Man vs. Machine Round #1 - The De-Humanization of Writing

Do you remember the voice that shattered the glass goblet? Back when I was a young boy growing up in metro Detroit in the early 1970s, jazz legend Ella Fitzgerald famously became the spokeswoman for Memorex audio cassettes in a series of TV ads where the power and pitch of her iconic voice was said to shatter a glass goblet even when it was a recording and not live. The rest is history and for years the phrase "Is it live or is it memorex?" became a part of pop culture that is still used to this day. 

So much has changed since the bygone days of cassette recorders. In fact I would be hard pressed to even find a cassette player to listen to the boxes full of old time radio shows that I have recorded on memorex audio cassette tapes which I still have stashed around the house. Technology has given us the opportunity to make high quality recordings with the basic apps that come with our cellphones. We can edit those recordings and make them nearly flawless with Garage Band software on our laptops. If you really want to get fancy, for a small fee you can send off your recordings and have them professionally edited with music and have lots of other bells and whistles added like Deb and I do with the It's About Life Podcast. It probably won't be long before we won't even need to make the recordings ourself and instead all we will need to do is jot down an idea with a sample of our voice and then some computer will create a custom podcast using artificial intelligence. Yikes! 

Artificial intelligence (AI) is showing up everywhere in our lives these days. I would like to think we are still a good distance away from the likes of cyborg assassins vs. humans like the 1984 hit movie Terminator which I saw while I was in college at The University of Michigan, but there is no mistaking that AI is not going away anytime soon. Lately I can't help but notice the growing number of people who are using AI to create solid quality written content on a consistent basis both for their social media sites and on their blogs. While I love the fact that more and more people have the opportunity to get out into the world and share their unique messages and talents, I Like many people have fears about this dehumanization of the writing process.

To take my fears one step further, for years I have struggled with a little something that is commonly referred to as imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is having a persistent inability to believe that one's success is either deserved or has legitimately been earned through one's own talent or skills. Could it be with the onset of AI blogging that there will be so much decent content out there that nobody will have time or the need to follow my old school, handwritten, painstakingly crafted compositions? Could AI make my superpowers of idea distillation and content creation redundant? It was enough to make me think about throwing in the towel on the writer/teacher/coach career and just stay in bed all day binge watching Netflix shows which may or may not have been written by actual humans! 

During my three decades of yoga and martial arts practice, I have been exposed to countless pieces of wisdom that I can apply to my everyday life outside the studio or the dojo. Some of those teachings have come at the foot of teachers who I have studied with in person and other lessons have been synthesized over 30 years of reading brilliant pieces of prose and poetry written by very human masters of all ages. Somewhere along the way in my martial arts studies, I ran across a parable that went something like this: 

~ Student who knows neither his opponent or himself loses 100% of the time
~ Student who knows either his opponent or himself will prevail 50% of the time
~ Student who knows both himself and his opponent can not be defeated

Out of respect to my many remarkable teachers, I thought I would be a good student and invest some time in studying my opponent in this man vs. machine battle of blog writing. Perhaps in doing so, I might be able see what I was up against with the hopes that a better understanding AI content creation would give me the clarity I needed to peacefully coexist with yet another perceived opponent on my path to success and abundance. 

On a whim, I found the first free AI content creation site on my web browser and entered the topic, "Will AI be able to replace humans when it comes to writing and content creation?" I figured why not go right for the jugular and ask the source itself how and why they thought they might be able to make me redundant? 

After about 30 seconds, the AI source I was using asked me a few questions to narrow down the scope of the field. The first thing this Hemingway-Bot asked me was what mood I wanted the piece to be written in. Seriously? A computer was asking me about feelings and moods? I scrolled through my options and sheepishly selected hopeful. The next thing I was asked was to select a title that most fit the topic I wanted to blog about. I was given seven different options of which I selected, "Why AI will never be able to replace human writing." I could not help but savor the irony of the fact that I was asking AI to tell me why they could never be as good a writer as little old me! 

