Happy Wednesday, fellow AI adventurers!
Welcome to another exciting edition of our weekly AI adventure.
Is Romance Dead? Couples Are Using ChatGPT to Write Vows…
Weddings are moments of joy and celebration, but they can also be accompanied by stress and anxiety, especially when it comes to crafting heartfelt speeches and vows.
Molly Price, a customer-experience coordinator from Denver, found a unique solution to ease the burden of wedding planning by enlisting the help of AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and the Writer’s Block Assistant from Joy, a wedding platform.
Price, who met her fiancé, Erik Sorensen, six years ago at a summer camp, has described their relationship as “fun, supportive, and a little bit chaotic.” These qualities have become the foundation for their wedding preparations, as the couple has outsourced nearly 90% of their writing to AI tools.
To craft their vows, Price has adopted a two-step approach. First, she relies on Joy’s AI assistant to generate structured text specific to wedding-related content, offering a range of questions that help shape the vows’ tone and direction. Then, armed with this initial text, she turns to ChatGPT to infuse her own persona, humor, and editing finesse.
Price says she has found relief from the pressure of writing speeches and vows. The process, which she likened to working on a research paper, has become much less daunting. For someone like Price, who isn’t particularly comfortable with public speaking, the AI-generated content provides a much-needed confidence boost.
As Price aptly noted, it’s a bit ironic that an AI tool can help make the content less robotic. However, this showcases the power of AI to augment human creativity and storytelling.
Wedding vows and speeches are deeply personal and represent a couple’s unique bond and commitment to each other. By delegating the majority of this task to AI tools, we run the risk of creating content that lacks the genuine emotions that should be at the core of these expressions. The danger lies in producing speeches and vows that may sound perfectly crafted and polished, but ultimately feel robotic and detached from the couple’s true sentiments.
What I Think Everyone Is Getting Wrong About the Future of Work and AI
Once upon a time, in the cozy confines of my home, a peculiar scene unfolded. My 5-year-old neice, usually a bundle of joy, was engaged in a fiery dispute.
I couldn’t fathom who could have upset her. Well, me being me, I decided to investigate the source of her frustration.
I tiptoed into the room, unnoticed by my little one, only to find her engrossed in a battle of wits with Google Home.
She was furiously arguing with the voice assistant, attributing human-like qualities to the machine. I couldn’t help but be enthralled by this fascinating human-machine interaction, akin to an anthropologist delving into an unknown culture.
As I observed silently, it dawned on me that the root of their disagreement lay in a simple misunderstanding. My neice, in her innocence, had been invoking the wrong voice assistant, mistakenly calling out “Hey, Siri” instead of “Hey, Google.”
I stepped in to explain the issue to her, resolving the conflict between my her and the misunderstood Google bot.
But let us venture beyond the boundaries of my home and delve into a more advanced realm of machines. Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a dominant force in our world, prompting us to contemplate the consequential conversations we have, far more serious than the arguments of a 5-year-old. The central question at hand pertains to our interactions with machines and their impact on our happiness and well-being.
I find myself particularly intrigued by AI’s influence on the labor market and employee experience (EX).
Tech leaders such as Sam Altman of OpenAI, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, and Sundar Pichai of Google and Alphabet, discussed the implications of AI during their meeting with the White House. They pondered over the effects on workers, unions, job quality, and the future of work.
I join them in my optimistic outlook, firmly believing that Generation AI will contribute to replacing humans in monotonous, hazardous, laborious, and challenging tasks that have burdened us for generations.
In contrast to the dystopian fears depicted in science fiction, where robots render us unemployed and ultimately eradicated, reality paints a different picture. AI is not here to supplant us; rather, it comes bearing the gift of liberation from mind-numbing chores and perilous undertakings. It empowers us to focus on what truly defines our humanity: creativity and collaboration.
Let’s begin with the dull jobs that drain our energy and creativity. Mundane and repetitive tasks, such as data entry, no longer need hold us captive. AI’s automation capabilities liberate our time and mental space, allowing us to engage in meaningful and fulfilling endeavors.
Moving on to the dirty jobs, we encounter physically demanding or unhygienic tasks that jeopardize our health and safety. Occupations like sewer cleaning, hazardous material handling, or work in extreme conditions can be entrusted to robots and AI. By doing so, we shield human workers from harm while enhancing work efficiency and accuracy. Essential services can continue without compromising human lives.
Dangerous jobs introduce a high level of risk and exposure to life-threatening situations. Firefighters, police officers, and soldiers risk their safety in the pursuit of protecting our communities and nations. AI can revolutionize these professions, equipping them with advanced tools like drones, robotic exoskeletons, and autonomous vehicles. With the aid of these technologies, we can minimize the danger faced by human lives.
Lastly, we encounter the difficult jobs, tasks that demand immense physical or mental stamina, pushing human capabilities to their limits. Construction, mining, and even space exploration exemplify these roles. AI-powered machinery and technologies contribute to precise and efficient performance, allowing human operators to supervise and make critical decisions.
Once again, it is crucial to note that AI does not seek to eliminate us; it aspires to complement our inherent abilities and enhance our quality of life.
By assuming responsibility for the dreary, filthy, hazardous, and arduous tasks, AI permits us to redirect our efforts towards activities that truly matter. We must rid ourselves of the fallacy that there exists a finite number of jobs in the world. Instead, we embrace the dynamic and ever-changing nature of work. History has shown us that automation may eliminate certain roles, like the telephone operator, but it creates a surge in demand for new positions that align with evolving needs.
Midjourney Is Misogynist
Midjourney, a freely-accessible, open-source AI software, made its grand entrance in July 2022. Its purpose was profound – generating artistic renderings based on user prompts.
Using a vast database of millions of images, Midjourney aimed to create high-fidelity representations of whatever it was asked to conjure. Seemingly magical, right?
Curiosity led us to test Midjourney’s capabilities, and we chose “anxiety” as our prompt. In the blink of an eye, ten images materialized before us.
But alas, a troubling pattern became apparent. All the generated images depicted female figures, their eyes dark and sunken, their expressions sullen, with frowns etched upon their faces.
While it is true that research indicates higher prevalence of anxiety among women compared to men, reducing anxiety to a “female” disorder dismisses the experiences of men and perpetuates existing stigma surrounding men’s mental health. It was a disconcerting realization that our brief exploration of AI-generated images uncovered biases that merit further investigation.
Let us not forget that AI is a creation of humans, and therefore, it is subject to the biases of its creators. Bias can infiltrate AI systems based on factors such as race, gender, age, and class.
Midjourney’s portrayal of anxiety as an exclusively female condition exemplifies how prejudice can seep into technological advancements. The already disproportionate stigma around mental illness faced by men is only intensified when presented with the notion that anxiety is a woman’s affliction.
How can we expect men to seek the support they need for their mental well-being when even the internet, represented by Midjourney, reinforces the idea that anxiety is reserved for women?
With its vast collection of reference images, it should not come as a surprise that stigma finds its way into the outputs produced by this AI system. While we acknowledge the presence of toxic masculinity and the stigma that surround men’s mental health in our society, we cannot disregard the potential biases inherent in AI technology. We must recognize the limitations of these systems in serving as unbiased resources.
The utilization of AI in medicine signifies remarkable progress, promising new possibilities for improved healthcare. However, if we fail to examine and address the biases embedded within these technologies, we may inadvertently take a step backward, perpetuating stigma and harmful narratives that extend beyond the confines of the human mind.