AI and us.

Considering that three of my most favorite pastimes are so easily duplicated or replicated by AI seems almost a cruel yet tempting twist of fate.

It is obvious by now that the creation and enjoyment of music has been a major part of my life, which I have been doing since before computers were even brought into the home let alone the World Wide Web.

As soon as I could read and write they became escapes for me. Mostly reading, but hand in hand with that was an ability to write creatively or professionally as I needed or felt inspired.

Throw in the fact that I also have passion for technology, specifically computers and the composition of software which started in the 1980s, and it really puts me in a bind when it comes to reasoning out what place Artificial Intelligence has in my life considering it excels at all three of those!

To make matters worse or better, for at least twenty years I have dived ever deeper and deeper into the heady worlds of philosophy, physics, theology, and the cosmos. As AI gets more powerful, we increasingly ask more philosophical questions such as "Does it have consciousness? Is it sentient?", "Will it replace humans and their ability to make a living?", "Is this the end of life as we know it?".

So what is one to do when presented with the incredibly confounding world of Artificial Intelligence? On one hand, it is easy to brush it off as being created by engineers and thus completely known and able to be controlled or shut down. On the other, we see mathematical algorithms consuming data which then spit out exponentially in ways difficult or even impossible for scientists to follow which closely mimic the neurological pathways of the human brain (see J-space, also known as the AI brain).

For me, it feels like I went to sleep nearly a decade ago and woke up to AI just being here and present in everything; it isn't exactly something worth paying attention to when you are on the out, battling for your next meal, your next drink or your next fix.

In short, I find it fascinating and I use it as a tool. In my opinion, this is the best way to utilize it for now. Not something to be afraid of or have anger towards. In the hands of someone already capable with a certain skill, it can greatly accelerate work by completing routine tasks and research questions quickly with summaries that can be digested easily.

I will admit, I use it in some way now for all of the things that I enjoy pursuing. For music, I use it to aid in creating backing tracks for solo performances, or help in identifying songs that might be popular. Also, in combination with my love of coding, I am using it to assist me in creating music software that will help people create music scores within existing tools, saving time and freeing the mind up for creativity instead of rote mechanics of composition. I do "vibe code" to a degree, since I am years out of practice, but I have a full understanding of the underlying concepts and can direct the AI much more soundly than someone with no software development (or music) experience at all.

Additionally, the very creation of this website has been a combination of utilizing an open source product (Ghost) and writing custom thematic elements and code with the assistance of AI to handle the boilerplate code or assist with language updates that I am unfamiliar with.

Finally, as it pertains to writing. I consider myself to be an above-average writer, and I pen all of my articles and blog posts 100% initially without the aid of AI. Upon having a completed post or article, I ask AI to inspect it for editing such as grammar, readability and flow. I examine every suggestion and determine if it changes my message and my personal style, and either incorporate it or not. The final product is not sent back into AI. In this way, the end result is always mine and not simply cut and pasted from AI. In fact, as I understand it there are steps being taken such as watermark additions to help discern what came from a human or from an AI engine. You'll find that my creations hold up as decidedly warm blooded.

This is an area that is obviously moving and changing at a break neck pace, and I hope to follow it as best I can and include updates and opinions on where it is headed and its place within many creative pursuits.

And they say you can't teach old dogs new tricks...