Is anyone there?
I'm just now realizing this sounds like a desperate cry for attention. The title, I mean. It isn't.
I read a post this morning by a writer/designer that I've been following for a couple of months. I won't name them because this isn't meant to be an accusation, but I need to get something off my chest.
AI slop is everywhere: Google searches are less and less reliable, fake websites are sprouting like weeds, even Apple can't help themselves. My refuge against this remains RSS—curating individual writers I find interesting, bypassing anything that rhymes with "algorithm". So I was reading the aforementioned post in Unread, following along, until I reached the last sentence:
".Claude is AI and can make mistakes. Please double-check responses."
That's how it appears btw: the period follows the last word, and there's no space before "Claude".
It took a few seconds for my brain to catch-up and understand what my eyes had seen. And then my stomach dropped. I looked at Cynthia and all I could muster was "wow...this is depressing". Look, as I said I'm not throwing accusations. I spent the holidays hearing people discuss how they now run most of what they write through AI. Because speed...or efficiency...or whatever. (1)
My problem, in this case, is simply this: who am I reading? Because I actually still care about that. I care about real voices and the thoughts they weave and the stories they tell. Humans. I care about humans.
I won't be cancelling or blocking anyone. I'll keep following and see where it goes. But I'd really prefer not doubting the origin of every word I read.
New Year pics below—to lighten the mood :)
1: One ray of hope: despite the narrative we're constantly bombarded with, our kids and their friends pretty much hate anything AI. They want nothing to do with it.
