While researching a topic recently, a GenAI tool presented several relevant statistics. I asked it to fact-check the numbers and cite sources. With a confidence that might inspire envy, it assured me they were all correct, even providing citations with a precision rivaling scientific journals. Except it was confidently wrong. When I dug deeper, a... Continue Reading →
Forget AI Imitating Us, We Are Imitating AI
Ever feel like LinkedIn posts sound... a bit too perfect these days? Or like certain words are suddenly everywhere? You're not imagining it. I dive into a fascinating and unsettling trend: we might be starting to sound like AI, not the other way around. Drawing on insights from the Max Planck Institute and literary critics, I explore how platforms and AI tools are subtly reshaping our language, making it more uniform and less uniquely human. It's not just about what we write, but how it impacts trust and authenticity in communication.
Disintermediated? Think Again. The Rise of the Digital Gatekeeper
Ever wonder why those unskippable ads on your streaming service are getting worse? Or how a market sprang up in a WWII POW camp? It all comes back to the middleman. I dive into why brokers are essential for markets to thrive, and how they've evolved from mere facilitators to powerful gatekeepers. Discover the surprising truth behind why markets need brokers, and when they become a problem you can't ignore.
When Struggle Was the Signal: AI’s Challenge to Creative Worth
Is the ease of AI fast-tracking the commodification of the human spirit, as Nick Cave eloquently argues? Does a flawlessly AI-written letter of recommendation devalue the genuine effort of a professor, as Ethan Mollick discovered? What happens when the struggle fades, when AI can conjure prose with effortless speed?
The Unwritten Self: A Writer’s Identity Crisis in the AI Era
if AI can write, what does a writer become? Our roles have changed from creators to curators overnight. But what if this disruption forces us to redefine our worth, to build identity beyond skills, on foundations AI can't touch?
AI Is Coming for Your Job — And It’s Already Here
I fact-check the cliché: “AI won't replace you, but someone who knows how to use AI will". I argue that AI is not just coming for your job, it’s here already. Exploring how AI is replacing the organizational pyramid, I observe how fresh graduates are at most risk at the moment. But it won’t stop here.
AI and Emotion: Do machines feel?
I explore if AI has emotions and whether it can do emotional work. Writers and artists are fond of reiterating that since AI cannot feel emotions, its output will not feel human too. But how true is this claim? Are machines really breaching the final frontier of human cognition?
How is AI impacting journalism?
I track how various news organizations are creating guidelines for AI’s use in newsrooms.
Can AI replace artists?
Commercial considerations aside, what do artists have against AI?
Has ChatGPT made writers redundant?
So ask people stunned by ChatGPT’s ability to provide well-written, coherent answers. Since people with even modest writing skills can use ChatGPT to come up with fairly well-structured, error-free communications, they infer that writing will no longer be a prized skill. Let us step back and look at this another way. When typewriters were in... Continue Reading →
Musings by Madhav 