The Interconnectivity of Life

Have you noticed the plethora of lists popping up online that identify AI’s favored words? Apparently, “tapestry," "interconnectedness," and “kaleidoscopic” are prevalent in AI-generated content. (I suspect those terms are popular because they facilitate the embedding of a catalog of information into tidy paragraphs.) "Bioluminescent" is also a red flag AI indicator—I cannot explain that one. To instill trust in this column's human authorship, I will also need to jettison the use of “transformative.” ChatGPT statistically loves that word and so do I. I am really sorry to see it go.

When my children were young, I studied plen air painting in a course taught by a renowned artist. Charged with completing a large oil painting in the few hours of each class, our goal was to break free from the tedium and preciousness that realistic art creation can naturally generate. We were encouraged to take ourselves seriously and think expansively. Class concluded with a group critique of each masterwork, and those peer reviews were as thoughtful and tough as anything delivered on Rupaul’s Drag Race. We were fiercely dedicated both to each other and to the quality of our work. Laboring in public spaces like parks, street corners and zoos, we were always surprised when confronted by casual strangers wanting to chat while we raged against the clock. Wasn’t our toil and sweat obvious?

At the time, I remember seeing Elizabeth Taylor's portrayal of a “free-spirited artist” in an old film. She flitted, flirted and pirouetted in front of her canvas, making broad elegant movements with her paintbrush as if it were an opera-length cigarette holder. If only creating art could be that easy and glamorous!

Writing is equally hard, the struggle perhaps just as hidden from view. In her exquisite 1989 book, The Writing Life, Annie Dillard describes years of commitment to voluntary confinement in obscure library carrels and one-room seaside huts. For Dillard, “perfecting a piece of prose” necessitates a level of isolated determination.

“The written word is weak. Many people prefer life to it. Life gets your blood going, and it smells good…This writing that you do, that so thrills you, that so rocks and exhilarates you, as if you were dancing next to the band, is barely audible to anyone else. The reader’s ear must adjust down from loud life to the subtle imaginary sounds of the written word.”

I am wondering if every written piece, particularly in the workplace, deserves the Dillard pound of sacrifice and focus. Maybe some forms of writing could be delegated to our faithful AI, freeing us to explore our deeper thoughts or to more easily meet an aggressive deadline on repetitive writing tasks. Anyone who has grappled for the perfect word in a routine press release while the phone is ringing amidst the pull of competing projects might appreciate the genie potential of ChatGPT.?Make a wish!

I present this suggestion with some caveats. Because generative AI gathers information from other sources, verifiable reliability parameters obviously need to be set. We need to check facts and more. The following conclusion of a news story reporting tennis tournament results for one of my favorite stars illustrates another issue:?

“Osaka is a popular player who reveals her emotions more than most. Her openness about her mental struggles is good for the game and good for humanity.”

The jarring tonal shift from match scores to judgmental pronouncement signals a mechanical voice in need of human intervention. In the same way that one would not release a valuable junior employee’s work carelessly into the world without a support network, AI cannot act as our fairy godmother granting all of our wishes without any effort on our part. We are not being relieved of our responsibilities to the art of writing. Publishing hollow articles mired in an echo chamber jeopardizes not only our readers’ regard, but the very core of our profession. AI-generated content tends to exude a confidence and authority that should not fool us into thinking that it is the boss. With continuous machine learning, AI has the potential to sharpen its capabilities and become a stronger tool over time, however, the process demands our expert supervision and polish.

Writers have always worried that we are running out of new stories to tell. We have always been concerned with word use and developing fresh insights into human nature. Let AI clear our time to do more of that part—the sweaty struggling, the important part of writing. We should not relinquish our accountability because AI can perform some of the basic tasks of writing so well and perform them with a commanding tone. We still need to take ourselves seriously. We still need to think big. AI can free us to think bigger.