The AI Invasion
To speak alone and wordlessly, as one does by writing, is to listen and perceive truth with a freshness of sensation like that of a man who rises early in the morning and holds his ear to nature.
At the start of every new technological revolution, the question of whether non-human systems will replace the human is posed. This was true in the mid-1900s, when Alan Turing laid out the principles for the modern computer, and is true today as we encounter the competent and efficient ChatGPT. The difference between previous autonomous systems and ChatGPT is in what they supplant: because of the inextricable link between writing and thinking, ChatGPT is replacing, or at least diluting, the human need to be critical and creative.
My style, my pen, is the intellectual instrument which I use to express myself and to tell others what I understand of eternal truth. This instrument is a quality of my being, an interior bent, a disposition of the living brain, that is, it is a particular evolution of myself. ‘Style is the man’.
When one writes, without the aid of tools like Grammarly or WordTune, every step of the process must be cognitively powered by the human. From developing the hypothesis, to structuring the article, to choosing the words and sentences to articulate the message, the human fights against his ignorance and must use his mental faculties to reach his destination. After many years of writing, coupled with reading and personal experience, the writer begins to develop his own personal style: his own way of seeing questions, developing solution pathways, and choosing the path in writing. This style is what makes the writer who he is, differentiating him from his contemporaries and inspirations. The style is the writer.
One finds one’s way only by taking it. All life moves in a circle. An organ that is used grows and gets strong; a strong organ can be used more effectively. You must write throughout the whole of your intellectual life.
Writing is a process of thinking, and the best writers know great writing involves weeding out the superfluous in search of the golden message hidden within. Writing is an art and a skill, one that must be cultivated and practiced in order to keep it strong and healthy. And as an artist, the writer is constantly undergoing transformation and evolution as he reads, writes, and traverses life. Writing is essential to the development of the writer, from an artistic, personal, and professional level. And this is why ChatGPT, which is really only a first generation model and will become increasingly better over time, is both enticing and scary to the writer who does not value or appreciate the process.
ChatGPT, from what I have heard, is capable of replicating the style of a given author or piece too. This puts my argument of style in question: if ChatGPT can replicate my tone and prose, what need do I have to write a piece if I can simply give ChatGPT my last 10 newsletters and tell it to write me a piece on Topic X? To those not invested or interested in the development and evolution of their writing life, this may be enough to convince them to utilize AI tools. There is, however, one caveat: ChatGPT must use past writing to create your present voice. To the writer, or artist, who is continually evolving, who I am tomorrow, as a person and as a writer, is unknown. It depends on the future: what I read in the paper, the book I find at the used book store in Toulouse, the homeless man I have a short chat with outside of the Santa Maria del Mar in Barcelona. These moments change me, and therefore influence my style and the topics I choose to write about. When I read Sertillanges, I take from him elements I want to use myself. When I read Tolstoy, I do the same. Reading them again provides only more value. ChatGPT can approximate this integration of the outside world in to my being, but it will never be able to predict my future readings habits, nor what will occur in my life in the coming days and years that will fundamentally change me as a person and writer. And so, as a writer who writes for the process, seeking to evolve and find new versions of myself within every newsletter and work of writing, I don’t fear AI. The end product is not the goal — if it were, ChatGPT will soon be able to do that at a level just as good as me (even better, likely). The goal is the process of becoming one’s self, encountering life — making mistakes, reading great books, talking with friends and strangers — and letting those experiences transform me and my writing as consequence. AI will one day be able to do this newsletter for me, but that’s not why I do it: I do it because writing is an irreplaceable part of my life — a source of immeasurable pleasure and the fount from which I derive creativity and create myself.
‘Look in thy heart and write,’ said Sidney. The man who writes like that, without pride or artifice, as if it were for himself, is in reality speaking for humanity, provided he has the talent that will carry true words far and wide. Humanity will recognize itself in him, because it is human nature that has inspired the discourse. Life recognizes life. If I give my neighbour just black marks on white paper, he will perhaps look at the thing curiously, but then he will throw it down; if I am like a tree offering foliage and fruit full of rich sap, if I give my whole self, I will convince him, and like Pericles, leave the dart in men’s souls.
It’s 11:02am on Christmas Eve. No one is home. I’m drinking coffee, with a copy of Henry Kissinger’s Leadership on my left, writing this newsletter on my iPad. I am at home, and wouldn’t trade this moment for anything…even an extra 1 hour in my day by letting ChatGPT write this for me.
* Quotes from The Intellectual Life by AG Sertillanges
** Originally in Time Capsule #105 (25 Dec 2022)
