I recently read this post by Owen Elgie about AI.

Would AI be less scary if it’s got a name? Are people scared of Alexa, or Siri in the same way as the unnamed AI? Many people are quite happy to have them in their house.

Like you, I am more worried about the effect of AI on the Arts, especially writing. There are already books being churned out ‘written’ by AI.

I feel, that at the moment, AI can’t tap into the nuances of human behaviour and emotions. It doesn’t understand ‘feelings’. A bit like Mr Spock in Star Trek, only more so. As a result, the books written by AI aren’t that good.

But will it learn about these things, and the nuances of language? In English, we have words that have very similar in meaning, but have a subtly different sense. Can it learn when to use run or sprint? Can it learn about interpreting body language?

And art. Will it be able to add those subtle things that turn a painting from a simple realistic scene to one that stirs the emotions? And the same for an abstract.

One poet of my acquaintance (and I’m sure he’s not the only one) wrote a poem, and gave AI the same brief. His was so much better.

I expect things will develop as AI learns, but it’s got a long way to go, as yet. Mind you, judging by a few badly written books that have become best sellers in recent years, I’m not entirely convinced that many of the reading public are bothered about the writing.

Of course, we already use AI. Many people use it for research, although I’m unsure about that as I understand it’s not always as accurate as it might be.

What about spell checkers and programs such as Grammarly and Hemmingway? They are AI, too.

And games programs, too, many of which learn. Even my car learns about my style of driving and how it differs from that of my husband. (It knows which key has been used to unlock and start it.)

How do you feel about AI? Does it scare you?