It wrote that better than I did.
I didn’t want to admit it, but it was true. An artificial intelligence app composed a stellar back cover copy for my latest novel, better than I could’ve imagined.
I’ve churned out dozens of novels since 2009 — 2 million words of fiction. I’m a wizard at crafting the “hook” on the back cover of a book. Fellow authors pay me to work my magic for them.
But then, along came ChatGPT. Years of learning, publishing, writing, and marketing — gone in a flash.
How does this story make you feel? Anxious and afraid or excited and empowered? A bit of it all? After all, we’re the last generation of non-digital natives and are becoming the “new boss.” It’s time to up your game and shed the very last shred of any slacker image.
Ghost in the Machine
So, you have a choice: Chuck D it and “Fight the Power,” or accept that Reality Bites. Either way, you can’t ghost the machine. But you can ditch the feeling of dread that says you can’t keep up. As Brian advised back in 2018:
The hardest thing to accept is that your fears never go away. You just learn to act despite them.
This is something we OG latchkey kids know how to do instinctively, as author Neil Howe says in The Fourth Turning:
[We] grew strong peer personality strengths: self-sufficiency, resilience, keen survival instincts, and the power to distinguish reality from illusion.
Activate that power like a Wonder Twin, and dispel your fear by diving in and experimenting.
Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto
To set the mood, why not go back to the future and make Styx’s 40-year-old lyric your mantra?
Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto
For doing the jobs nobody wants to
And thank you very much, Mr. Roboto
For helping me escape to where I needed to
Remember how you felt the first time you fired up your modem and sent an email on AOL? You were scared and excited all at once. See, it’s like that. Ask ChatGPT to write you a love letter from Prince. Use Midjourney to put yourself into the Singles movie poster.
Once you get in there, you’ll see what I’m seeing. ChatGPT will become your personal assistant. You’ll edit text and audio with Descript. Or you’ll use Adobe Firefly to make stunning Instagram posts.
You don’t have to worry about A.I. doing things better than you because it will, like my book cover example. But you have the chops to recognize what’s worthy (and what’s not). Plus, you have something crucial that machines don’t: vibrant real-world experiences, the source of your wisdom.
Sure, A.I. will replace some of what you do, so go ahead and grieve. But when you’re done, join me — we’ve got a new chapter to write.
