This post can also be found on my Substack.
I’ve seen a lot of content recently about “augmenting” yourself and your workflows with generative AI tools. Given the communities I’m in, most of this focuses on Copilot or ChatGPT for programmers and developers. By now I’ve already accepted the reality that some portion of software engineers and copywriters are going to be replaced with generative AI in the near future.
But some stuff makes me feel uneasy.
Storytime AI is now available for iOS on the App Store!
[link to app]
For months, my wife and I were manually and haphazardly using ChatGPT to generate bedtime stories for our 3yo (mostly using her ideas as prompts), so I built this app to make bedtime a lot easier!
I’m sure that Nathan Chan and his wife love their child and want the best for her - it’s probably why he’s built this app. But something feels deeply wrong about this to me. Storytelling and the connections it creates are something I deeply want to keep away from the Omnissiah, on principle. On the other hand, they are obviously benefiting from what he’s created here, spending quality time with their child.
The profession I’m currently in (software research and development) is one that has and will feel some of the greatest upheaval from generative AI. Up until now, though, I’ve had a difficult time empathizing with the artists, whose industry seems close to a similar paradigm shift. Perhaps I’m just not that invested in my job, and don’t see myself as much of an artist. But thinking about my words or my music or the other forms of expression I hold close to me being rejected or dismissed for the creations of the machine spirits hits deeper than just what I do for a living.
On some level I feel like I’ll be okay - but I don’t know if it’s what I truly believe or just what I want to believe.