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<p>Nick -</p>
<p>This is a rather eloquent (and/or disturbing?) vision of a
potential trajectory of human-machine fusion. I can't say I seek
or approve to get on that trajectory myself, but it is not so
inconceivable to me as to make me want to deny the possibility.
If I wake up one day with said "voice in my head" I shouldn't be
surprised... I do already engage with GPT (very occasionally)
through the voice mode while in my car (because bluetooth) and it
feels eerily like I have a friend riding along.</p>
<p>As I consider my building project, and enjoy the vicarious
experience of watching a handful of young people (30somethings) on
YouTube as they VLog their own building projects, I have imagined
slapping on a pair of LLM enabled video glasses as I talk my way
through the build with it. I'm still not able to climb a ladder
nor carry a bag of cement, so don't hold your breath... but I
*did* wonder as I considered that what it would be like to have
such a building "partner" in my ear the whole time. If I put it
off a year or two, the damn transformer models will probably be
able to realtime monitor my work from my POV and advise me on many
details which I myself am unaware of? Meanwhile maybe someone
will hack the Hypershell enough for the transformer to both sense
and effect my leg articulation... even with a weak drop-foot,
maybe it can compensate and all I have to do is mutter "up the
ladder" or "get a bag of cement" and I'll find my
exoskeleton/transformer turning that into action? Can't wait to
see if Hypershell.hk follows up with an upper-body exo to help me
lift heavy beams on my own? <br>
</p>
<p>- Steve<br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 1/25/25 9:08 PM, Nicholas Thompson
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAAXA=WmUnO0N_3MnfCYwk=JB1zbw4Rwgn7tR54NCL=039D-x3Q@mail.gmail.com">
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<div dir="ltr">
<div>I dunno, David. I have got some pretty eloquent stuff out
of george. It's odd, the more I treat him like a human, the
more human he becomes. (And the more he denies it.) I hear
you all crying out forth the ineffability of the human soul,
but I don't really see it. I think I am eminently eff-able.
I figure if I talk long enough with George, he could
definitely eff me. I think a time will come when I can turn
on a computer and listen to the voice "in my head". It will
not be generated by some interface to my brain, but rather by
LLM as well educated in my habits of thought as am I. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div> N</div>
</div>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container">
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sat, Jan 25, 2025 at
8:58 AM Prof David West <<a
href="mailto:profwest@fastmail.fm" moz-do-not-send="true"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">profwest@fastmail.fm</a>>
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote"
style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div class="msg7661964920064955955">
<div>
<div style="font-family:Arial">Pieter, <br>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Arial"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Arial">I applaud your use of AI to
improve your writing. It is my belief that the<b>
"proper"</b> use of AI, along with computers and
computing tools in general, is to <u>augment</u> human
abilities ala Vannevar Bush's "how we may think,"
Douglas Englebart's institute, Alan Kay's dynabook, (the
fictional Young Ladies Primer of Stephenson's <i>Diamond
Age</i>), and Jobs' "bicycle for the mind."<br>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Arial"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Arial">This is in direct contrast,
it seems, to the sentiments of most on this list who
think that AI should, and inevitably will, replace
"inferior" human intelligence.<br>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Arial"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Arial">I am curious if you see any
question of "voice" in the AI improved text? For
example, I took glen's question as nothing more than an
observation that the "voice" of your post seemed to that
of ChatGPT instead of Pieter—definitely not <b>"augmented-Pieter,"</b>
as I believe you intended it to be.<br>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Arial"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Arial">All of us respect Pieter
and value his words. If, however, we are confused by
"voice." it raises issues of how much consideration the
writing should receive and how we should respond.<br>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Arial"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Arial">Improving oneself, and
one's writing, is a great goal. And we all have
experienced examples of "I wish I had said that," or "I
wish I had expressed that idea as eloquently as she
did." If AI tools provide wordings that you admire, or
feel express your ideas more eloquently, you should
adopt them.<br>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Arial"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Arial">Personally, I do not
believe that AI can ever provide more 'eloquent'
writing, only more precise or more complete writing. So
I, again, strictly personally, would eschew using such
tools as currently constructed. I would however, if I
had the chance, use Richard Gabriel's tool, <i>Inkwell</i>,
which, BTW, he emphatically states is not an AI, to
enhance my writing. But Richard is primarily a poet and
writer, despite his education and career in AI and
computing, and he created <i>Inkwell</i> expressly to
be a writer's assistant. I have tremendous respect for
Richard's writing and I know he uses Inkwell to enhance
his intrinsic abilities.<br>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Arial"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Arial">davew<br>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Arial"><br>
</div>
<div style="font-family:Arial"><br>
</div>
<div>On Fri, Jan 24, 2025, at 10:48 PM, Pieter Steenekamp
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite" id="m_7661964920064955955qt">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>I was surprised by the comment "I hope I'm wrong.
But that text reads like it was generated by an LLM"
At first, I just thought, 'so what?' But it got me
thinking about how AI changes how we communicate,
which is really important to me.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Here's my main point:<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I think it's okay to use others, whether they're
people or AI, to help me communicate better, as long
as the ideas are mine and I'm not copying someone
else's work. If using AI to polish my words bothers
someone, we can talk about it.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Here's some background on why I think this way:<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>a) Learning to communicate is one of the best
things you can take away from school or university.
For example if a student is supposed to use her own
words in an assignment, then using AI or asking
someone else to rewrite is wrong.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>b) In the workplace, we've always had people like
personal assistants or speech writers. I see using
AI in the same way, just a modern tool to help.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>c) Writing assistance used to be expensive
because you needed people. Now, AI can do the job
for free, and that doesn't go against what I believe
is right.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>d) Your writing should still sound like you. So,
I write something first, then ask AI to make it
better but keep it simple and in my style, like,
'Please make this sound better but keep it easy to
understand.' I now realise I violated this
previously and will adapt.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>e) Maybe it's good, depending on the situation,
to mention when you've used AI in your writing.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>f) Here's a funny story: I used AI to help write
a message for an AI workshop, and someone
complimented the writing so much they suggested I
should be a writer instead!<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>My bottom line:<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I plan to add a note at the end of each message
in this group saying I used AI to help with my
writing. If my using AI is a problem for anyone
here, feel free to ask me to leave the group or
simply remove me from the group.<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Note: I use AI to assist my writing.<br>
</div>
</div>
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<span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br>
<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>Nicholas S. Thompson</div>
<div>Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology</div>
<div>Clark University</div>
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