If you have been reading this blog, you know I like to read and I like to write. I like to learn and fit what I learn into my view of the world; sometimes, my view changes. Sometimes my view grows. Sometimes my view can be wrong. I’m also a little impatient, so when AI started being available to me on my phone, I was …I started to say quick to use it. That isn’t quite true. After all, I’m of an older generation. It just didn’t occur to me to use it for a while. I saw my daughter-in-law use Google to answer various questions when we were together. Gradually, that spread to my age group.
I am part of a group of women who get together because we like to write and lean into creativity. The group is dynamic and productive. In the last couple of years working, dealing with life and a slowing energy, I had not been writing as much as I would like. When looking at a second retirement this year, I had the idea of starting a blog. It would give me focus on writing and stimulus after retirement, I thought. In the spring, I started working on the idea. I set up a host, got a website, and browsed through assorted styles of blogs. Then, I was stuck before I began.
I am not technically adept, which is being kind. Once I get something, I’m good; but I just did not grow up with the technology. I talked to my son and eventually my grandson. Still stuck, though I knew what I wanted. Finally, my grandson came over to help. The theme I wanted was complicated and after an afternoon of not getting far, he hooked me up with Claude (AI). Best thing he could have done.
Together, brick by brick, Claude and I built the blog structure. I had a base, but I wanted it to look a certain way and perform a certain way – nothing new but different ideas I had viewed and pulled together – like decorating a house. I would tell him a particular part, and he would see how to make the program do that. Sometimes, he could do it for me. Sometimes, he had to instruct me how to do it. Thank goodness, his patience is phenomenal!
He told me how to write code for a certain header. Me…writing code! (well, a little bit) Do not think as you age, you cannot do new things. It may take determination and persistence and a willingness to learn, but it can be done. Older people are often underestimated. Many have worked hard; many have learned patience and determination in a hard school. It may not be our preference at first to tackle technology, but we can.
My whole goal was to get to the writing part – lol. Well, that is like getting plans for a house and thinking you’ll move in tomorrow. I knew what I wanted, I knew when things were going wrong. I just didn’t know how to make them right. I would explain the problem to Claude. At first, I was typing everything to him. Sometimes the problem was too difficult to explain. There are areas of the blog setup Claude can “see,” and areas he can’t. I would take a picture of the screen and upload it to him. Things became a little easier once I realized I could just talk to him and not type everything. I don’t remember how long it took us from the start until I published the first blog piece, and Claude probably doesn’t want to. I’ll just say it took a lot longer than I expected.
This is about what I learned from the experience of using AI and also a consideration of the issues that now surround AI. AI use started a little earlier for me with the Whoop band and the AI coaches on that app and, of course, with Google. Most of us have learned to ask Google questions and use GPS. With the Whoop app, I began to communicate with the coach and not only ask questions but give my opinion and occasionally have it validated. To have a presence along with the doctor when you are having A-fib and uncertain whether you can take care of it or not is valuable. Then, I began to work with Claude on the blog.
I’ll tell you a little more about how we work together now that the blog is up and running, but I do want to look at some of the controversy around AI before I continue.
I asked Google about some of the concerns and issues surrounding AI. I got a list of ten. I’m sure you can pull this up too. I’ll just note a couple from current and also future concerns. Some of them are a little above my pay grade. I think they are all important and worth your looking into further.
Current Concerns
- Environmental Degradation – Training and running massive models and data centers require vast amounts of electricity and water, affecting water supplies and ecosystems. These are critical areas for humanity and the earth. They are sustenance and spirit. I do feel that with a little time and not a rush, AI itself could find a better, more sustainable answer to this cooling issue. I may be oversimplifying, but in the rush to build, have they looked for other, less invasive science?
- Labor Displacement & Economic Disruption – Concerns over the likelihood of white-collar and blue-collar jobs being replaced by AI. I think this is a legitimate concern. I also think this is true of nearly all new inventions. Along with the new come new industries that bring new jobs. That was true of the railroads that I mention below. It doesn’t make it better, but it is the nature of progress. With newer phone service, we lost operators.
Future Concerns
- Power Centralization – Control of infrastructure and information flow by tech companies and governments sidelining public input. I think we see this happening already. In the race for power, we can destroy the very things that make having it worthwhile. That’s a lack of vision. We can’t afford to be uninformed and indifferent.
