Fear of the "Techverse"
As I have mentioned in the past, alleviating the fear of technology, which has become so commonplace in today's world, and bringing you the confidence you need to utilize the amazing tech-tools that are at our fingertips, is a main focus of mine. Many have this fear and, as of late, so have I. And one of my recent fears of tech has come true.
Before I start off, I would like to first apologize for the recent delays in posting. I have been hard at work rebranding my business and revamping the website. So, I have been a little too distracted as of late but thankfully, that is now all completed. Okay, let's get back to the fears of tech. This one's a little on the personal side but bare with me.
Just like many of you, tech was not my thing when I was an adolescent. Just to age myself for a moment, there was only the start of computers back then and the World Wide Web soon followed. Grade 6 for me brought the first Commodore P.E.T. computer that ran code from a cassette tape and had a small black screen and neon green text. I remember being able to get my name repeated on the screen by entering some simple programing commands. How cool is that? Dial-up modems were considered god sends a few years later and to have the ability to get online and download a game or search info on the web was truly amazing (even though it took hours). And, unfortunately, there were no cell phones yet so I couldn't call a friend to "game" with them otherwise, I would loose my internet connection the second someone picked up the phone to use the landline. However, while it was all awe-inspiring, I had no inkling then to make it my passion and my career. Little did I know....
Years passed and I was suddenly looking for a new career after being exhausted from being in the service industry for so long. A door opened for my chance to take a stab at computers... I have not looked back since. IT has become my absolute passion and while yes, it can certainly be seriously frustrating at times (just like playing Golf 😆), I love the challenge on how to make it work for me... and for you!
And, here we are today - The "techverse", growing at an incredibly mind blowing rate. All kinds of possibilities are swiftly becoming reality. Capabilities are thrown at us in every direction and all of us, somehow, have to manage to keep up. I see how my parent's generation struggle to keep up and easily see how this fear roots in their mindset, regarding this "robotic" world we now struggle to manage in, with not using pen and paper, not mailing a letter to our friends and family, not going to the bank to get some cash to pay for groceries or deposit a cheque, or no longer going to the Fotomat to get a roll of film developed from the weekend pics at the cottage. Even in my generation, so much change, at such a swift pace, brings hard to change habits and much frustration in learning new things. However, so much of it is truly amazing and is assisting us in so many ways with our daily routines. I know the struggle, I see the struggle, and I do everything I can to help alleviate that struggle for others.
AI has become the hot topic as of late... now enters my fears of it. But, before you think I'm one of "those" people... let me explain. I love AI and the capabilities it has achieved as well as, where it is headed. It's truly incredible and I hardly think it is going to destroy us (unless of course it's not managed properly and with lack of great care). That all being said, one fear that I had a ways back about AI, has now become an unfortunate reality.
I have always loved writing. Whether just for myself through poetry or expressing my experiences and feelings on paper - just for me (or for my future book), is so cathartic. And, as you have very astutely guessed, I love blogging. I have a personal blog (though it's been a while since I have revisited it) and this tech blog. I also love, or I should now say, used to love, reading other personal bloggers posts.
Now, with the "helpfulness" of AI, that enjoyable world has almost vanished. Over the past few years or so, and today more than ever, Blogging has become nothing but a making money scheme or just simply, a robotic method of getting "views", "hits", or "likes". Does anyone even remember what the purpose of a Blog was/is? The definition? Obviously not.
Personal points of view, and very much a digital personal Journal or diary style of writing, is becoming automated. Even many Vloggers (video bloggers) have turned to using AI assistants or are reading AI scripted content with only a smidgeon of their personal points and views. Even social media posts have turned into AI generated content.
Blogging has become a money making scheme. For many, you cannot read more than 4 words in before an advert is thrown up on the screen with then 25 more to follow within seconds. They seem to feel the need to get paid to express themselves. It has become their marketing career instead of it being about their passion and originality they started out with.
Over the past few weeks, I have struggled to find informative Blog content that hasn't been AI generated. AI content has a distinct style and signature. Whether it's a Facebook post, business blog or "personal" (I feel the need to put that in quotes as nothing seems personal anymore), it has a distinct style and format. I won't point it out to you, you need to discover that on your own, but take a good look. Soon you will notice that the format, layout, tone and content is repeated through different "authors". Lack of personality is a distinct style of AI. Why? Because their is no originality nor, an actual personality behind it. Personal writing contains a personal style. Just like I have, and many used to have... a distinct personal style in their writing. That is what makes you like an article or story from an author. It's called personality. I have never heard of anyone falling in love with the style of AI content writing. Why? Yup, you guessed it... it doesn't have personality or uniqueness. It's paraphrasing without personality.
There is a time and place for AI generated content. Factual content for a presentation or content to support an article maybe. But let's not forget... AI generated content is Internet-pull based content or a "crawler" on the Internet for existing information. AI works on existing and historic content only. It only knows from experience from others - not itself. AI is pulling already existing facts. It is not unique and, I can boldly say, it is not YOUR content. It's someone or something else's content. While using AI for content generating is not technically plagiarism, it walks a very thin line of it. To me, it is a form of plagiarism.
AI generator tools use complex algorithms to create content. Where did they get this content? That's right, already existing content from the web based on subject matter and keywords you chose it to "write" about. It then uses machine learning with these algorithms and a paraphrasing technique against the existing content on the web, to then "re-write" content that seems unique. "Seems" is the key word there. To me, that's plagiarism.
Furthermore, you are now passing this generated content onto your readers as your own... Again - Plagiarism!
Yes, it's a fine line. But to me, it's a smack in your face. You didn't write this content nor, does it have one spec of your style of writing contained in it. Yet you are slapping your name or company name on this piece of work and passing it off as your own. How is that not the fakest and sneakiest way to treat your audience and their intelligence?
It has been so frustrating and so very saddening to me that originality is going to the dogs. Please, stop using AI tools to generate your personal points of view or for topic writings on blogs. You are doing the exact opposite - not personal at all. You are not gaining anything by doing so and, if anything, you are doing nothing but embarrassing yourselves.
We write content about tech. How to stay safe on the internet, tips and different tricks, what's going on in the world of tech and all sorts of other topics and categories... but, I write it. I don't generate it other than maybe a separate headline newsfeed. And i certainly don't claim it to be mine if it isn't. Look up these topics for most other blogs and they are AI generated. Every single one I researched over this past week...AI generated. I could not even find one that wasn't in over an hour of searching. How horribly sad is that?
If you are too lazy to create your own content, express who you are, what you're about, and relay the topics you are "writing" about with your own opinion and how you feel... don't post anything at all. It's a waste of AI resources, a waste of our time, and a waste of content that some other "robot" is going to take the time to rewrite and reproduce for someone else. It would be an absolute shame if personal blog writing and topic writing ceased to exist. Nearly everybody these days certainly voices their own opinions about things, yet we can't do it for our own Blogs?
Let us know your feelings about generated content writing on personal or informative Blogs in the comments. Can you tell the differences?
