The Impact of Artificial Intelligence in Real Life
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become an integral part of our daily lives, transforming various sectors and enhancing the way we live and work. From healthcare to finance, education to entertainment, AI’s applications are vast and continually expanding. Here are some key areas where AI is making a significant impact:
Healthcare
AI is revolutionizing healthcare by improving diagnostics, personalizing treatment plans, and predicting patient outcomes. AI algorithms can analyze medical images with high accuracy, assisting doctors in detecting diseases like cancer at early stages. Additionally, AI-powered tools can monitor patient vitals and predict potential health issues, enabling timely interventions.[01]
Leigh: I anticipate robotic nursing assistants will rapidly move into disabled and elder care. The initial robots may not look humanoid, but they will have strong and gentle arms capable of lifting patients in and out of baths and toilets. AI and possibly AI robotic figures may find use to alleviating patient loneliness and boredom. Chess anyone?
Finance
In the financial sector, AI is used for fraud detection, risk management, and personalized banking. AI systems can analyze transaction patterns to identify fraudulent activities in real-time. Moreover, AI-driven chatbots provide customers with personalized financial advice and support, enhancing the overall banking experience.[02]
Education
AI is transforming education by offering personalized learning experiences. Adaptive learning platforms use AI to assess students’ strengths and weaknesses, tailoring educational content to meet individual needs. This personalized approach helps students learn more effectively and at their own pace.[03]
Transportation
AI is at the forefront of developing autonomous vehicles, which promise to make transportation safer and more efficient. Self-driving cars use AI to navigate roads, avoid obstacles, and make real-time decisions, reducing the risk of accidents caused by human error.[04]
Leigh: Vehicles like the Tesla with FSD (full self-driving) are actually robots on wheels. I suspect one advance will be the ability to communicate with like-minded vehicles. “Car 54, your view is blocked of a child running into the street, vector 13.56.”
Entertainment
In the entertainment industry, AI is used to create personalized content recommendations. Streaming services like Netflix and Spotify use AI algorithms to analyze user preferences and suggest movies, shows, and music that align with their tastes. This enhances user engagement and satisfaction.[05]
Leigh: And with that said, just for fun…
AI’s Role in Mystery Fiction Writing
For mystery fiction writers, AI offers a range of tools and capabilities that can enhance the creative process and streamline writing tasks. Here are some ways AI can be particularly useful for mystery fiction writers:
Plot Development
AI can assist writers in developing intricate and compelling plots. By analyzing existing mystery novels, AI can identify common plot structures and suggest new twists and turns. This helps writers craft engaging and unpredictable stories that keep readers on the edge of their seats.[06]
Character Creation
Creating multi-dimensional characters is crucial in mystery fiction. AI can generate detailed character profiles, including backstories, personality traits, and motivations. For instance, an AI might suggest that a detective character has a mysterious past as a former spy, adding depth and intrigue to the story.[07]
Writing Assistance
AI-powered writing tools can help authors with grammar, style, and coherence. These tools can provide real-time feedback, suggesting improvements and ensuring the narrative flows smoothly. Additionally, AI can help writers maintain consistency in tone and style throughout the manuscript.[08]
Idea Generation
When facing writer’s block, AI can be a valuable brainstorming partner. AI can generate prompts, plot ideas, and even entire scenes based on the writer’s input. This can spark creativity and help writers overcome hurdles in the writing process.[09]
Market Analysis
AI can analyze reader preferences and market trends, providing writers with insights into what themes and genres are currently popular. This information can guide writers in tailoring their stories to meet reader expectations and increase their chances of success.[10]
In conclusion, AI is a powerful tool that can significantly enhance various aspects of our lives, including the creative process for mystery fiction writers. By leveraging AI’s capabilities, writers can develop richer stories, create compelling characters, and engage readers in new and exciting ways.
Human Here
Leigh: I recently wrote about AI and a bit of what we might expect, whether sweet or sour. As I'm sure you surmised, I asked ChatGPT (a large-language model AI) to write an essay on the topic. This is the result.
I suppose it's possible that AI is going to take the mystery writing community by storm, and that ten years from now every published book and story will be generated or conceived by AI. If so, it'll be happening without me.
ReplyDeleteI will never use AI in my writing--not for character backstory, not for plot ideas, not for brainstorming. To me, it defeats the entire purpose. I'm not writing just because I want to see my name in print. I'm writing because it's fun, it's a good use of the specific skills I have, and I like the fact that I seem to be getting better as I go.