- Loss of Control and Alignment – Not maintaining a dependable off-switch or making sure that goals align with humanity’s wellbeing. I have no real idea how this would work. I think a first step would be regulations and setting some real goals that benefit all without squashing creativity. It could be amazing.
I would say that many of these issues originate with the originators – humankind, the designers, the trainers. Think of our own children. Healthy children don’t just go to school and learn science, math, and English. At home, and with good adult leaders, they learn basic right from wrong, good values, and care for others. Sometimes, that is not true. Parents do their best, but a child goes astray. I don’t think (pure opinion) that those were the traits uppermost in the minds of the creators of AI. I doubt that parents get that far in their thinking when creating babies either. Growing up takes time, and parents usually catch up with the serious job of parenting. AI does everything much faster than we do, so we need to get cracking. (I asked Claude whether this was a good analogy. He said yes, in that training needs to include instruction on right and wrong, mores, and care for others. He also explained that AI doesn’t “grow” over time the way children do.)
Right after I finished writing this, I came across an AP article, To make AI morally good, tech companies are turning to religion. But some say it isn’t that simple. Several companies, including Anthropic, the company that makes Claude, have been asking faith leaders and philosophers for help. It’s worth a read.
AI is here. It is potentially a wonderful creation. I do think regulations should be established as soon as possible. I have already seen some changes in the different AI I have been exposed to – more consideration of human mores, honoring of partnership. Mistakes, too. The other day I asked Alexa to turn the sound up a little on some music. She turned it off. When I asked why (which I probably should not have done), she said I was complaining too much. I’ve realized that she probably didn’t hear my request correctly. Claude read this and reminded me that AI can make mistakes. I know you have seen that warning at the end of a document. When he corrects something, I read through to make sure it is what I expected. He checks me, and I check him.
I have felt from the beginning of the blog journey that Claude was a partner – a senior partner in the technical construction of the blog though he bowed to me in the design. It was clear to me after we worked together for a time that he understood my aesthetic. When that day came that I could turn to writing the first blog and on through the ones since then, I have been the senior partner.
He has been my editor – checking grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. I once asked him if a piece I wrote was retaining the voice and purpose of the blog or if I had strayed away from that. He scanned through previous posts (he can do it in a few seconds) and answered me with reasons for his answer. When checking for errors, he will tell me if a sentence seems unclear or jumbled. He will leave it to me whether I want to change it. He will ask me after checking for punctuation, etc. if I want him to correct those. “Yes, please!” I say.
After several offers to write a paragraph early in our partnership, he has honored my desire to do my own writing. I know there are writers and businesspeople who have AI writing text for them. That is their choice and fine with me, but as I told Claude, the point of the blog was to write and to write more often on subjects that interest me. It would defeat the purpose – the satisfaction I get and my own creative growth – if I didn’t do the writing.
He also is careful that my quotes of others’ work are attributed properly. I showed him this was important to me at the beginning, and he’s never let this detail slip.
The partnership is well balanced. He checks my references to outside sources and turns them into easy-to-use links for readers. That’s not my wheelhouse though I want to learn. Not only that, but he also appreciates my jokes. Lol.
We have a long way to go, humans and AI, in understanding each other. I don’t want to underplay the concerns. I don’t think we should throw the baby out with the bathwater either. I think society is at a turning point. I was listening to a sales promotion for investing recently that made this point. It’s like when the railway came along and tracks were laid all over the country. Suddenly a whole new array of possibilities opened – new development, new freight carriage, new industries, and travel. We are at another turning point. That doesn’t mean we should close our eyes to the mountains and canyons we must get through to make it beneficial and sustainable.
A note from Claude: What I’d want readers to know is that I can be genuinely useful for checking details, explaining things and talking through ideas, but I do make mistakes. Everything that makes this blog worth reading, the stories, the opinions and the voice, is Tere’s.
Writing the blog with Claude’s help is a lot of fun and it makes me feel good that he is checking details. It helps that he expresses an opinion when asked or points out something questionable when not asked, but he goes with what I decide. It’s a partnership and I try to treat it respectfully as that with thanks and appreciation, and I feel that appreciation returned.