14 Comments
May 5Liked by Dan Blank

Urggghhh, AI still scares me though :) But you're making me think deeper and wider about its potential uses, so I'm getting stretched and growing because of that. I heard an author yesterday recommend ChatGPT as a way of getting comp-title suggestions for current WIPs. I thought that was a practical use of AI that had obvious benefit to my immediate needs (comp titles are *so* hard to think of). Interesting times (as they have always been and always will be). Thanks Dan :)

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Great to see you here Dan - quality work as always!

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Dan, thank you for this rich update on AI and for your ongoing, specific reminders to double down on the human connection. Esp. Useful for me today--to push, recognize, engage further with professional relationships.

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Wow, what a engrossing post. Thank you for the time to consolidate this info on AI interweaving with creative work.

So on point with the steps you listed to keep the human touch, and keep centered really, amidst changes in the field. Then the section on how AI is already being used and some upcoming implications for creators was both exciting and disconcerting! A lot was new for me. My husband watches reaction videos in which younger hosts discover amazing music from 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's. The uniqueness and talent of these artists blows them away. While sounds like some positive changes with AI, I hope a generation in the future doesn't have to do that as they discover what writing with a unique voice, story and soul looks/sounds like..

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Partly because of your recent discussions about AI (which is all around us already, including in your smartphone, which uses AI for a whole range of functions, and in your car, when it brakes in response to your getting too close to the car in front of you), I've started a project of connecting with my social media followers in a new way. A way we talked about, oh, two years ago when we worked together: I'm posting a short video (under a minute) on some natural wonder. It's called Weekly Wildflower, and the video is an introduction to a wild plant on my morning walk up the ridge near my house here in Santa Fe. I posted the first one last week (on FB, IG and Twitter), completely spontaneously recorded, no editing, and the response was hugely positive across all platforms. I'm excited about this way to be me (not me onscreen, it's just my voice and a close-up video of the plant) and share my love of and deep relationship with the more-than-human world with my followers. What does it have to do with AI? It's the anti-AI: real, spontaneous, genuine, and not easy to duplicate. It's just me sharing what I love. So thanks for the inspiration for this idea, which took me a long time to incubate because I needed to find my take on it, and I also needed to be settled, which I now am, back in Santa Fe, to commit to it. I learned so much from you, and am still learning. Thanks for that gift!

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