The argument seems to be that intentions are good and there will be no abuse or corruption in this one very pure corner of the high capitalist corporate universe, lol.
"Theoretically, authors could object and withhold their material from training, but that would be turning down free money." Admittedly I hate the sound of mindlessly rejecting free clammage.
Less convincing:
"[Y]ou’ll end up working harder or spending more money than everyone else who is using these tools."
I live to work harder, Jane. Suffering gives me life. BRING THE PAIN.
But... Am I turning down free money? Should everyone read that article and we'll do another poll? Am I being naive and maladaptive? Outsourcing again. Sort it out for me, soulmates!
This paragraph is full of factual errors and logical leaps: "Even those who question the ethicality of generative AI believe that writers and students today should (or must) learn to use it. 'What faculty and teachers call cheating, business calls progress,' Bowen said during the panel. 'If you say you can’t use a tool or refuse to use it, your colleagues who use the tool will complete their work faster and better.' In other words, AI is raising the average. However, Bowen said, 'AI is better than 80 percent of humans at a lot of things, but it’s not better than the experts. … The best writers, the best experts are better than AI.'"
1. "Even those who question the ethicality of generative AI believe writers and students today should (or must) learn to use it." Not true! This is an AI company talking point, that somehow, students will be "left behind" if they can't use AI. Actually, the workers being "left behind" are people who don't have broad, non-AI skillsets. Besides, learning to "use AI" is not exactly rocket science.
2. "Your colleagues will complete their work faster and better." No. Incorrect AI causes radiologists to make incorrect follow-up decisions when they were correct without AI, for example. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10235827/
3. "AI is better than 80 percent of humans at a lot of things, but it’s not better than the experts. … The best writers, the best experts are better than AI." This is blarney, and its purpose is to reassure writers that they're part of the special 20% and won't lose any income from selling their words to AI.
Later, Friedman makes a bunch of classic AI grifter promises re: the pitfalls of AI, promising that imaginary, uninvented technologies will protect us from them. Why would anybody invent such technologies? Who would profit off them?
I wouldn't be surprised if this article was an advertorial, paid for by tech companies.
I love your Ask Molly writing. It has all sorts of unexpected twits and turns. Foreverland had that Molly touch. Allowing an AI to train on it will spread a diluted version of your special sauce all over the place, bleh. I want it straight from the bottle.
Allowing the training will provide an AI owner the option to provide a legitimate response to a prompt like this: Write a short treatise on the use of and value of a badly bent spoon as a staple remover in the style of Heather Havrilesky.
The counter argument is that some unscrupulous party will scan Foreverland and train their AI on it without your consent. Then diluted Foreverland will end up out on the wider web where other AIs will use it to train. The response to the prompt won't be quite as good on the the derivative AIs. Maybe that's good?
A great deal of detective work might be able to trace the source AI. But there is no guarantee that a lawsuit will be able to enjoin the behavior and wrest proper remuneration for the errant parties. They may (probably will) exist overseas in a place where the laws don't provide (you/us) protection from copyright infringement.
There is no good answer! Ask for more money, maybe? Suppose that the AI is so good that your writing style becomes less uncommon and interesting and your readership becomes harder to maintain. That's how to decide the price.
One of the keys to AI content is a good prompt. Will you always be the best person to prompt yourself? I believe that you will. And I believe that you will always find a new way to wander from your latest prompt.
Yes. Sadly I think you *might* be turning down free money. But you have to climb into bed at night and be able to sleep. Is there an amount that outweighs the icky feeling? For 5k, can you spray lavender on your pillow while you pop a Melatonin gummy? Is 10k enough for ice road trucker training? Does it fuel your body with enough organic berries to keep producing more excellent work? I also wonder how it might feel to say, "Here, AI. Take this. Learn what you can in your attempts to be human." I mean, are less honest robots going to take it anyway? This puts the handover in your control. You've always written with immense generosity ... Can that extend to robots? Hard decisions, I know. No matter what, you'll always be the only one who can share your AUTHENTIC experience and perspective. Sending <3 <3 <3.
