may not be accurate. AI could lean into tropes and stereotypes that we don't want to encourage.

AI affects all of us. whether you are a student, an artist, a writer, a teacher, an actor, a businessman, etc. Just as the Internet has had a profound change in our world, AI will do the same.

We may look at AI in movies and think it's so cool. Who wouldn't want a J.A.R.V.I.S. or a F.R.I.D.A.Y? AI has been seen by media often depicted as either good or evil. Such as in movies like WALL-E, The Matrix, The Terminator, M3GAN, and so many others. But the real-world consequences are serious. This isn't a comic book. AI can be both good and bad. How we use it is dependent on which side wins. This conversation about AI is ongoing, and it will keep on going. While I do see some benefits for AI, I can also see its downfalls. It is a major slippery slope. We will have to wait and see how AI unfolds and how it changes our world in the years to come.

I found some interesting articles on CNN that I thought I'd share.

Everything you need to know about AI but were too afraid to ask

Here's how AI can — and can't — help you look for a job

Teen responds to classmate creating AI nudes of female students

These books are being used to train AI. No one told the authors

What are your thoughts on AI? Let me know in the comments!

-K