No AI Was Hurt While Writing This Article

Artificial Intelligence Use Disclosure: Artificial intelligence was used during the production of this message. I mean, I didn’t use it to write per se, but it was used in the process. Honestly though, I’m not really sure that’s specific enough and it really doesn’t clarify anything. What does it even mean to say I used AI? Well, I had some conversations with it about the topic and it helped me get the message to where it is now, but I can’t say that it wrote it. OK, OK, there was that one word it suggested that I used because it was more appropriate, but does that mean it automatically wrote it and not me? To be fair, it was my idea, so if I talk about it with an AI, does that require disclosure? I mean, if I talk about it with a friend, no one says it’s your friend’s idea and no one says you have to disclose it. But if I talk about it with an AI, that means it wrote it and I have to disclose it? Well…what about if it planted a seed in my head but I watered, fed, and guided it as it grew? Does that make it mine or in that case is it still the AI? To be fair, it would have never done anything had I not prompted it, so maybe it’s better to assume I planted the seed. I did ask it to check my grammar and it did find that one punctuation error. So maybe the combination of catching that punctuation error with that word recommendation… That definitely means I need to disclose it. But why didn’t I have to disclose it in my graduate thesis when I had other people help me? So is the standard if I get any type of help from a non-human, I need to disclose it? But wait a minute… A word processor’s grammar check is also artificial intelligence. I don’t see lots of people disclosing they used artificial intelligence when they do a grammar check, but if I take my paper and give it to an AI and have it do the same thing, I now need to disclose it. So let me see if I understand correctly. Idea generation needs a disclosure if AI is involved but not if it’s human. Conversations about an idea need disclosure if AI is involved but not a human. Editing needs disclosure if a certain type of AI is involved but not another, and definitely not if a human is involved. Hhhmmm. I must admit—those boundaries don’t make a heck of a lot of sense to me. You would think a tool that can help people be more articulate, precise, and communicative would be seen as a boon. More people could contribute their ideas and we might see solutions to problems gatekeepers deemed unsolvable. Instead, the disclosure becomes a contemporary scarlet letter. So, ummm, yes. I used AI for this message. Message: \ Dear Susan, Tomorrow at 6:00 sounds great. See you then, Adrian Disclosure: AI was not used at all in the creation of this satirical essay. But to be fair, for the past few years I’ve been using AI as a tool to improve my critical thinking, and this essay is likely a result of that pursuit, so maybe I should credit AI. There was also that one guy at the gas station that one time who had an interesting perspective that forced me to reconsider mine, and that russet potato that had a stark resemblance to Dostoevsky…