The AI Craze: Chasing the Shiny New Thing
As I eagerly hit refresh on my browser, anticipating the arrival of my freshly generated profile picture, I couldn’t help but chuckle in disbelief when the image finally loaded. Alone in my workspace, I let out an audible laugh before firing off a perplexed email to customer support.
The writing community is abuzz with discussions about the ethics of utilizing AI tools, but what fascinates me equally is our infatuation with these tools, even when they deliver absurd or subpar results. Why do we find ourselves drawn to the latest and greatest, regardless of whether it actually improves efficiency, quality, or cost?
The FOMO Factor
Throughout the year, my LinkedIn feed has been inundated with posts singing the praises of the newest AI tools for virtually every task imaginable. I, too, have fallen victim to the allure of many of these tools, only later questioning my sudden desire to be part of the in-crowd. Fear of missing out (FOMO) led me to conveniently overlook whether these tools were genuinely beneficial.
The Rise of ChatGPT
One of the first tools that piqued my interest was ChatGPT. Recently surpassing 100 million active users, ChatGPT has revolutionized the AI landscape. While many writers publicly criticize the tool, I’ve discovered that nearly every writer I know uses it—just not for the actual writing process.
By its very nature, ChatGPT cannot be used for truly innovative work, as its output is derived from existing data and algorithms. Its capabilities are limited to summarizing, distilling, copying, and pasting. I leverage ChatGPT to gain a foundational understanding of concepts, devices, time periods, or events that I write about, using the basic explanations as a springboard for further research. It helps me find synonyms and alternative phrases, and I can quickly narrow down research studies and articles by using highly specific prompts rather than simple keywords. Although ChatGPT’s knowledge base isn’t always current, it excels at brainstorming titles, chapter names, and section headings. It’s also fantastic for checking title case and citation formatting. In essence, ChatGPT has become my all-in-one assistant, eliminating the need to switch between Google, my thesaurus, research databases, and CMOS formatting tools.
Experimenting with AI Tools
As a ghostwriter, I frequently record interviews with authors to gather book content, so I began experimenting with Otter.AI for transcription. While the tool is undeniably helpful, it’s not without its glitches and frustrations. In the end, I’ve come to appreciate the fleeting nature of undocumented moments, as they make me feel most alive. However, that won’t stop me from eagerly exploring the latest AI tool that promises an experience akin to magic.
My AI Tool Rankings
Here’s my highly official ranking of the AI tools I’ve used so far:
- Most ridiculous: Aragon.AI for headshots
- Most expensive: AdCreativeAI for ads and social posts
- Most value: Canva for designing anything
- Most work to get good outputs: Midjourney
- Most glitchy and frustrating: Otter.AI
- Most consistent use: ChatGPT
After replacing my AI-generated profile picture with a vacation snapshot, I reached out to the friend who always manages to capture my best angles and most recognizable expressions.
As it turns out, she’s available for hire as a photographer.
3 Comments
AI tools transforming productivity? Color me skeptical but intrigued!
AI making us productive or just lazy geniuses? There’s a line we’re all dancing on.
AI in productivity, huh? Hope it was more help than hype!