Would You Like a Side of AI With That?

It seems wherever I turn online, AI (artificial intelligence) is offering to help me. On the screen where I am writing this blog (and it is ME), there are several WordPress options to improve my blog with AI. Likewise, Microsoft’s Copilot resides on my toolbar, ready to help me at any time. Google’s AI summarizes the gist of my search results for me. Facebook now offers AI summaries of comment threads.

I’m not a Luddite by any means, and I can see some beneficial uses of this technology. But I am not a fan and I’ve not availed myself. Besides the deleterious effects I’ve seen in the academic world that has eroded both student reading and writing, I wonder what an increased reliance on AI does to our thinking and creative processes.

Part of the thinking process that I think important is the work of synthesizing and evaluating information. Yes, AI can do this efficiently and I can defer to this, but I’m troubled that I might reach different conclusions on my own. That said, I’ll admit to using AI after the fact to ensure that I’m not totally out to lunch.

I also take joy in writing. That doesn’t mean it is always easy. But the process of turning thoughts into words is deeply satisfying. It is also clarifying. Sometimes, I know more clearly what I think of something when I write. At the same time, it reminds me of my writerly responsibility. I can’t blame it on the AI!

I’m curious to know what others think. There are various ways technology can extend or enhance human work. I wonder if there are ways to use AI where it enables me to do what is not possible for me alone and yet bears the stamp of my thought and creativity. So I am cautiously open. But for now, I think I will pass on that side of AI.

Five Articles Worth Reading

In a world where so much about us is online, Lowry Pressly argues for the importance of privacy. I appreciate this extended review of Pressly’s book, The Right to Oblivion in the Atlantic article, “The Virtue of Being Forgotten.”

I consider librarians among the unsung heroes in our culture. But our heroes are burning out with the growing challenges they are facing, described in this New York Times article, “Librarians Face a Crisis of Violence and Abuse.”

I have had several adult friends diagnosed with one of the various forms of neurodivergence: ADHD, autism, dyslexia among them. “10 Books About Neurodivergence for Newly Diagnosed Adults” offers resources for those diagnosed and those who care for or work with them.

In “Nick Hornby: The Older You Get, the Less Time You Have for Bad Books,” Hornby writes, “Reading a bad novel when you are approaching pensionable age is like taking the time left available to you and setting it on fire.” I keenly understand what he is saying as a septuagenarian!

Finally, I went through a phase of reading John le Carré’s George Smiley spy novels. He was one of the few writers in this genre I really liked. I’m usually not keen on attempts by another writer to revive a series. But this Guardian review, “Karla’s Choice by Nick Harkaway review – this continuation of le Carré is a treat” suggests that I might give this one a try. Harkaway is le Carré’s son.

Quote of the Week

James Boswell, the biographer of Samuel Johnson, was born October 29, 1740. He made an observation many of us who love wordplay will appreciate:

“A good pun may be admitted among the smaller excellencies of lively conversation.”

Miscellaneous Musings

I asked, “What do you wish authors of books would stop doing?” on my Facebook page. It turns out that there are a lot of pet peeves. Gratuitous anything, including political views, were among the widely shared. Here’s a link to the comment thread.

I just finished Douglas Groothuis’ Beyond the Wager. I’ll be reviewing it on Monday but reading it reminded me of reading Pensees with a group of friends twenty years ago. Pascal seemed to be distinctive in his ability to bring head and heart together as he reasoned about theological and philosophic realities. Time to re-read him.

Earlier this year, I read Siddhartha Mukherjee’s Song of the Cell and loved the beauty of his medical writing. At Half Price Books to sell some books, I found an earlier book, The Gene, in the discount shelves for the princely sum of $3. Hope it is worth it. Actually, with the books I sold, it didn’t cost anything, so I think that hope is warranted!

Well, that’s The Weekly Wrap for October 27-November 2, 2024!

Find past editions of The Weekly Wrap under The Weekly Wrap heading on this page.