So I Got This Email

I don’t use Medium.

I set up an account some time ago but I’ve yet to do anything with it. It’s hard to explain why… perhaps I just don’t find the interface particularly friendly or engaging. There is some lack I feel about it. Some unexplainable void vibe. I’m really not sure what it is exactly… there is just something that doesn’t feel friendly about it. It’s not to say I won’t use it, just that I haven’t so far.

Anyway.

Sometime late last night I received a rather out of the blue email from them informing me that the are blocking AI from reading and learning from stories on the site. This link below is to the blog post they sent;

We have had a lot of AI related chat on here over the past few months. And it’s taken a while for me to refine my views on it. But everytime I read some article like this I feel compelled to share something glaringly and painfully obvious that everyone is apparently missing.

All that stuff we are calling out AI for? Like creating artwork from images it’s seen of other people’s artwork and mashing them together in its own kind of collage version? Or reading others stories and then mishmashing to create its own story? Not being factual or accurate? Outright lying? Incapable of saying the words “I don’t know” (clearly it’s programmed by men 😉😂) when it doesn’t know and instead begins vomiting nonsense.

Don’t you see? Must I spell this out?

That’s EXACTLY what human beings do.

Yes. You do. Whether you are conscious of it or not, that’s exactly what you do. You look at everything that already exists, you learn from it, you store it to memory, and then regurgitate it to each other at appropriate times in whatever you deem appropriate ways.

Sure, you put your own little accent on it - but it’s all just a rehash of what someone else said or wrote, or painted or built. There is nothing truly new or unique or remarkable in anything you do.

That sounded harsh, I know. Even my own ego is flashing up right now with protest and rejection of what I’m writing. But I know it’s true. And necessary to say. And actually kind to point out.

Kind - because everyone gets rather heated about this AI scene… and any stress on your system decays your system. So if this information can help deflate your stress longterm (which it should) it’s saving your health and therefore - your life.

I know, I know. I make it sound so dramatic. But pick that statement apart any way you like and it will also keep floating back to the surface of life’s murky ocean labelled as “truth”.

The point is not to be upset by the idea that you and AI are, underneath it all, exactly the same in this regard. The point is to let go of the tension about AI learning from you and ‘stealing’ from you. Every single human is doing the very same thing. And you aren’t twisting your panties over that!

In fact - you actively want them to be looking at your work.

This idea of possession and holding tight to the rights of what you create is born from concepts of Fear, Lack & Scarcity.

Only a person in fear clings to what they have, or what they had in the past.

Those who understand and trust in their own creative abilities, their resilience, their ability to adapt to any situation and flow with life do not cling. They do not hold tight to anything and call it “mine”. They share. In fact, they are so absorbed in what they are presently creating that they couldn’t care less if there are now 10,000 bootleg copies of their work floating about out there in the ether.

Another point to reflect on…

Who are you writing for?

Are you writing for you or for your reader?

Are you writing to serve the world or for selfish gain?

I remember pitching a social enterprise business idea at a university competition. The idea was so good. Seriously good. I spent 8 weeks of hard work researching and building the business plan from scratch.

I won the competition and the following competition with the same pitch - but this was an idea that I needed £1 million + to get off the ground. An idea that wasn’t likely to happen any year soon (at that time).

I vividly recall a friend asking me if I was worried if others ‘stole’ my idea before I could get it up and running. I remember being confused by her question. It was something I hadn’t considered. At all.

My answer was this.

“Then that’s brilliant!! If someone else can do this before I can, then they absolutely should! Because not only is it a win for the community, it’s a win for the government, for the people it helps, and employs … etc etc. This idea is a win for everyone so if someone else gets it going - fantastic. I’ve a million ideas like this. There are endless things I can create and do. And if this problem if fixed by someone else - then I get to fix something else! There are literally endless ways to improve the world - I’m not limited to this one idea”

And I meant it with my whole heart.

If I was in doubt of my own abilities? If I was consumed by my ego and wanting to be credited as the saviour? I would have clung to the idea as something ‘mine’. I would have tried to protect it. Hidden it until I could use it for myself.

Instead I threw it out to the world knowing someone else may implement it. Knowing that the idea was so great - and such a ‘win, win, win’ idea that it would only be a great thing if someone else did implement it sooner than me.

Isn’t that a better world? To share ideas and flow with each other. Not caring about credit. Just caring about making the world brighter, more joyful, kinder?

Perhaps the true gift of the rise of AI is this mirror we are being forced to look into. And as with all reflections - if we don’t like what we see - then change becomes an inside job.