This year I’ve been on a bit of a theme, writing about the differences between real human connections – real engagement – versus the pseudo engagement we seem to be so immersed in online. Working in my clinic for the past 17 years has deeply confirmed the need we all have to connect, share, and support one another. Writing is one way we humans have to share our thoughts, feelings and ideas – a way to understand one another. The recent easy access to AI and Chat GTP as a writing aid/assistant has me reflecting on what it means to write and express creatively.
I have not tried this new technology yet but I have seen examples of its capability – writing songs, poetry, giving advice. The machine has basically read everything humans have published on the internet and is able to draw upon this vast amount of knowledge and information, synthesize it (sometimes within a matter of seconds) into something that seems to resemble original thought. As someone who enjoys writing, this technology alarms me, or at least puzzles me. Why are we so drawn to this technology? What do we stand to gain? To lose?
In school I was a poor English student, I probably would have been diagnosed with a form of dyslexia if that term had been around at the time. I received most of my English credits in high school through an odd English credit loophole – music and drama class. I didn’t learn how to write until I was in College. The school I attended made a big deal of writing and you couldn’t graduate without showing that you were capable of composing a well written and thoughtful essay. The experience of struggling to craft a piece of personal writing led me to finally appreciate the art of writing. To me writing was a skillful artistic process born from life experience, time, and hard thoughtful work. All this has me pondering; if something can simply be crafted now in an instant using these technologies, is it even worth reading at all? Is it worth writing?
I always thought that the point of writing was to express something that was unique – gained from personal experience, imagination and thought. As a young reader I was captivated and inspired by fiction writers like Tolkien and Ursula Le Guin – writers who created entire worlds on the written page. Non-fiction writers like Martin Luther King, Rachel Carson, and Nelson Mandela called me to be a better version of myself. Sharing our own personal thoughts, feelings, and experiences with one another helps us to better understand ourselves, each other, and most importantly, to feel connected to one another. That connection leads to kindness, compassion, understanding, empathy, to name a few things.
I feel sad witnessing our quick embrace of these new technologies – I feel like we are giving up something very human. For me this impact is that I feel less drawn to write and to share. I feel like once we start using machines to write for us it won’t be long before we have those same machines read and respond for us. Maybe then we will be able to get back to a moment of silence that will cause us to reflect on our current state. Until then I hope to see you in the real world.