I pledge to not use AI in the creation of any of the articles on this site, or any of the other sites I use. I have several reasons for this, which I will briefly discuss here:
- AI is bad for the environment. Many AI data centers are using more power than they can get and are therefor resorting to more polluting sources of power such as diesel generators.
- AI costs everyone. Many of the AI data centers are using so much power to run their centers that the rest of us are having to pay more for our electricity.
- AI hallucinates. I have run tests with AI, and I have read many other sources stating that AI provides false information. Even when told to only give factual information that it can verify, it will still provide false information. It will also read information from other sources that is false, and does not know how to determine if it is correct or not, spreading the misinformation as if it were factual. It does not do this every time, but it does it often enough to put into question everything that it says. I
- AI takes jobs. Many corporations have fired a large part of their workforce to replace them with AI. The AI does a worse job, and these people are now out of work, adding to the already growing unemployment.
- AI makes if more difficult to trust anything. As it hallucinates, it spreads more misinformation, and it is therefore much harder for people to trust the information they read.
- There are many more reason, but I'm not an expert, so I will refer you to the National Academy of Professional Studies and their article on the topic: https://www.naps.edu.au/blog/artificial-intelligence-ai-the-bad
On the Oxford Comma
Many will point at the Oxford Comma as an indicator of something being written by AI. AI uses the Oxford comma because the writers it was trained on use the Oxford comma. I feel the Oxford Comma is helpful, and I use it.
For those that do not know, there are two ways to write a list of things in prose. With, or without, the Oxford Comma. Here are two lists. The Oxford Comma is the comma before a conjunction in a list of items. To me they each mean different things.
Apples, oranges, bananas, strawberries and raspberries.
Apples, oranges, bananas, strawberries, and raspberries.
The first one is apples, oranges, and bananas, each on their own, and then strawberries and raspberries mixed together.
The second is Apples, oranges, bananas, strawberries, and raspberries each on their own.
In some cases, this minor difference does not change the meaning. Like if you make a fruit salad with all those, then they are all mixed together. But if you go to my produce stand that sells apples, oranges, bananas, strawberries and raspberries, you might be disappointed to find that the strawberries and raspberries are mixed, where as if I'm selling apples, oranges, bananas, strawberries, and raspberries they will all be in different containers. Yes, it is pedantic, but sometimes these minor things can clarify things.
Basically, I know that the Oxford Comma has fallen out of fashion, but I use it anyway. Many other writers agree with me and use it. Since we use it, and AI reads our work (without our permission) to train, it also uses it. It used to be more common than it is now, which is why it has become a (false) marker of something being AI. I also find it's lack of use to be confusing at times, and will continue to use it.