Thinking about computers
Disclaimer: contains too many Warhammer 40,000 references. Be warned.
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.
This particular Tweet is what has disturbed me the most recently.
Storytime AI is now available for iOS on the App Store!
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.
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.
Updates for the future
It’s been a while since my last publication. (I hope I don’t get into the habit of saying this.) In that time I’ve completed my first year of university: I’m currently interning for the summer in the Huawei Markham offices. If you want to meet up in person (currently living in Mississauga) or just chat online, hit me up :)
I still have no idea of the direction I want to take this page in, but I do have a sense that some of the things I write don’t fit in with my nebulous vision of the future. To that end, I’ve updated my website - my Academic Year in Review 2022-2023 is coming up, and it’s likely that I’ll publish it there instead of on this Substack, in addition to various other bits and bobs that don’t feel right here.