AI Responses: Humanity Versus The Machine

I was so struck and overwhelmed by the wisdom and kindness of the responses to my last post, AI and the Future of Roaringwater Journal, that I decided to write a follow up. Then, I promise, I will let this matter drop and go back to my usual diet of history and archaeology  and art and flowers and West Cork.

First of all thank you to everyone who took the time to respond – it was heartening and heartwarming to see your thoughtful and encouraging comments, both on the blog and on the Facebook Page. My blog readership is down, at this point about 20% over this time last year. This seems to be about average for what many are reporting, although some have seen far steeper declines. Your comments reminded me that to look at this in terms of readership stats is missing the point – what you told me is that each time a post is read, the reader and I are making a human connection. This was brought home to me at a function last night where I met a woman who told me that although she never comments, Roaringwater Journal has been a ‘lifeline’ for her both during Covid and in times away from West Cork. It was also underscored by the fact that one of the comments was from a high school teacher in Canada that I taught in elementary school in the far north of Canada in the early 1980s! (Hello, Shannon!)

The second theme that emerged takes shape around the concept of a Voice – a real, human voice, with opinions and insight and well-researched content and occasional humour and its own quirky personality. No content generated by a chatbot, you said, can equate to reading something that a human has written with creativity, clarity, passion and curiosity. And you are right – I love what Paddy Tobin said about the essay on West Cork History written by ChatGPT

as soon as I began to read the AI generated text, you were gone, absent. I suppose had I not read your blogs over time this would not have registered. It would be a reasonably interesting if bland presentation of facts but when you write there is opinion, interpretation, reaction, feeling…style and personality

Several of you share my worry in a general sense and resent the intrusion of AI into our daily lives, although as Francis observed, the genie’s out of the bottle now and there’ll be no getting it back in again  As I have been reading a little more about what’s happening, there is a glimmer of hope – it has become obvious very quickly that the internet is an ecosystem with a delicate balancing act. If the chatbots and AI search engines cut traffic to writers and publishers, (who, in turn cease to write and publish) they are ultimately undermining what make the internet actually work – that is, without content creators there is no longer information to harvest. Way back in 2016 we already were expressing this in our post Tech is Cool and Content is King. Some are advocating a system of monetary compensation for scraping content. While that might suit some creators, those whose livelihoods depend on their writing, it does nothing for those of us who are motivated not by commercial considerations but by the sharing of stories and interests with our readers. I can’t help feeling too that it just turns writers into employees or ‘suppliers’ for the large AI companies.

Thank you for the encouragement to explore other options. I’ve looked into Substack and I don’t think it’s the answer for me for a number of reasons. That could be another post so I will leave it there. Regarding writing a book – yes, I will give this serious consideration (after I finish the one I am currently writing about George Walsh), but perhaps some of you don’t realise that the book, which seems like it has the protection of being a physical entity, is also in danger from the exact same issue. In recent years, major AI companies have admitted or been revealed to have used vast libraries of published books (usually without permission or compensation) to train their models. This includes both e-books and scanned print books. Just because something exists in a printed form does not mean it is safe from digital scraping. If you want to check out whether your favourite book has been scraped, do a search in The Atlantic database. I only have my name on the spine of one book – a now very-outdated and somewhat turgid volume of academic essays co-edited with a professor from the University of British Columbia. I found it in that database.

Finally, you reminded me that I must hang onto why I do this, week after week and so I have asked myself that question. Here’s my answer – I write this blog for a whole host of reasons. I do it for me, and I do it for Robert so that his wonderful lyrical writing and unique ruminations on all kinds of subjects will be available for as long as the blog is alive. I do it as a creative outlet and to give my life a sense of purpose. I do it to give back to the wonderful West Cork community that embraced us and supported us when we moved here in 2012. I do it to get down in writing, for the enjoyment and edification of myself and others what makes West Cork the rich and fascinating environment we have discovered here. I do it to celebrate the joy of researching the wide and varied history, archaeology, culture and environment of this special part of the world. I do it to give a shape and discipline to my week. I do it because it gets me out amuigh féin spéir, scrambling over stone walls, lying in bogs, exploring ruins, running from bulls, sometimes alone but often with Amanda and Peter of Holy Wells of Cork and Kerry. I do it because it has led me into subjects and places about which I knew nothing but which have become all-consuming interests – wildflowers and stained glass for example. I do it because it has become my life and my pastime and my passion. I do it because I have readers like you, all over the world, who let me know my words do not go into a void. I do it because.