I could outrun the fastest marathon runner in the world, if I was allowed to drive a car. I could defeat the chess world champion easily, if I was allowed to have a computer make all my moves. I wouldn't have actually accomplished anything in either case. Nor would I be accomplishing anything to be proud of if I published a story a computer wrote for me. It's honestly appalling to me that there are writers who don't feel this way.
AI-generated stories are appearing on YouTube, Reddit, and the like and we're starting to see video versions, mostly slide shows rather than live action. At present, the stories tend to be flat, often lacking drama and sometimes missing a plot or a solid ending. It's sometimes difficult to distinguish AI from a non-writer, except the AI will likely have perfect punctuation.
DeleteThe best use for writers is AI as a research tool. Sometimes Google search fails us, especially if we're asking an awkward question. In the comments following my previous article, I mentioned searching for a movie from the 1950s or early 60s featuring a little psychopathic blonde girl. I got wildly varying titles, but none were close. If I stepped through year by year instead of saying 1950s or 60s, I might have landed on it, but instead I turned to Bing's ChatGPT. It understood 1950s meant 1950-1959 and little blonde meant a child. It culled non-relevant titles, and offered up the correct title in second position. (The Bad Seed) I still heavily use Bing and Google, but AI as a smart research assistant works for me.
I'm with Joseph. I recently quit teaching writing at college after 31 years, because I couldn't trust that students would do the work themselves. I wasn't interesting in wasting my time marking a computer's work (or even a computer's collaboration.) I'm with Asimov and the early sci-fi writers as seeing this as the beginning of the end of mankind, sadly. Melodie
ReplyDeleteMelodie, when I taught economics to privileged students, I found myself in an on-going battle to stop cheating. There are anti-plagiarizing tools on-line, programs teachers can use to identify article theft. Teachers seemed please although I don't know the statistics.
DeleteI'm sticking with my own chaotic, limping, sarcastic imagination to do my writing for me, including prompts and brainstorming. I'm with Joe and Melodie.
ReplyDeleteEve, this morning I found myself thinking AIs writing skills might be useful for toddler television. Could an AI have come up with anything more numbing than Teletubbies?
DeleteI don't think your Artificial Idiot is capable of understanding the words "personal" and "individual." If AI succeeds completely, all creative writers will become mere content providers and will be valued accordingly. Sad, angry...all the emotions we write about that AI doesn't have so doesn't get what's missing.
ReplyDeleteHi Liz. As rapidly (and terrifyingly) is growing, I won't be surprised when someone introduces emotional mods, but I can imagine AI being used for juvenile and children's books. Stratemeyers' Hardy Boys, for example, was formulaic and writers complained they had to dumb-down stories. Creating for tweens might work, but a real writer could make a difference.
DeleteLiz, I'm pondering if we could use truth-in-labeling. Not counting research, should an ersatz writer be required to place a warning on the book that it's AI written?
I agree with all of the above opinions.
ReplyDeleteHave any of y'all read Atlanta Nights by "Travis Tea"? It was published about 19 years ago by Lulu after Publish America rejected it, which is a story in itself. This book was mostly written by humans to be as deliberately terrible as possible, & also contained one chapter that a computer program "wrote" by scrambling phrases from elsewhere in the book. That pretty much explains why I would never use AI in my writing.
Elizabeth, I haven't read it but I certainly recall the controversy. In my head, I erroneously identified it with Publish America rather than Lulu, but yes, what a farce. In that case, the program would have been blindly following an algorithm rather than using intelligence, but likely the results would have been similar. Vanity presses would publish anything as long as they got paid!
DeleteA little late to the party here (fashionably late, I might add :) ) but you can find a 'Test' copy of CyberTalk #10 (from 2018) here (https://flipflashpages.uniflip.com/3/84078/1099130/pub/html5.html#page/52) I have a piece in there regarding AI (as was) and its history (Me? I'm Just a Lawnmower) - with a quote from Robbie (Forbidden Planet - "I rarely use oxygen, sir. I find it promotes rust...")
ReplyDeleteTimes have moved on - AI has infested things like artwork (we use several sites for cover material - looking through 50 or 100 images, fine. Looking through 30,000 images not so good) - and yes, we've seen several submitted manuscripts that have 'the look' of being AI generated (or assisted) in that the grammar is too precise, the writing 'voice' sounds 'sterile' and the actual construction seems 'mechanical' - plus the 'I've seen this elsewhere before' feeling.
I suppose, in the writing business, you could now amend the adage to:
Those who can - do. Those who can't - use AI....
John Connor
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