$#%@^&* AI

I wrote the bulk of this post about over a year ago. My thoughts haven’t changed, except that I have been sharing my work on Substack. I even had three stacks going for a short time. I don’t know if my words have been hoovered up like the hairballs in the corners of my home. I bet they have, yet is that arrogant to assume anyone wants my shit? I’m laughing because the powers-that-be suck up everything in their path in the name of training the robots and making huge bank. They don’t care if I have 50 followers or 5000. The more the better, I suppose, but my outrage is the same.

I’ve been wondering how one can best share their work these days. The world is vast, and it feels so crazy to be sharing my words and photos with folks all over the planet. It’s fantastic. I love it, don’t you?! And really only possible because of the internet. With a few clicks, my work can be anywhere. That’s great, and it’s also worrisome.

I’ll let 2024 Phoebe share her thoughts about AI.

/././

I don’t know what AI means for writing. Except that it feels like cheating. Especially when words and photos and art are scraped from sites without consent. Even the term scrape just gives me the shivers. It’s violent and painful. It’s thievery.

I’ve been sitting on writing for my Substacks (yes, I have 2) because I’m not sure how I feel about sharing with a world where greedy folks are just waiting to steal your work. Yes, that’s maybe a bit paranoid. Yet – is it? And also naïve. People have been stealing the work of others and calling it their own for as long as there have been people. It’s human nature.

The massive scale to which this may or may not be happening is just awe-inspiring. And not in a good way. It’s happening to everyone. Bots are out there scouring the web for content. It doesn’t matter whose words and art they take. They’re only working as programmed by greedy programmers. Greedy companies. Thieves teaching machines how to do their bidding.

Oh, they’ll say it’s useful. AI will save the world! It’ll save you time. AI can do things people can’t at faster speeds! And I’m sure the beneficial applications will be grand. It’s that wily, devious side of human nature that I don’t trust. The people who want something for nothing.

AI can only think as well as the person who programmed it. (for now anyway) AI has no emotions, no heart. It gathers a mishmash of data from all over the web and sifts through what it needs to meet certain parameters.

It pisses me off. There is little anyone can do to protect themselves from it. Even behind paywalls, our work is vulnerable.

I’m at a loss for what to do.

So, I’ve decided to say FUCK IT.

I’m posting here to support and cheer my fellow writers and to amuse myself. If you see my words out there packaged as someone else’s – let me know. I’ll do the same for you.

If there comes a time when I might move my writing offline, I’ll let you know the deets if you wanna follow.

For now, keep writing your hearts out.

/././

And I still mean it more than a year later. Keep writing your hearts out.

Let me know your thoughts on AI in our creative world.

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