#18,809
While it won't come as any surprise to strict grammarians who accidentally stumble across this blog, I have never used any type of AI `assisted' writing tools to pen these posts (other than the built-in spell checker).
Instead, I start each morning at 4am with blank screen, a quasi-blank mind, and a full pot of coffee. Several hours later - for better or worse - after I decide I've wrestled the bear long enough, I press the publish button.
Most mornings I have absolutely no idea what I'll be blogging on, At least not until I spend a hour or so hitting major news sites, and a long list of journals (I do use an RSS feed reader), looking for something that piques my interest.
Yesterday's blog Study: Preexisting Immunity to the 2009 Pandemic H1N1 Virus Reduces Susceptibility to H5N1 Infection and Disease in Ferrets took 4+ hours to write (including updating the graphics), which is about average for this type of post.
Some blogs take only an hour or two. But I've written some that took me an entire day (and sadly a few that, after several frustrating hours, I gave up on in defeat).
I'm quite aware that AI can now do all of this much faster. And some might argue, even better.
I've teetered on the bleeding edge of technology for decades (I had an Apple II+ in 1979, a TRS-80 model III in 1981), and spent the 80's and 90's as a professional database programmer.
So, despite some misgivings, I recently decided to take a look at the current abilities of AI to do what I euphemistically call `my job'.
I gave Perplexity AI the link to yesterday's study, and asked it to generate a 900-word blog summarizing it. In less than a minute it spewed out a perfectly serviceable - albeit (IMHO) utterly soulless - essay highlighting the main points (with references).
It even invited me to attach my name (see screenshot below), as if I'd written it.
To me, it reads like a boring by-the-numbers press release. And even though I asked it to write it for a college level audience, it still seems to `talk down' to the reader.
Of course, that may be more the fault of today's college-level reading skills than of the AI. But I digress . . .
I then asked it to read my blog (after I'd published it), and `rewrite it' for a college freshman reading level (see screenshot below).
The opening line `H5N1 bird flu is known for being very dangerous', accurately states the obvious, but it is about as insightful as saying `Explosions are bad for you'.
Although the AI generated text adequately summarized my essay, I don't think it improved it any. And once again, I could never put my name on it and claim that I wrote it.
Luckily, I've never monetized this blog, and I actually enjoy the process of finding, reading, and analyzing news reports, studies, and articles (believe me, it beats watching daytime TV).
There is simply no personal upside for me to use AI to increase my output, or lower my workload.
But I can see the writing on the wall, and human-written content like mine is rapidly becoming a dying art. AI can do it faster, cheaper, and while largely dry and uninspired, I expect most people will learn to accept it.
I'm not a complete Luddite. I frequently use AI assisted search engines, and I sometimes use AI to quickly summarize a study or an article so I can decide if I want to read it.
But there is no personal satisfaction to be had by asking AI to write a blog post. And very little chance that I would retain anything it wrote.
I'd just be clicking buttons for the sake of generating `content' - another cog in the machine spewing endless pap across the internet - and there is no fun in that.
While blogging has become a quaint, and nearly outmoded medium on the internet - and I'm almost as obsolete as my first Trash-80 computer - I can't see myself ever turning the reins of AFD over to AI generated content.
