What I find hilarious about this new "tool" is that so few people will use it here. Readers and writers who are looking for and bringing authenticity and connection can read it, feel it, hell we can smell it from a mile away! Do I give a flying F if you had editing help from a person or machine? I do not. Do I know if writing seems off in some way and therefore I'm not interested? I sure do. Plus who has time for this???
Loved every word YOU wrote and subscribed! Especially loved this: Particularly amusing: embracing new tools with curiosity at seventy, while some younger people stand at the gate shouting “She used AI!”
Yes, darling. Guilty. Also used a computer. Dictated rather than typing. Wrote in Google Docs. Published through Substack. Used electricity.
(Oh, dare I use copy and paste to share this favored paragraph!)
With my love of the emm dash and frequent asking Claide to help me figure out a good transition sentence or brainstorm an idea I have, guess I’m not going to pass that test either. Thanks for sharing your wisdom, once again.
I too love the emm dash. And I too bounce things off AI until I have it where I want it. Cannot imagine just telling it 'send a letter' to anybody without going over it many times.
There are times I use AI to help me with my writing and I am not ashamed to state that. With Parkinson’s my fingers dont always work the way I need the too. Neither does my cognitively deficient brain. typing is always off. ChatGbt finds those simple errors and corrects them. It also helps me with spelling, grammar and an occasional suggestion or 2 to make the article more readable.
But every story is authenticly mine. Its my lived experience, my ideas, my relationships, my truth. No AI can take that away from me.
I agree with Monica whole heartedly on this one. We do not need a purity check.
Thank you for this article. It perfectly represents each and every thought and feeling I've had in the last 48 hours. I will be sharing your article far and wide.
I'm 57. Married 36 years to my darling wife, we have 13 children (all boys but nine) and a baJILLION grandchildren.
I bring that up, because what I still do today, is because of them. This all started because I just wanted to tell my kids stories...
I've been making a living with my art and writing since 1986. Worked for many famous people, and even more NOT famous people. My shelves contain millions upon millions of words, and tens of thousands of drawings. All mine,...from my brain, heart, and hands.
Since 2005, I've been telling these stories online. First in comic books, then in novels, and now serials on Substack. I deeply love what I do, and I love my readers even more.
Life always extracts a price, and some of us last longer than others.
I'm still here, but I have far more unpublished stories left in my brain than years left to my life. So when I was taught about AI, I saw this as a way to ingest my collected creative life into a machine that could organize it all, index it, and help me continue my storytelling as I become more...challenged.
What I ask readers is, "Does my work sound like my world? Does it feel like my world? Don't you want me to create more of what you've enjoyed up to now?"
No one has complained. Not a single person.
In fact, I've been encouraged by readers to USE these tools, if it helps me keep going.
To me, that's the ONLY answer.
As an Indie Author, I've been the target of witch hunts for decades. My funniest moment was when I was told by NYTimes Bestselling Authors at a writing convention that I wasn't a "real" writer.
Yet he still had the day job.
This is just another hunt. People have a fixed idea and fixed definitions, most unwilling to even have a conversation. To consider a different view or possibility.
Your way is not my way. Your definition may not be my definition.
But if the work is still from inside me, directed by me, shaped by me and offered by me, why does it matter?
It doesn't.
There are people who want it to matter, though. Those who think their way is the only 'right' way.
No cupcake, that's not how it works.
Thank you, Monica, again.
I will be sharing your article with everyone who will listen.
Please know that my day has become better because you are now in it.
I am deeply glad my comment led you here. Thank you for trusting me with this much of your story, for sharing my article, and especially for making my day better because you are now in it too.
Claude will probably respond to Pangram by selling Substack a new app: PanThis: scan for poorly crafted human writing that frankly makes an AI laugh about how poorly processed and incoherent it is.
My bet is these are being put out there to troll legitimate writers like you and distract you from your best work. Don't take the bait - you know who you are, your subscribers do too.
Hi, Monica. Thank you for writing and sharing your essay, and by doing so, also helping open a much needed and continuous conversation about AI. I appreciate your honesty, when you shared how you use AI as a tool in your editing process while maintaining complete judgment on what gets written on your document; as well as maintaining that your ideas and lived experiences are your original experiences and ideas--things that AI can never takeaway from you.
So, so, so true! I get our human need for identifying and choosing not to consume AI content, but problem is - these tools can't make the difference between pure slop and AI content that was designed based on the human's input and experience.
Yeah, I love this. I was actually thinking about this the other day and even asked AI, “What makes a good writer?”
I think we’re at a point where we have to learn how to separate our humanity from the tools we’ve been given for expression. AI is an incredible tool, but it can’t replace the lived experience, reflection, and perspective that make someone’s writing resonate.
I really appreciate this piece. It reminded me that the writing itself isn’t what connects us, it’s the human behind it. Thank you for sharing.
So it's begun "Artificial Intelligence" telling all of us who and what is human and what is not!
What I find hilarious about this new "tool" is that so few people will use it here. Readers and writers who are looking for and bringing authenticity and connection can read it, feel it, hell we can smell it from a mile away! Do I give a flying F if you had editing help from a person or machine? I do not. Do I know if writing seems off in some way and therefore I'm not interested? I sure do. Plus who has time for this???
Loved every word YOU wrote and subscribed! Especially loved this: Particularly amusing: embracing new tools with curiosity at seventy, while some younger people stand at the gate shouting “She used AI!”