It's all so fucking fucked. Just inconceivably fucked. But our outrage is unsustainable and ineffective and often seems to be all we've got. We're quick to comply and continue on to the next unprecedented, unbelievable thing because what else are you gonna do? But we can opt out to a large extent. We can still choose where we put our attention. I have no intention of ever actively engaging with AI while understanding that I am already engaging with it far more than I realize.
Unrelated but maybe related, I was unexpectedly gutted by David Lynch dying. Sometimes it seems like we're really running low on people spending enough time with their own thoughts to come up with something brave and unique and weird as you like. That was a guy dedicated to spending time in his own mind. But also someone who took advantage of advances in technology when they served him.
At least I still like it here. So much so that i just subscribed to get 25% off forever even though I'm already subscibed? I got excited by the prospect of Heather being here forever (you promised! don't ever forget!!). I don't even care if I'm paying twice. This is a great bunch of folks.
I will be here, No AI Cyrano in my ears, free thinking, hoarding books, reading words from real people. Don't fall for free money, everything eventually has a cost.
I appreciate your thoughts and writing very much. I wanted to share that not everyone is buying into the AI thing. I belong to a county Artist Guild in the middle of nowhere Wyoming. We meet once a month for lunch and to share our writings on a topic or just something we wrote recently or not. The wisdom and talent of these people is astounding and so many use regular notebooks and pencils. So there remains a remnant that is keeping the art alive. Keep up the good work girl!
AI has impacted my business significantly, with major reduction of clams. I still have some high-level work, but mostly I'm writing AI landing pages for clam shards (so AI can get smarter and eventually not need me anymore). It's sad and weird AND I need the money. I think I'll transition my business to help people when AI can't muster the personality they need, but who knows how long that will last. I'm hoping enough of us are genetically pre-programmed to stay human and resist Cyrano's voice, but we'll see. Like you, I fantasize about being an ice road trucker! Love your work, Heather. Thank you! <3
One upside of saying no is that it doesn't necessarily have to be no forever; eventually, a deal for a limited use could exist that is less objectionable (and may even be better for the holdouts in terms of money, conditions, and protections) and that option remains yours.
One thing that looked particularly sketchy to me is the 200 consecutive words / 5% of text clause. A model that spits out close to a full page of training data has messed up, and if the guardrails give it such a wide berth to do so, then it probably isn't very good at whatever it's trying to do.
I think it’s best to look at robots and AI as a useful illusion. We do it with all kinds of other things in life. Why can’t that apply in this instance and enjoy the utility and convenience?
Ah Molly, you are the crazy voice of sanity! If only my useless degrees had run a module on 'injecting the lychee into the chocolates' I could've had, y'know, a WAGE....
Ah Molly, the crazy voice of sanity! If only my useless degrees had run a module on 'injecting the lychee into the chocolates' I could've had, y'know, a WAGE....
I'm kneeling at the altar of word assemblage: yours and that of the art of rap, which struggles too with AI bullshit, you know. I have a hunch, from old white lady to old white lady down with swears, alliteration, verbal imagery, and storytelling: What's your favorite rap verse, these days, that conveys the powerful romance of "Never budge, never compromise, never surrender."? I need a fire soundtrack when I write newsletters that no one reads.
Just doing Dry January and aiming for DAMP instead of WET thereafter. Have fallen into a two-strong-drinks habit when socializing away from home and it should really be one drink for a myriad of physical reasons.
Btw, citizenry of Molly: What do you think of this post by Jane Friedman on AI and the publishing industry, shared by A Dangerous Reader last week?
https://janefriedman.com/like-it-or-not-publishers-are-licensing-material-for-ai-training-and-using-ai-themselves/
The argument seems to be that intentions are good and there will be no abuse or corruption in this one very pure corner of the high capitalist corporate universe, lol.
"Theoretically, authors could object and withhold their material from training, but that would be turning down free money." Admittedly I hate the sound of mindlessly rejecting free clammage.
Less convincing:
"[Y]ou’ll end up working harder or spending more money than everyone else who is using these tools."
