NSBC – Blog

I always find myself with interesting people during training seasons. So far this summer has been filled with weeks in the classroom learning about different leadership skills and expectations. It is always interesting to see how much is a repeat from trainings years gone by.

One thing that stood out to me was the person who sat next to me. In a class of sixteen, you are bound to get to know the people around you, but he stood out. A good man. Would save my life if it came down to it. We didn’t see eye to eye exactly, but that is to be expected. You can’t agree with everyone all the time.

What stood out to me the most was his reliance on AI to solve the problems in front of him. Guessing other people’s names turned into a ChatGPT search. If there was really any question asked without a readily available answer, ChatGPT was invoked.

Now it would be silly to dig a hole by hand whilst insulting the guy using a shovel. Or to insist on using a shovel when a backhoe is available and appropriate. I am not against using technology when it is useful. I only question how useful technology becomes before our work is more machine than man.

I am horrible at spelling. It has always been my worst language skill. And if spelling is incorrect, then the words I intend to type are not the ones read. I find that AI spell checkers are very useful in this area. And honestly, as I go back to correct the red squiggles(having spelled squiggles wrong many times), I still feel in control of the words I type. They are of course the ones I chose.

One thought that carries with me comes from a discussion between whom I can’t recall. It was a conversation about the use of AI in writing papers. The sentiment was that in using AI to write papers for ourselves we are removing the human from human experience. Does there come a point where every task becomes laborious? We have moves from strictly library resources to search engines. We now use computers to write our papers for us. We use AI to summarize emails that we can use AI to write.

Has life lost its luster so greatly that we would rather robots live our lives?

I like to believe it has not. And so, I strive to resist the every present pull of AI, the promise of ease. The title is a lie. I did write these words myself. And whether they have the same meaning for you as they do for me, we will see. My words are my own, even when they are speled incorectly.