Yes, darling. Guilty. Also used a computer. Dictated rather than typing. Wrote in Google Docs. Published through Substack. Used electricity.
(Oh, dare I use copy and paste to share this favored paragraph!)
With my love of the emm dash and frequent asking Claide to help me figure out a good transition sentence or brainstorm an idea I have, guess I’m not going to pass that test either. Thanks for sharing your wisdom, once again.
I too love the emm dash. And I too bounce things off AI until I have it where I want it. Cannot imagine just telling it 'send a letter' to anybody without going over it many times.
There are times I use AI to help me with my writing and I am not ashamed to state that. With Parkinson’s my fingers dont always work the way I need the too. Neither does my cognitively deficient brain. typing is always off. ChatGbt finds those simple errors and corrects them. It also helps me with spelling, grammar and an occasional suggestion or 2 to make the article more readable.
But every story is authenticly mine. Its my lived experience, my ideas, my relationships, my truth. No AI can take that away from me.
I agree with Monica whole heartedly on this one. We do not need a purity check.
I'm so glad I found you're quote, Monica.
It led me here.
Thank you for this article. It perfectly represents each and every thought and feeling I've had in the last 48 hours. I will be sharing your article far and wide.
I'm 57. Married 36 years to my darling wife, we have 13 children (all boys but nine) and a baJILLION grandchildren.
I bring that up, because what I still do today, is because of them. This all started because I just wanted to tell my kids stories...
I've been making a living with my art and writing since 1986. Worked for many famous people, and even more NOT famous people. My shelves contain millions upon millions of words, and tens of thousands of drawings. All mine,...from my brain, heart, and hands.
Since 2005, I've been telling these stories online. First in comic books, then in novels, and now serials on Substack. I deeply love what I do, and I love my readers even more.
Life always extracts a price, and some of us last longer than others.
I'm still here, but I have far more unpublished stories left in my brain than years left to my life. So when I was taught about AI, I saw this as a way to ingest my collected creative life into a machine that could organize it all, index it, and help me continue my storytelling as I become more...challenged.
What I ask readers is, "Does my work sound like my world? Does it feel like my world? Don't you want me to create more of what you've enjoyed up to now?"
No one has complained. Not a single person.
In fact, I've been encouraged by readers to USE these tools, if it helps me keep going.
To me, that's the ONLY answer.
As an Indie Author, I've been the target of witch hunts for decades. My funniest moment was when I was told by NYTimes Bestselling Authors at a writing convention that I wasn't a "real" writer.
Yet he still had the day job.
This is just another hunt. People have a fixed idea and fixed definitions, most unwilling to even have a conversation. To consider a different view or possibility.
Your way is not my way. Your definition may not be my definition.
But if the work is still from inside me, directed by me, shaped by me and offered by me, why does it matter?
It doesn't.
There are people who want it to matter, though. Those who think their way is the only 'right' way.
No cupcake, that's not how it works.
Thank you, Monica, again.
I will be sharing your article with everyone who will listen.
Please know that my day has become better because you are now in it.
Respectfully,
Your newest fan.
I am deeply glad my comment led you here. Thank you for trusting me with this much of your story, for sharing my article, and especially for making my day better because you are now in it too.
And “all boys but nine” made me laugh out loud.
Welcome. I am very glad you found me
By the way, I did a follow up article just this morning. You might find it a tad bit more clarifying but also universal.
https://monicahebert.substack.com/p/nobody-asks-a-painter-what-brush?r=2h2j0g&utm_medium=ios
Read, Agreed. Shared. Cross-posted also.
...and I started using that button to opt out.
Thank you. And bravo to opting out
Claude will probably respond to Pangram by selling Substack a new app: PanThis: scan for poorly crafted human writing that frankly makes an AI laugh about how poorly processed and incoherent it is.
So, does that mean people have time to use. AI to run purity tests on others . Good grief
I just blocked a gal who said THIS post is pure AI slop. then I went to her profile. A BOT! It was a damn bot!
My bet is these are being put out there to troll legitimate writers like you and distract you from your best work. Don't take the bait - you know who you are, your subscribers do too.
HAHAHAHAHA....
[chokes on coffee]
Hi, Monica. Thank you for writing and sharing your essay, and by doing so, also helping open a much needed and continuous conversation about AI. I appreciate your honesty, when you shared how you use AI as a tool in your editing process while maintaining complete judgment on what gets written on your document; as well as maintaining that your ideas and lived experiences are your original experiences and ideas--things that AI can never takeaway from you.
Keep writing irreverent articles, Monica. 🔥
Thank you for subscribing. Glad you appreciate irreverent attitude
Very well articulated. So much resonance.
Well done. I am with you 100%. Thank you for speaking to this.
Right (write) on!
Very well said, or should I say written🖋 thank you.
So, so, so true! I get our human need for identifying and choosing not to consume AI content, but problem is - these tools can't make the difference between pure slop and AI content that was designed based on the human's input and experience.
Yeah, I love this. I was actually thinking about this the other day and even asked AI, “What makes a good writer?”
I think we’re at a point where we have to learn how to separate our humanity from the tools we’ve been given for expression. AI is an incredible tool, but it can’t replace the lived experience, reflection, and perspective that make someone’s writing resonate.
I really appreciate this piece. It reminded me that the writing itself isn’t what connects us, it’s the human behind it. Thank you for sharing.