AI

How I use Artificial Intelligence (AI) on this website. This an /ai page

I don't use AI on this website

I don't like what AI does to human creativity. I don't like that people make their lives as easy as using a prompt to create blog posts/music/paintings or any other piece of self-expression and consider themselves to be "creators". In these cases, humans aren't creators but machines are.

It's sad that many people feel that they can use AI and entirely skip on developing a skill and reap the benefits without so much as lifting a finger. Skills such as writing, learning an instrument or drawing are supposed to be nurtured and developed over time. This is something I came to appreciate in my own work as a writer. I value the progress I have made over the years every single day. That's what a hobby is all about. That's what being a creator is all about.

I have previously used AI on this website

I have previously used AI as a companion to build features on this website. I'm not a good software developer and have sometimes–before AI–relied on the support of developer friends or Stack Overflow once I got stuck with my code. When AI came along however, I considered it to be an awesome substitute for my earlier approach–I didn't have to bother my busy dev friends and could get feedback on my very specific use cases in matter of seconds.

These are features I have built with the support of AI:

• Blog Post Filter
• Blog Post Series

I have recently realised that, to me, this is no way forward (see above) and I have returned to square one. Actually, even if I am a bad developer and building takes a considerable amount of my time, I love building on the web. It's a nice hobby that I got to cherish over the last years and I will continue to do so the years ahead.

I have previously used AI for writing when I started out as a writer (mainly concerning my grammar), and marked the respective blog posts with the meta info "AI support".

About staying curious

Nevertheless, it's important to stay curious. AI is part of our lives now and I don't see it disappearing any time soon. Ever since it has emerged, I have mostly seen the negative sides it entails (especially in regards to the demise of creativity on the internet) but I try to see positive sides too.

It's essential to experiment with AI, explore it and understand it. Only this way, we can be critical and learn. This is especially important if you work in the field of tech (which I am) but today–let's not fool ourselves–AI's influence is impacting most jobs.

When it comes to actually using AI, I have good experience using it to challenge myself.

The following quote has been on my mind lately, when I thought about how AI is steadily but surely becoming part of all our lives:

I don't want to live on this planet any more.

—Hubert J. Farnsworth