I was writing an email sequence for my business and after the first draft, I sent it to ChatGPT for review and adjustments, then to Gemini. This back-and-forth went on multiple times a day for a week. With me acting like the delivery guy. It improved in the first few rounds, but then it felt stuck and the more I tried to fix it, the less it sounded like me. It felt like I was missing. I went to a feedback gym and the person pinpointed what was missing immediately.
I've had exactly the same experience. I think these models are very good at helping us to a point, but then we can get trapped in the current. Going around and around and around. Losing all sharpness to our piece until it becomes a dull stone.
Thanks for the comment Kathy. Yeah, it’s a bit of an example quickly convenience can take over, I think we need to keep our heads about ourselves so that doesn’t happen.
Dominik, let me say this: I am so very glad you wrote this essay. Since when did efficiency become the gold standard for everything? When it comes to creating, it's the trials and errors, the back and forth discussions, the working through the thing that produces what is needed and makes us more wholehearted. This realisation - I'd become so hooked on validation from a machine that I wasn’t trusting my own ideas - made me feel unwell, because it's so easy to do and I find myself doing the same with "likes" on substack/IG/FB. It's a slippery slope, as you have discovered. Thank you so much for writing this so clearly and concisely and with heart.
"I think the risk isn’t that AI will replace us. It’s that we’ll replace ourselves—one connection-free day at a time." Dear Lord, I hope you're wrong!
There’s definitely a balance between just how fast we can go through trial and error. I don’t know if I found it yet. There’s also a bit of the irony but writing a piece about my back-and-forth relationship with an AI, And at the end of the essay, checking it with that same AI.
I’m hopeful at the self reflection in itself, and already taking steps to make sure I’m seeing people makes a difference. Though I feel a bit like a canary in the coal mine. I don’t know if everyone will have the same realization as quickly.
Well done here, Dominick. So much good to think about— and not solely about AI either. I was surprised by some of the parallels of people turning to AI and other communication outlets (ie therapy) not always for connection but sometimes as an alternate way of finding a solution without having to bother others or worse, when they no longer trust their colleagues, family or friends.
I really enjoy your thoughtful reflections about our new AI world. We do so many things for immediate benefits, it's good to sit back and see the bigger picture sometimes!
I love how "early on" you've come to these conclusions Dominik. This is an important conversation to have- for all of us, but perhaps even more so for those of you who are deeper into the tech world. And yes, this IS the question, isn't it? "I think the risk isn’t that AI will replace us. It’s that we’ll replace ourselves—one connection-free day at a time."
…so much in here Dom and especially powerful hearing it from yourself…technology is incredible…that we can build so fast and so many ways…but for me I have never had an experience with a.i. that provides me with something better beyond efficiency…makes sense it is so efficiently replacing so many workers…but what to come from the days we no longer work with anyone but ourselves…shudder…
I was writing an email sequence for my business and after the first draft, I sent it to ChatGPT for review and adjustments, then to Gemini. This back-and-forth went on multiple times a day for a week. With me acting like the delivery guy. It improved in the first few rounds, but then it felt stuck and the more I tried to fix it, the less it sounded like me. It felt like I was missing. I went to a feedback gym and the person pinpointed what was missing immediately.
I've had exactly the same experience. I think these models are very good at helping us to a point, but then we can get trapped in the current. Going around and around and around. Losing all sharpness to our piece until it becomes a dull stone.
This level of honesty and self-reflection is badly needed today. Thanks for publishing this, Dominik.
Thinking of Rick’s newsletter “Honestly Human,” then envisioning “Honestly AI,” hopefully we can keep prioritizing humanity over technology.
Thanks for the comment Kathy. Yeah, it’s a bit of an example quickly convenience can take over, I think we need to keep our heads about ourselves so that doesn’t happen.
Dominik, let me say this: I am so very glad you wrote this essay. Since when did efficiency become the gold standard for everything? When it comes to creating, it's the trials and errors, the back and forth discussions, the working through the thing that produces what is needed and makes us more wholehearted. This realisation - I'd become so hooked on validation from a machine that I wasn’t trusting my own ideas - made me feel unwell, because it's so easy to do and I find myself doing the same with "likes" on substack/IG/FB. It's a slippery slope, as you have discovered. Thank you so much for writing this so clearly and concisely and with heart.
"I think the risk isn’t that AI will replace us. It’s that we’ll replace ourselves—one connection-free day at a time." Dear Lord, I hope you're wrong!
thank you the comment Dana.
There’s definitely a balance between just how fast we can go through trial and error. I don’t know if I found it yet. There’s also a bit of the irony but writing a piece about my back-and-forth relationship with an AI, And at the end of the essay, checking it with that same AI.
I’m hopeful at the self reflection in itself, and already taking steps to make sure I’m seeing people makes a difference. Though I feel a bit like a canary in the coal mine. I don’t know if everyone will have the same realization as quickly.
Great insights, Dana.
Well done here, Dominick. So much good to think about— and not solely about AI either. I was surprised by some of the parallels of people turning to AI and other communication outlets (ie therapy) not always for connection but sometimes as an alternate way of finding a solution without having to bother others or worse, when they no longer trust their colleagues, family or friends.
I really enjoy your thoughtful reflections about our new AI world. We do so many things for immediate benefits, it's good to sit back and see the bigger picture sometimes!
I love how "early on" you've come to these conclusions Dominik. This is an important conversation to have- for all of us, but perhaps even more so for those of you who are deeper into the tech world. And yes, this IS the question, isn't it? "I think the risk isn’t that AI will replace us. It’s that we’ll replace ourselves—one connection-free day at a time."
…so much in here Dom and especially powerful hearing it from yourself…technology is incredible…that we can build so fast and so many ways…but for me I have never had an experience with a.i. that provides me with something better beyond efficiency…makes sense it is so efficiently replacing so many workers…but what to come from the days we no longer work with anyone but ourselves…shudder…