“Write a column in the style of Anson Cameron about a column written by AI.” After an unnervingly brief wait there is this: “The typewriter’s clatter has given way to the keyboard’s quiet clicks, and now, in an astonishing leap, to the silent hum of artificial intelligence. Columnists, those brave souls who have long wielded words like swords, now find themselves sharing space with an entirely new entity: the AI columnist.
A marvel of modern technology, it is as mysterious as it is controversial. ” I can’t tell if that bit about columnists being brave souls and wielding words like swords is a piss-take or plain old bombast. If it is a piss-take, is it AI mimicking my own satirical voice and using it against me? Can AI detect satire and counterfeit it? Is it writing in my style, as requested, and making fun of columnists? And how can AI recognise and understand satire when so few humans, and virtually no sub-editors, can? Credit: Robin Cowcher It goes on: “A great columnist doesn’t merely inform; they resonate.
They tap into the shared consciousness, draw out our collective hopes, fears, and dreams, and give them voice.” That’s not bad stuff. I like to resonate, tap in, draw out.
It’s a nice enough aspirational statement. What do you want your column to do, Mister Cameron? See above – re the collective dreams, etc. In the end the AI column comes down on the side of AI columnists.
“So, let’s not fear this silicon scribe ...
In this fusion of man an.