I asked ChatGPT to analyze my blog. This is what it found.

This morning I got to wondering what an impartial machine would make of my ramblings. What patterns or themes might it detect? How accurate or inaccurate would its assessment of me, the author, be? So I decided to ask ChatGPT to analyze the precursors to this blog, American Shad and Rock and Roll Grammarian).

Here’s how that went:

Verdict: It aggrandized in some ways, but it got a whole lot right, in my opinion.

Artificial intelligence is fascinating to me for so many reasons. It’s the foundation for the most meaningful shift in human-computer interaction I’ve seen in my years on this earth, and I’ve had a front-row seat for a few.

Generative AI is changing how we think, communicate and move through the world. I believe its impact on civilization could be more profound than that of the internet, or perhaps even electricity. Many of my peers are scared of AI — scared of its effect on the environment, our brains, our livelihoods, our economy. I don’t believe they’re wrong to be wary, but I do think the fears may be overblown. After all, people thought the internet, social media and cloud computing all spelled doom in one way or the other. But we are still here. And we are still evolving.

Admittedly I am a bit of a Pollyanna when it comes to technology and science, and I guess I’m a bit of a futurist like my dad. I think, truly, that if we do things right, artificial intelligence could make the world a better place. If smart and conscientious humans shape and govern it, it can help us solve the really big problems of our time — geopolitical conflict, climate change, disease, famine, homelessness and so much more. I hope I live to see it begin to achieve its potential.

But we have to be careful not to let it be a magnifier of our baser instincts, or our egos. It would be easy to read ChatGPT’s assessment of my writing as validation. (It said I was humorous! It said my voice had matured! It said I showed narrative craft!) AI has a way of amplifying our main character energy, despite our awareness of its sycophantic properties.

I think of AI as a tool, one that I have used and will continue to use most days. But I don’t think I’ll be using it on this blog. If my writing is a little clumsy here, that is OK. If I don’t express my ideas effectively at first, that’s OK — I’m a professional editor, after all, and I know I’ll get there eventually. I’m reserving this space for my authentic voice.