Recently on 60 Minutes1, correspondent Scott Pelley marveled at how an artificial intelligence program could write a short story, complete with references to the human soul, based on Ernest Hemingway’s famous six-word novel2. The program did this within seconds. The AI program also generated a lightning-fast explanation of inflation, adding several books on the subject—books, Pelley and his team discovered, that do not exist. The team that created the program calls these fabrications “hallucinations.” Another way of saying it: AI makes stuff up.
AI is making, and making up, a lot of stuff these days. Essays and articles (that may or may not be true). Aids to the advancement of medical science. Art. Even relationships3. Some herald this as the dawn of a new age of information. Others say it’s the beginning of Skynet, the fictional AI program that begat The Terminator, and Hal 90004, the mutinous, murderous computer in 2001.
The debate about the merits and potential hazards of AI would require more time and space than I have here, though I could get a deep dive on the subject from ChatGPT or Bard in seconds. When I hear fellow writers and artists wonder if they’ll soon be out of work due to AI, and I see more automated self-checkout lanes in the supermarket than cashiers, I think about a conversation I had a few years ago with
, author Making a Life: Working by Hand and Discovering the Life You Are Meant to Live. And I’d love to pass along a copy of this beautiful, meaningful book to you.Paid subscribers to this newsletter have access to giveaways, more posts, and other extras. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber!
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