As a highschooler who used AI because i was deeply insecure of my writing and deathly afraid of seeing red ink on my paper, this was really eye opening. The upcoming essay will be one of my own words and ideas, even if it costs me a fraction of my confidence. Thanks!
Okay, I have several things to say in response to this. The first one is-- thank you for reading this!! Thank you for reading the whole thing. Thank you for taking the time to comment, for having the integrity and humility that many adults do not have, to admit you've done stuff in the past you aren't proud of.
The second one is that I want to apologize for the harsh tone in some parts of this piece-- I want you to know that I was writing primarily for an audience of adults, because I tend to forget that younger people are on this platform at all (mea culpa) and by nature of that fact I tend to assume they know better and are acting out of laziness or against conscience. I don't hold that same opinion about younger students. You are in a stage of your life where everything is confusing and it's hard to know who to trust and what to follow and what is right. You're doing a great job and I want to encourage you in that.
Third, YES! Your own words and ideas are so worthy of support and encouragement and guidance from your teachers. The feedback you'd get on an essay written by ChatGPT wouldn't help YOU, but even a red-inked grade is going to help you become a better writer. I cannot tell you how many grades I have literally CRIED over. I'll probably continue to do so as I rack up rejections! I believe in you, Gia.
"Do not come for me in the replies with some “oH sO yOu dOn’T tHiNk onCOloGIstS sHoUlD uSE rAdiOLoGy pRoGrAmS thAt cAn sPoT cAnCeR” comment."
I share your distaste for the use of AI in generating yellow-tinted Ghibli slop and emoji-laden LinkedIn engagement bait.
The energy and water argument is weak. We need to train these AI models anyway for the potential benefits like those ones you allude to in radiology and cancer (and more!), so the energy used for training - which is most of it - needs to be expended anyway. The MIT article you linked says approx. 2 L water is used per 1 KWh, which, at approx 0.3 Wh for an average chatGPT prompt (seems to be the general consensus, e.g. Hannah Richie https://hannahritchie.substack.com/p/carbon-footprint-chatgpt), is 3000 prompts for less than what it takes to flush a toilet.
This is a good point-- that the models have to be trained anyway for worthy causes. But I would argue that in a climate crisis we shouldn't be wasting *any* energy or water on yellow Ghibli-pirating slop.
Yes! Yes!! Yes!!! This 100%. Once again, dear niece, putting perfectly into words the thoughts in my head I cannot corral to bring forth in anything that makes sense to others while adding your own perspective and knowledge that hadn't even occurred to me! Keep writing, reading, thinking and sharing from your own magnificent brain and in the process leave GenAI in your dust!
I'm with you 100%, you're very much preaching to the converted and I think this applies to many of us on Substack. Oh sure, you'll get your naysayers and all that, but...
I barely know how to use ChatGPT and instead of trying to learn, I figure it's just easier not to and keep on being as human as I can.
As a highschooler who used AI because i was deeply insecure of my writing and deathly afraid of seeing red ink on my paper, this was really eye opening. The upcoming essay will be one of my own words and ideas, even if it costs me a fraction of my confidence. Thanks!
Okay, I have several things to say in response to this. The first one is-- thank you for reading this!! Thank you for reading the whole thing. Thank you for taking the time to comment, for having the integrity and humility that many adults do not have, to admit you've done stuff in the past you aren't proud of.
The second one is that I want to apologize for the harsh tone in some parts of this piece-- I want you to know that I was writing primarily for an audience of adults, because I tend to forget that younger people are on this platform at all (mea culpa) and by nature of that fact I tend to assume they know better and are acting out of laziness or against conscience. I don't hold that same opinion about younger students. You are in a stage of your life where everything is confusing and it's hard to know who to trust and what to follow and what is right. You're doing a great job and I want to encourage you in that.
Third, YES! Your own words and ideas are so worthy of support and encouragement and guidance from your teachers. The feedback you'd get on an essay written by ChatGPT wouldn't help YOU, but even a red-inked grade is going to help you become a better writer. I cannot tell you how many grades I have literally CRIED over. I'll probably continue to do so as I rack up rejections! I believe in you, Gia.
100% . Red ink is so depressing, but it can fuel a lot of growth.
Thank you so much!!🩷🙏🏻
I really appreciate this manifesto, Amy!
Oh man! I enjoyed reading this! Pardon me for saying, but your writing is unhinged in THE BEST WAY, sista!
"Do not come for me in the replies with some “oH sO yOu dOn’T tHiNk onCOloGIstS sHoUlD uSE rAdiOLoGy pRoGrAmS thAt cAn sPoT cAnCeR” comment."
I share your distaste for the use of AI in generating yellow-tinted Ghibli slop and emoji-laden LinkedIn engagement bait.
The energy and water argument is weak. We need to train these AI models anyway for the potential benefits like those ones you allude to in radiology and cancer (and more!), so the energy used for training - which is most of it - needs to be expended anyway. The MIT article you linked says approx. 2 L water is used per 1 KWh, which, at approx 0.3 Wh for an average chatGPT prompt (seems to be the general consensus, e.g. Hannah Richie https://hannahritchie.substack.com/p/carbon-footprint-chatgpt), is 3000 prompts for less than what it takes to flush a toilet.
This is a good point-- that the models have to be trained anyway for worthy causes. But I would argue that in a climate crisis we shouldn't be wasting *any* energy or water on yellow Ghibli-pirating slop.
Oh you are inside my head BIG time.
Perfectly put. I will be sharing it liberally.
Yes! Yes!! Yes!!! This 100%. Once again, dear niece, putting perfectly into words the thoughts in my head I cannot corral to bring forth in anything that makes sense to others while adding your own perspective and knowledge that hadn't even occurred to me! Keep writing, reading, thinking and sharing from your own magnificent brain and in the process leave GenAI in your dust!
Hear hear, fellow Luddite, being left behind! 😂
I'm with you 100%, you're very much preaching to the converted and I think this applies to many of us on Substack. Oh sure, you'll get your naysayers and all that, but...
I barely know how to use ChatGPT and instead of trying to learn, I figure it's just easier not to and keep on being as human as I can.
Thanks! I will indeed go ahead. 😀 Maybe reading a bit more widely, beyond AI slop, would help make this less of a head-scratcher for you. Be well.