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 A blog about music from my unique perspective (also a spot for some poetry I’ve written) |
A blog, generally about music, usually for projects hosted by Jeff is Gru in #2343485  . I may also write about the 48-Hour Media Prompt Challenge if I don't feel like writing a story or poem inspired by the given song. Other bits of poetry or different topics of discussion might end up here as well.![Merit Badge in WDC Media Prompt
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| Petra's prompt 2: The difference with last year's celebrations is the implementation of Artificial Intelligence. Al/ChatGPT: A pest or a blessing for writers? Give us your thoughts. The rise of AI chat tools is like the pandemic: it has affected everyone, whether we are aware of it or not. Our Google searches now summarize information and feed it to us via an AI “explainer,” and we have to dig deeper to uncover the sources and accuracy of what it's found. When we open a PDF file in Adobe, the first thing it asks us is if we would like an AI summary of the contents. And of course, content creation is now nearly instantaneous: type a prompt into ChatGPT, Google Gemini, or a dozen others, and they will provide us with anything from a brief bedtime story to a PhD level thesis, all supposedly unique and tailored to our request. This is not even considering the strange and unnerving things that can happen when humans attempt to have conversations with AI. For the purposes of this blog post, I will focus on my thoughts and opinions about written AI content creation, rather than the issues of interacting personally with chatbots or image/video/voice/music generation. First and foremost, I reiterate my promise to never post AI generated text as my own. I may be pressed against deadlines, or at a loss for ideas, or lacking energy or enthusiasm, but I would rather scribble down an extremely lame piece of my own work than to present some soulless piece I did not actually write by my own labor. I don't have conversations with AI, either. Once, I asked ChatGPT for help when I had a pile of disorganized ideas for a detective story, but I didn't use any of what it offered me, and I still feel silly for doing that. Over the years, I've come to accept AI as something we're stuck with. We can choose to use it in different ways: we can ask it for advice, we can tell it to “review” our work, it can help us brainstorm ideas, we can prepare an outline to follow to organize our thoughts, or we can use it to straight-up write stuff for us. There is nothing inherently wrong with any of this: it is merely a new way to gather, sort and present information. What is wrong is when the created content is falsely presented as being something one wrote without assistance. This is cheating, whether one uses it to get an A in college or to win first place at an Official WdC Contest. Even if one never “uses” AI generated content to gain an advantage (financial or otherwise,) it is still dishonest to share it without proper labeling and disclaimers. This causes one to distrust the written word, to question everything one reads. It puts a damper on sincere interaction between writers when one does not know if the other's words are truly their own. Sometimes, there are well-meaning reasons why someone uses AI chatbots to help them write. There may be a language barrier, and they need AI to translate their work. Or there might be a disability of some kind, and AI helps them gather their thoughts and arrange them coherently, with objective guidance and feedback. As long as there is transparency and an acceptance of the boundaries and limitations of these digital assistants, this shouldn't be an excuse for us to ostracize or judge others. I have long since given up trying to be the “AI police,” at least on WdC. I've found most people who posted what was likely AI generated content had no intention of staying for very long anyway. My ongoing thoughts on the matter, subject to modification in a rapidly evolving environment, are that AI chatbots are a tool, to be either used with care in a controlled situation or avoided entirely. The good or bad of it largely depends on one's abilities and intentions. In a world where almost every tool in a writer's toolbox can be used for good or bad, one must hold oneself to the highest standards of creative integrity. I know I always will do my best. Words: 676. |
| My second of seven tracks for Barrel of Monkeys is the Imagine Dragons song Ferris Wheel. It's track #25 off of their 2022 double album Mercury Acts 1 & 2. A deep cut, it has no music video and tends to sink into the shadows of their lesser-known discography, especially since the lead singer's divorce. What it Sounds Like Ferris Wheel is an acoustic song, with no drums. It's one of the low-key tail end tracks from Mercury. Dan's voice is high, but steady, without any shouting or vocal acrobatics. It's a simple love song on a guitar, in the style of Ed Sheeran. What It Means Ferris Wheel is a song of devotion, promising to maintain the feeling of youthful innocence in the relationship and to always be there for her. Dan Reynolds frequently tells us his songs are like journal entries… Perhaps he shouldn't encourage us to read so much of his personal experience into what he writes. It can get awkward. For instance, Dan's words “you've always been afraid to claim this town,” give me pause. Aja Volkman moved from his beloved hometown of Las Vegas to Los Angeles after the separation, and I sometimes wonder if she did so partly because she didn't think the kids should be raised in Vegas. Personal Significance Quite honestly, I tend to forget this song exists. My experience of the Mercury double album was “up close and personal,” as I established my old phone as an iPod and settled down after the pandemic and a toxic job. I wore the album threadbare, designed my own cover art for many of the tracks, got tired of it, joined WdC, and pretty much quit listening to it at all after the first half of 2023. Ferris Wheel, in particular, was a song I soured on because of the divorce. The tail end of Mercury Act 2 has a handful of corny love songs, and I could hardly bear to listen to any of them knowing the words were no longer true for Dan. I felt like he lied to us and to Aja when he promised he'd be there forever. “I know we'll last, I'm confident…” Indeed, I daresay it's been about two years since I listened to Ferris Wheel. The only reason I'm listening to it now is to write about it for this blog challenge, because it happened to be the 25th track on the only album of such length I'm familiar with! Equipped with better quality earbuds, I can pick up the subtle panned audio effects. It's not a bad song, far from it. I only have my own feelings to deal with, which are altogether too closely tied up to my perceptions of the artist and his family. Words: 460. |
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I’m fortunate that wasn’t my “calling” phone, just my “scribbling“ one. Hope I didn’t sound overdramatic 
