Rage Against The Machines!

I have decided that I will start protecting all my writings with a Certificate of Authenticity!

When folks were worried that robots and computers were coming to take over our jobs, I was the first one to calm people down and say – “Don’t worry! They are here just to make our lives easier! They will help you build those cars faster, safer and better or just to make it easy for the online customer service folks by collecting the initial security data from the callers. They will handle all the mindless jobs and leave us with better paying jobs that will allow us to get home to our families by 5:00pm.”

This morning one of my friends posted a story that was entirely made up by AI software, based on minimal prompts. It was a wonderful story with depth, detailed character descriptions and a display of emotions between the characters like only humans were supposed to be capable of. Totally mind-blowing!

I had to try it out for myself. So, I went to the ChatGPT website and gave it this prompt: “I want you to write a story. About a DIY project fail by a new homeowner. Involves plumbing issue with the kitchen sink. Add a wife, a dog and a cop. Make the story humorous. Make the story one page long.” Then in a few seconds, I got the following story…

Wow! This is a gamechanger! I never thought that the tech guys would threaten the jobs of people in the humanities – writers, poets, journalists and even bloggers like me! What stops folks from making up vivid stories using these AI bots and passing them off as actual news stories? Worrying about college essays will be a thing of the past! Writing that movie script while sitting in a Starbucks with a laptop is no big deal anymore. Anybody can whip it up in seconds! The possibilities are endless and scary!

I was tempted to test the bot one more time. This time I gave a prompt based on my experience from long time ago (you can checkout that story here : Stalking R.K.Narayan ) : “I want you to write a story. About a young fan showing up at the house of writer R.K.Narayan. Make the story humorous. Make the story one page long.” Again, it did an amazing job except for one faux pas! Every fan of R.K.Narayan knows that he is a fanatic about south Indian coffee and that he would not be caught dead drinking tea, let alone offer it to a fawning (and stalking) fan! It is ironic that the AI software which will steal all of our writing jobs wrote (in the story below)“…writing is not always magical as it seems. Sometimes it’s just a lot of hard work and frustration”. 😯

So, yes, while it does come dangerously close to making me obsolete as a blogger of funny, nostalgia pieces, I feel that there is an authenticity that only I and my writing bring to the table (for all 27 of my subscribers) that no AI bot can replicate. This is why I will have to protect my brand of writing from imposters hiding behind AI software by adding a certificate of authentication to all my blog posts.

Just in case the AI bots do kick me out of my creative space, I am looking for backup hobbies/vocations such as a plumber or a male stripper, as these might be some of the few remaining domains that are safe from AI! Although, based on my earlier experience (described here : Trust Me! I Know What I Am Doing…) – I am not too sure if I am actually cut out for plumbing work. Also, is the world really ready for a balding Indian guy with a big belly hanging onto a stripper pole? 😀

I strongly protest these machines encroaching into my precious hobby! There has to be a bloggers’ union that exists purely to protect us in situations like this with an appropriately sized rubber rat to be used outside chatGPT headquarters! “Bloggers of the world unite against chatGPT”?

Meanwhile, I suddenly see me writing the next 10 Toastmasters speeches that I had been putting off, in just a few seconds! Thanks chatGPT 😊