I live to work harder, Jane. Suffering gives me life. BRING THE PAIN.
But... Am I turning down free money? Should everyone read that article and we'll do another poll? Am I being naive and maladaptive? Outsourcing again. Sort it out for me, soulmates!
This paragraph is full of factual errors and logical leaps: "Even those who question the ethicality of generative AI believe that writers and students today should (or must) learn to use it. 'What faculty and teachers call cheating, business calls progress,' Bowen said during the panel. 'If you say you can’t use a tool or refuse to use it, your colleagues who use the tool will complete their work faster and better.' In other words, AI is raising the average. However, Bowen said, 'AI is better than 80 percent of humans at a lot of things, but it’s not better than the experts. … The best writers, the best experts are better than AI.'"
1. "Even those who question the ethicality of generative AI believe writers and students today should (or must) learn to use it." Not true! This is an AI company talking point, that somehow, students will be "left behind" if they can't use AI. Actually, the workers being "left behind" are people who don't have broad, non-AI skillsets. Besides, learning to "use AI" is not exactly rocket science.
2. "Your colleagues will complete their work faster and better." No. Incorrect AI causes radiologists to make incorrect follow-up decisions when they were correct without AI, for example. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10235827/
3. "AI is better than 80 percent of humans at a lot of things, but it’s not better than the experts. … The best writers, the best experts are better than AI." This is blarney, and its purpose is to reassure writers that they're part of the special 20% and won't lose any income from selling their words to AI.
Later, Friedman makes a bunch of classic AI grifter promises re: the pitfalls of AI, promising that imaginary, uninvented technologies will protect us from them. Why would anybody invent such technologies? Who would profit off them?
I wouldn't be surprised if this article was an advertorial, paid for by tech companies.
I love your Ask Molly writing. It has all sorts of unexpected twits and turns. Foreverland had that Molly touch. Allowing an AI to train on it will spread a diluted version of your special sauce all over the place, bleh. I want it straight from the bottle.
Allowing the training will provide an AI owner the option to provide a legitimate response to a prompt like this: Write a short treatise on the use of and value of a badly bent spoon as a staple remover in the style of Heather Havrilesky.
The counter argument is that some unscrupulous party will scan Foreverland and train their AI on it without your consent. Then diluted Foreverland will end up out on the wider web where other AIs will use it to train. The response to the prompt won't be quite as good on the the derivative AIs. Maybe that's good?
A great deal of detective work might be able to trace the source AI. But there is no guarantee that a lawsuit will be able to enjoin the behavior and wrest proper remuneration for the errant parties. They may (probably will) exist overseas in a place where the laws don't provide (you/us) protection from copyright infringement.
There is no good answer! Ask for more money, maybe? Suppose that the AI is so good that your writing style becomes less uncommon and interesting and your readership becomes harder to maintain. That's how to decide the price.
One of the keys to AI content is a good prompt. Will you always be the best person to prompt yourself? I believe that you will. And I believe that you will always find a new way to wander from your latest prompt.
Yes. Sadly I think you *might* be turning down free money. But you have to climb into bed at night and be able to sleep. Is there an amount that outweighs the icky feeling? For 5k, can you spray lavender on your pillow while you pop a Melatonin gummy? Is 10k enough for ice road trucker training? Does it fuel your body with enough organic berries to keep producing more excellent work? I also wonder how it might feel to say, "Here, AI. Take this. Learn what you can in your attempts to be human." I mean, are less honest robots going to take it anyway? This puts the handover in your control. You've always written with immense generosity ... Can that extend to robots? Hard decisions, I know. No matter what, you'll always be the only one who can share your AUTHENTIC experience and perspective. Sending <3 <3 <3.
All the jobs for writers in Indeed are AI loaders . I can't do it even tho I'm broke
Samesies
is it okay if i explode robots with psychic attacks
asking for a friend
yes exploding via psychic powers definitely encouraged. serving suggestion!
thank you i am trying to escape accountability for a little bit. i will spare white noise machines.
be cautious when exploding ipads held by toddlers. aim psychic waves at parents' wearable tech instead.
