MormegilOne of the most frustrating things about the AI trend, as a writer, is the fact that I don't want to write about it. Writing for me is a creative expression. I want to tell stories and analyze myself and craft beautiful sentences. I have zero interest in AI as a tool because I enjoy the process of writing. But I can't not notice that the stuff that gets clicks on, say, Medium, are articles about "the AI war on writing." Reactionary pieces are a perfect example of Rilke's vampiric "half-arts."
By vampiric, I mean they suck away my time and attention from the things that are truly beautiful and praiseworthy. I'm gonna keep writing sonnets about the sounds of nature even though I know almost no one will click on it because I love sonnets and nature. And also because I truly believe contemplation of the beautiful and praiseworthy is more valuable than reactionary rants. Criticism is necessary, of course, but it should be a mean to an end, and it is so very easy to make it an end.
I've been sucked into the cycle, of reacting to things and criticizing them. But I made a decision years ago (after watching the Last Jedi), to try and find things to love rather than hate, and that decision has been very life-giving (but not profitable). So please, the next time you see a story about AI being evil or not, consider scrolling past it and finding an original poem or essay or comic. Let's overcome evil with good so that when this fight is over we have something left to love.
My reference to Rilke is from his "Letters to a Young Poet."
The last paragraph of letter X: https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/German/RilkeLetters.php