Know your own happiness. ~ Jane Austen
Austen’s quote seems antithetical to a world with social media and AI. Have you ever awoken from a social media binge and thought, “Wow, I feel great”?
I hate my reliance on it for brief and not-so-brief sessions seeking amusement and distraction. Too often falling into a trance for hours. Waking with a hangover of stolen time. Disappointed in myself.
I’m watching Downton Abbey (again!) to soak up the brilliance of Maggie Smith — one of my all-time favourite actors. I smile as I watch her genius elevate every scene she’s in. She will never be bettered.
Throughout the Downton series, the modern world creeps in, for better and worse. Technological advances find their way into households. Some resist the changes while others embrace the telephone over telegrams and refrigerators over the ice man keeping the icebox stocked. Now, the ease of carrying all of human knowledge in our pockets and the ability to outsource creativity, entertainment and thinking to algorithms and artificial intelligence are far beyond what most of us imagined only a few years ago.
If Austen lived now, would she have managed to write her novels? Would Elizabeth Bennet have found Mr. Darcy, or would her eyes have stayed on her phone, becoming increasingly self-conscious thanks to the ‘perfect lives’ she encountered on social media?
With AI, like social media, we can use less of our brains. How does one develop craft and discernment when it seems no longer necessary to learn them? How will the great works of the future be written when a diet of computer-generated pablum is readily produced? Who will the great artists and actors be when their work may be fabricated with little effort?
The struggle to write, draw, play music and perform is a means of personal development and feelings of accomplishment. Like all technological advancements that offer a faster, easier solution, we must choose whether we spend time on repetitive tasks that help us learn and express ourselves.
The analogue process of creation brings me joy, even if it can be tedious. There’s a role for technology and progress, but not in lieu of pursuing mastery one step at a time.
Where is the line for using technologies in your work? 1
I use the free version of Grammarly to help with punctuation and spelling. I generally avoid using the suggested rewrites because it doesn’t ‘get’ my voice. I may be passive or staccato on purpose.
What a fabulous piece, Linda. Our authenticity is getting more important by the day.