It's all so fucking fucked. Just inconceivably fucked. But our outrage is unsustainable and ineffective and often seems to be all we've got. We're quick to comply and continue on to the next unprecedented, unbelievable thing because what else are you gonna do? But we can opt out to a large extent. We can still choose where we put our attention. I have no intention of ever actively engaging with AI while understanding that I am already engaging with it far more than I realize.
Unrelated but maybe related, I was unexpectedly gutted by David Lynch dying. Sometimes it seems like we're really running low on people spending enough time with their own thoughts to come up with something brave and unique and weird as you like. That was a guy dedicated to spending time in his own mind. But also someone who took advantage of advances in technology when they served him.
At least I still like it here. So much so that i just subscribed to get 25% off forever even though I'm already subscibed? I got excited by the prospect of Heather being here forever (you promised! don't ever forget!!). I don't even care if I'm paying twice. This is a great bunch of folks.
I will be here, No AI Cyrano in my ears, free thinking, hoarding books, reading words from real people. Don't fall for free money, everything eventually has a cost.
I appreciate your thoughts and writing very much. I wanted to share that not everyone is buying into the AI thing. I belong to a county Artist Guild in the middle of nowhere Wyoming. We meet once a month for lunch and to share our writings on a topic or just something we wrote recently or not. The wisdom and talent of these people is astounding and so many use regular notebooks and pencils. So there remains a remnant that is keeping the art alive. Keep up the good work girl!
AI has impacted my business significantly, with major reduction of clams. I still have some high-level work, but mostly I'm writing AI landing pages for clam shards (so AI can get smarter and eventually not need me anymore). It's sad and weird AND I need the money. I think I'll transition my business to help people when AI can't muster the personality they need, but who knows how long that will last. I'm hoping enough of us are genetically pre-programmed to stay human and resist Cyrano's voice, but we'll see. Like you, I fantasize about being an ice road trucker! Love your work, Heather. Thank you! <3
I don’t know what is to be done now, Molly! Do you know what is to be done, Molly? Because. I do not know what is to be done.
- one of the 10% outliers
One upside of saying no is that it doesn't necessarily have to be no forever; eventually, a deal for a limited use could exist that is less objectionable (and may even be better for the holdouts in terms of money, conditions, and protections) and that option remains yours.
One thing that looked particularly sketchy to me is the 200 consecutive words / 5% of text clause. A model that spits out close to a full page of training data has messed up, and if the guardrails give it such a wide berth to do so, then it probably isn't very good at whatever it's trying to do.
everything has a price and also comes with a cost even wrangling meerkats 🫣🤫
I think it’s best to look at robots and AI as a useful illusion. We do it with all kinds of other things in life. Why can’t that apply in this instance and enjoy the utility and convenience?
https://open.substack.com/pub/kennetheharrell/p/is-anthropomorphizing-ai-really-all
Ah Molly, you are the crazy voice of sanity! If only my useless degrees had run a module on 'injecting the lychee into the chocolates' I could've had, y'know, a WAGE....
Ah Molly, the crazy voice of sanity! If only my useless degrees had run a module on 'injecting the lychee into the chocolates' I could've had, y'know, a WAGE....
I'm kneeling at the altar of word assemblage: yours and that of the art of rap, which struggles too with AI bullshit, you know. I have a hunch, from old white lady to old white lady down with swears, alliteration, verbal imagery, and storytelling: What's your favorite rap verse, these days, that conveys the powerful romance of "Never budge, never compromise, never surrender."? I need a fire soundtrack when I write newsletters that no one reads.
Hi Heather it's sounds like you are sober ? I missed this were you always ? If not what propelled you to your new place - like why and how ? Xoxo
Just doing Dry January and aiming for DAMP instead of WET thereafter. Have fallen into a two-strong-drinks habit when socializing away from home and it should really be one drink for a myriad of physical reasons.
Thanks I'm trying to dry and damp as well so appreciate your comments thoughts and genius as always ! Xo Xo
Just don't aim for moist. Nobody likes moist.