Once I selected my preferred title it was no more than 30 seconds before I was given a nifty little 500 word blog complete with the appropriate artwork to support the story. My mind was blown! The suggested blog post was divided into five parts including and introduction, a conclusion and three main points of discussion. My eyes proceeded to the introduction which read:

"There has been a lot of fear mongering about the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the job market. Many people believe that AI will eventually replace human jobs - including writers. While it is true that AI can write simple articles and even generate complex ones using algorithms, there are certain things that they will never be able to replace." 

I thought to myself, "That's not too bad!" The intro line was clear and well written. The first paragraph offered a hypothesis and at the same time leaves the reader curious about more information. Part of me was a bit relieved to hear that AI itself did not think that it could ever replace human writing, yet at the same time another part of me was really impressed with what I just read. My Hemingway-Bot continued by writing: 

"The art of human writing is about more than just putting words on a page. It's about conveying emotion, connecting with the reader and understanding the complexities of the human condition. These are things AI will never be able to replace."

Are you kidding me? Did I just read that AI itself is fully aware that it is not as capable of conveying emotion or connecting with the reader the same way as a human writer? Maybe this imposter syndrome thing is starting to spread into the world of machines as much as it is within humanity. My mind was spinning with the ramifications of it all! 

One of the three topics my computer guided ghost writer chose to tackle in the body of the blog was the question of why writing is a blend of art and science. I would have very likely addressed the exact same question if I had decided to write a piece on this topic because I tend to view all things in life as part art and part science. When it comes to writing specifically, the science parts are things like grammar, spelling and linguistics. The art of writing comes into play in areas like storytelling, making personal observations and creating beautiful narrative that captivates the readers senses. Or as AI wrote in this case: 

"Writing a story that touches the readers requires skill and insight. Writers must be able to identify the right words and phrases to evoke emotion in their readers. They must also understand the purpose of their writing and have the ability to use language to make a point. This includes elements of both literary art and technical writing." 

Immediately the words "understand the purpose of their writing" jumped off the page at me. More and more in this day and age I find that people in general are confused as to their overall purpose in life. Lack of satisfaction with one's vocational path, challenging relationships and struggling to live mindfully or intentionally are just a few of the many obstacles to being able to understand and truly feel one's purpose. In some extreme cases people will even tell me that they do not think that their life has any purpose. Redefining one's life purpose is of course a huge existential topic that I am more than happy to dive into you with in a one to one conversation, but as it relates to this particular piece of writing, my purpose as a storyteller and content creator is actually quite clear. 

I write to share the pieces of my individual life story with the hope that it will make others feel connected to my personal hero's journey in a way that they can have more faith in persevering on their own journey. If I had used AI to write this piece, I could have given you accurate, well written information about overcoming imposter's syndrome, awakening your inner artist and understanding more about your life purpose. What you would have missed out on though would have been the very human nuances of the piece like: 

~ My childhood in Detroit
~ Memories of a vintage TV commercial
~ The sound of Ella Fitzgerald hitting a High-C as the glass shattered
~ My love of old time radio 
~ The fact that I have a podcast named It's About Life 
~ The image of a buff 37-year old Schwarznegger wearing dark sunglasses
~  My lifelong passion for yoga and martial arts

So I guess if all things in life are a blend of art and science, it is actually possible for me to peacefully coexist with the AI writing-bots of the world. Instead of seeing this new and unfamiliar resource as an opponent, perhaps I can work to figure out how to make it an ally.

Where are the places in your life where you can overcome imposter syndrome by seeing a perceived opponent as an ally? Is there a spot where your inner artist can bring a warm human aspect to the everyday science of life? I know our world would be well served if we could all remember that there is more than enough to go around, especially when we help each other and do our best to peacefully coexist. It most definitely is the most human thing we can do. 

Well that's all for this time. Thanks for reading. You can check out my new website at the link underneath the picture of the homepage below. Stay tuned for the return of the SpeakEasy Social Club and the launch of my new men's container The Water of Life Men's Community later this month.. Peace and blessings to you all, 

Jim