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59 thoughts

  1. I appreciate this honest look at how AI is changing writing. It’s true that even the best AI technology, like what we work with at ARCQ AI, can’t capture the real passion and personality of a human writer. While AI can help with some tasks, it should be used to support creativity, not replace it. This article reminds me that keeping our unique voices alive is so important, no matter how much technology advances.

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  2. Hi Finola,
    I left a comment on the previous post but this email really encapsulates what I said- Ai may seem to be accurate but I can ask you, (Finola, real person with vast personal knowledge) a question!
    Which window does the image of stained glass cockerel, bee and mouse come from and would the bee and mouse be created by scraping the area clean then in effect painting the creature with the black?
    Thanks for sharing your knowledge and passion. It’s unlikely that my feet will ever walk on Irish soil again but I love being able to walk with you.

    Kind regards,
    Marion Haigh

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    • Good question! And the image was chosen to fit the theme. It is a detail from the Kilmacduagh window by George Walsh in the little church in Tierneevin, Co Galway, close to the Kilmacduagh monastic site. The saint, Colmán Mac Duagh, was a friend to all creatures. The cock would let him know when the time came to read his office, the mouse would keep him awake by nibbling on his ear, and the fly would keep his place on the page if he was called away. The mouse and the fly were painted onto clear glass, and other brush marks were added for texture. The cockerel, I think, is on red-flashed glass, which had much of the red acided away, to give the two-tone effect you see.

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  4. Hi, I’ve been putting off reading this, not wanting to plunge into the tangled webs of AI, of my own place/responsibility in it/to it, of how, probably it will turn out I have made no ripple there at all (yes, there’s always a bit of hubris)and energy has been fractured and low.

    What a lovely blog, though. I love the ‘turgid essays’ bit as well. I think a few of us are guilty of that.
    And it must be so heartening to hear from such a ‘geography’ of readers.

    Long may you blog.

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  5. Finola, I do not always comment but always read, and you take me to a little journey back to Ireland every time. I only use AI for taking minutes at formal meetings which seems the best place for it! I thoroughly enjoy your blogs and long may they continue.

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  6. I think “opinion” is what will be missing from AI generated texts. That is the personal contribution to a set of facts and will continue, I hope, to distinguish personal writings from the artificial. Of course, they may discover how to fake that also.

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  7. As a new-ish reader of Roaringwater Journal and a skeptical/reluctant but curious user of AI, I just wanted to say thank you, Finola, for sharing your research and thoughts on it and expressing it all so eloquently. At this point, it’s an unstoppable monster. But hopefully, with people like you around to continue fighting the good fight, we can use it as a useful tool and not let it stop us connecting as humans.

    Thanks again,

    Mary

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  9. For me, and so many others, you and Robert have filled the void so admirably since ‘Ireland of The Welcomes’ departed many moons ago, long before AI.  Keep up the writing, Finola, as long as you will, we are enriched with your personal opinions and experiences, especially round West Cork, and further afield.  With best wishes, Paddy.Paddy Wilkinsonpwilk12@gmail.com

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    • Thank you, Paddy, and your comment also reminded me that I have sadly neglected my ‘Ireland 50 Years Ago” series, based on my gift of a complete run of Ireland of the Welcomes from the 197os. I must get back to that one of these days.

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      • Ah, those blessed ‘Ireland of the Welcomes’ of yore, but hey, fast forward to today with RWJ’s sallying forth to places anew – the personal ta

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  10. Pingback: On Edge! – Paddy Tobin, An Irish Gardener

  12. Finola please continue your very interesting blog! I came across it and signed up whilst researching for our three week trip to West Cork at the end of August. We have taken a house overlooking Roaring Water Bay (quite apt) and will be exploring this corner of Cork where my grandfather and ancestors lived for many generations.

    I read with interest your piece on Pierre Camier, who must be an ancestor of many Camier’s in the area. I would love to find out more about the Huguenot families which I believe we are descended from. I also read with interest about Cormac Levis, as my grandmother was a Levis, who I also believe were Huguenots.

    I am sure there is a place for AI but your blog is both factual and balanced opinion.

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  13. Finola please continue your very interesting blog! I came across it and signed up whilst researching for our three week trip to West Cork at the end of August. We have taken a house overlooking Roaring Water Bay (quite apt) and will be exploring this corner of Cork where my grandfather and ancestors lived for many generations.

    I read with interest your piece on Pierre Camier, who must be an ancestor of many Camier’s in the area. I would love to find out more about the Huguenot families which I believe we are descended from. I also read with interest about Cormac Levis, as my grandmother was a Levis, who I also believe were Huguenots.

    I am sure there is a place for AI but your blog is both factual and balanced opinion.

