Hello! How are you today?
I wrote that greeting all by myself—it didn’t come from AI (Artificial Intelligence). Could you tell?
I have been thinking about AI a lot lately. As a professor, I have incorporated an AI policy into my class syllabus. I explained to my students AI might be okay for brainstorming topics and for proofreading purposes. AI should not write pieces for them, as writing should be in their own individual voices.
Shouldn’t ALL writing be in your own voice? I don’t want to sound like someone else, and I certainly don’t want to use a generic, “robot” voice with perfect grammar and usage. I am from the South, after all, and we love a good turn of a phrase or homily. What if we had a Southern AI program?
Imagine I put the following interaction into AI:
“Hello, sweet person. What did you do today? Why don’t you visit for a while? Need any refreshments? You seem hungry.”
Southern AI would come up with this:
“Howdy, sugar. Y’all been busy today? Come in and sit a spell. Y’all want something to drink or eat? You’re looking awful poor, bless your heart, honey child.”
I cringe when I watch TV shows depicting Southerners played by actors from other areas of the country. There’s one particular program (which I won’t name) I had to turn off midway through the first episode because the accents were so inaccurate and unbelievable. I feel like AI can be like that–the word “artificial” is the title.
AI has its good points, and I have colleagues who use it to enhance their work and their communication with others. I suppose that’s okay, but the jury is still out for me.
AI, end this piece.
“Bye, y’all! Don’t be a stranger now.”
Carlton Hughes, represented by Cyle Young of Hartline Literary, wears many hats. By day, he is a professor of communication. On Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings, he serves as a children’s pastor. In his “spare time,” he is a freelance writer. Carlton is an empty-nesting dad and devoted husband who likes long walks on the beach, old sitcoms, and chocolate—all the chocolate. His work has been featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Dating Game, The Wonders of Nature, Let the Earth Rejoice, Just Breathe, So God Made a Dog, and Everyday Grace for Men. His latest book is Adventures in Fatherhood, co-authored with Holland Webb.
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