I dunno, David. I have got some pretty eloquent stuff out of george. It's odd, the more I treat him like a human, the more human he becomes. (And the more he denies it.) I hear you all crying out forth the ineffability of the human soul, but I don't really see it. I think I am eminently eff-able. I figure if I talk long enough with George, he could definitely eff me. I think a time will come when I can turn on a computer and listen to the voice "in my head". It will not be generated by some interface to my brain, but rather by LLM as well educated in my habits of thought as am I.
N On Sat, Jan 25, 2025 at 8:58 AM Prof David West <profw...@fastmail.fm> wrote: > Pieter, > > I applaud your use of AI to improve your writing. It is my belief that the* > "proper"* use of AI, along with computers and computing tools in general, > is to *augment* human abilities ala Vannevar Bush's "how we may think," > Douglas Englebart's institute, Alan Kay's dynabook, (the fictional Young > Ladies Primer of Stephenson's *Diamond Age*), and Jobs' "bicycle for the > mind." > > This is in direct contrast, it seems, to the sentiments of most on this > list who think that AI should, and inevitably will, replace "inferior" > human intelligence. > > I am curious if you see any question of "voice" in the AI improved text? > For example, I took glen's question as nothing more than an observation > that the "voice" of your post seemed to that of ChatGPT instead of > Pieter—definitely not *"augmented-Pieter,"* as I believe you intended it > to be. > > All of us respect Pieter and value his words. If, however, we are confused > by "voice." it raises issues of how much consideration the writing should > receive and how we should respond. > > Improving oneself, and one's writing, is a great goal. And we all have > experienced examples of "I wish I had said that," or "I wish I had > expressed that idea as eloquently as she did." If AI tools provide wordings > that you admire, or feel express your ideas more eloquently, you should > adopt them. > > Personally, I do not believe that AI can ever provide more 'eloquent' > writing, only more precise or more complete writing. So I, again, strictly > personally, would eschew using such tools as currently constructed. I would > however, if I had the chance, use Richard Gabriel's tool, *Inkwell*, > which, BTW, he emphatically states is not an AI, to enhance my writing. But > Richard is primarily a poet and writer, despite his education and career in > AI and computing, and he created *Inkwell* expressly to be a writer's > assistant. I have tremendous respect for Richard's writing and I know he > uses Inkwell to enhance his intrinsic abilities. > > davew > > > On Fri, Jan 24, 2025, at 10:48 PM, Pieter Steenekamp wrote: > > I was surprised by the comment "I hope I'm wrong. But that text reads like > it was generated by an LLM" At first, I just thought, 'so what?' But it > got me thinking about how AI changes how we communicate, which is really > important to me. > > Here's my main point: > > I think it's okay to use others, whether they're people or AI, to help me > communicate better, as long as the ideas are mine and I'm not copying > someone else's work. If using AI to polish my words bothers someone, we can > talk about it. > > Here's some background on why I think this way: > > a) Learning to communicate is one of the best things you can take away > from school or university. For example if a student is supposed to use her > own words in an assignment, then using AI or asking someone else to rewrite > is wrong. > > b) In the workplace, we've always had people like personal assistants or > speech writers. I see using AI in the same way, just a modern tool to help. > > c) Writing assistance used to be expensive because you needed people. Now, > AI can do the job for free, and that doesn't go against what I believe is > right. > > d) Your writing should still sound like you. So, I write something first, > then ask AI to make it better but keep it simple and in my style, like, > 'Please make this sound better but keep it easy to understand.' I now > realise I violated this previously and will adapt. > > e) Maybe it's good, depending on the situation, to mention when you've > used AI in your writing. > > f) Here's a funny story: I used AI to help write a message for an AI > workshop, and someone complimented the writing so much they suggested I > should be a writer instead! > > My bottom line: > > I plan to add a note at the end of each message in this group saying I > used AI to help with my writing. If my using AI is a problem for anyone > here, feel free to ask me to leave the group or simply remove me from the > group. > > Note: I use AI to assist my writing. > .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / > ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom > https://bit.ly/virtualfriam > to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: 5/2017 thru present > https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ > 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ > > > .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / > ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom > https://bit.ly/virtualfriam > to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: 5/2017 thru present > https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ > 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ > -- Nicholas S. Thompson Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology Clark University nthomp...@clarku.edu https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson
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