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    • Hi Mike. First, thank you for your kind comments. Secondly, you are coming to the land of Levis’s and Camiers. I highly recommend a trip in to the Skibbereen Heritage Centre where the marvellous Margaret will help you with the genealogy stuff. You might want to make an appointment before you come. In Ballydehob, both the gas station and Rosie’s pub are run by Camiers (brothers) so pop in and make yourself known. And across the road from Rosie’s is Levis’s pub and the Sandboat pub, also both run by Levis families. I predict you will feel right at home here.

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  16. Just quickly commenting to say that I check this blog daily, and don’t use facebook at all. So this reader definitely appreciates viewing all this great content in blog format!

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  17. Dear Finola, I too had intended in responding last week, but believe me, it is always not only informative, but a real pleasure to read your posts. Please know that your true voice and interest in your subject comes shining through. That just can’t be replaced. Thank you.

    Mary Pawle

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  19. Wonderful to read this, Finola. I’m so glad that you’re heartened by the response. This is something we can all benefit from reading. Thank you for bringing up the question in the first place and sharing the feedback.

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  21. Hi Finola,
    I’ve been reading for a long time. As an American living part time in Kerry for fifteen years, you’ve been my guide as I explore my (no longer) new world.

    As an academic and author of several books, I had to write to say that you have already written a book. It’s here. With beautiful photos, vital information, and lyrical takes on the history and beauty around us, anyone who already loves or visits Ireland would love it.

    Just spend lots of quiet time combing your posts, finding threads that bring them together to craft narratives among them, and reproduce them. Then use your warm and honest literary voice to write short takes that link the sections together with your own memories and new insights. It could be part memoir, part travel guide, and part celebration of the happiness that comes from looking lovingly at the local world around you. About halfway through the process, write a short book proposal and include a table of contents and a sample section to get a book contract.

    Hope you will forgive my Miss Know It All tone? I’ve directed about forty dissertations that have become books. The gist of my initial advice is to always to start with what you have already done, add what you are missing, and then demystify the publishing process.

    Cheers,
    Glenda

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  22. Thank you, thank you, Finola.I don’t comment often at all, but can’t let this one pass.  Your listing of why you continue writing and sharing Roaringwater Journal  touches me deeply, and I feel such gratitude to you for speaking right to my heart.  I have electronically  saved yours and Robert’s weekly letters, and yes, there’s a book – or more – there if you decide to undertake such an effort.  Consider at least one copy added to a  home library  in south west  Illinois. Meanwhile, I will continue to read weekly with great appreciation.Sincerely,Susan HeiserTrenton, Illinois

    Sent from the all new AOL app for iOS

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  25. As a new member of the West Cork community you do all this wonderful writing for, I can’t thank you enough. Julian says it all. And please do keep going, it is all a revelation to a newbie. And the human connection is why we are here.

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  26. Finola, I’m sorry I meant to reply last week but things went a bit crazy! I agree. AI can never replace a voice, a heart like yours. You and Robert have given us so much. It’s personal, warm, truthful and caring. I’ve love your work since I first discovered it. No AI can undermine it’s spirit. Thank you. Brenda O’Neill

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  27. Well, your reasons for writing the blog are one thing ( and VERY well expressed Finola !….reminds me of Princess Diana who said “I want to DO, not just to be “) but what about our reasons for reading it ? Probably multifarious too, but we are all frail humans with ageing memories and I still think it would be marvellous to commit a lot the blogs to book form so that we can dip into it again and again and again without having to sit in front of a screen. Probably a series of books in fact, covering your various subjects, so we could buy the ones that interest us most. I think it would be a commercial success too ! The question of copyright is really a side issue surely. Lawyers can deal with that in due course !

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    • I’ve been waiting all my life to hear somebody say I remind them of Princess Diana. 🙂
      I see you are upping the ante – no longer a book, but a series of books. But what about your own book – I know you write and very well too.

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      • Finola, you and Robert have written like angels for a decade and taught us all so much. Your reasons for wiritng this blog in themselves are like a sort of encapsulated perfect explanation for anyone writing anything. The only thing I don’t think you mentioned was your simple love and passion for place and your possible desire to leave that to posterity. My own scribblings ( incomplete and unpublished ) are an attempt to to leave behind some idea of my passion for West Cork and in particluar Roaring Water Bay which I have been quartering in many different boats for half a century. Mostly in laughter and joy, and in ignorance of the thousands of interesting facts that you have unearrthed.

        Yes, a series of books for the various subjects you cover. You have the pics !! Publishing would be a doddle.

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  29. Very well said – here’s to our ramblings, on and off the page, doing it for all the myriad of reasons you mentioned – long may you ramble, ponder, present, argue, research, question, enthuse, discuss, enlighten and remain very human!

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