My Mother, Language and AI

So many are on the AI bandwagon these hot summer days that I wonder…don’t they have anything else to think about?

Like food,
the beach,
music under the stars,
romance,
cookouts,
BBQ’s.

Even the neighborhood fireworks display comes to mind.

Nope, it’s all about AI and how it’s going to ruin our lives, especially the lives of kids getting into college and people making their living writing.

It can be writing copy or story-based emails, news and how to flip it so that the aggressor is always, ‘the other guy’ and not me.
Furthermore, we won’t be able to tell which is a lie and which isn’t.

And yet, the hullabaloo strikes a deep seated chord today with so many writers.

It’s not about AI but about language. How we use it to define who we are as well as where we are in terms of society, growth, awareness and living a balanced life.

Some of us pray while others chant.
Some worship the gods of science while others deny the earth is even round.

Some are Liberals, Luddites, or Libertarians while still others go back to their deeply held Conservative roots.

It’s a confusing world at best, at worst it’s filled with lies and ways to burn the system.

“No machine can deliver what you do,” stated my mentor, Kevin Rogers of www.copychief.com. This is the secret sauce, our USP and special gift that spills onto the page.

Research, Copywriting and AI
Putting it all together
The triad of triads can work for you instead of against you.

In fact, it was only a few years ago that the world dramatically changed due to advances in computing. Online activity was the norm. The new generation of users came to the forefront of everyone’s lives. We were connecting with people across the nation and the world, using language and words never before used.

So, every time I stumbled a bit with the language, I’d wonder about my mother.

Yep, Mom!

”What would she think about all of this, specifically, the new gadgets and language we’re using?”

Would she be on the band wagon or slip behind because there were ‘gremlins’ in her iPhone?

I wondered what she’d think as I learned new programs and created a whatchamacallit online presence.

Then during the pandemic, I realized she’d get an iPhone so she could call her grandkids and children, usually at the worst possible times and ask if they were busy. Not that it mattered to MumMum. (Grandparents can do that….it’s a law.)

She’d stay off the computers because she had me around to do it for her. Yeah, she was that kind of gal!

I finally came to the conclusion that she’d be okay with it all…the new things and the new language we take for granted:

Online — one word or two?
Texting — would drive her crazy
Streaming — like flags in the wind?
Zoom — race car driving?
Links — what’s a link?
PDFs — is a pdf some sort of code?
Import/export — files, not goods
User friendly — user who?
SEO — what is it?
PC correct — you mean I can’t swear?
Woke — I love waking up. Get’s the day going!

She’d use what she could and let the rest go.
She’d love the newest generation of kids (yeah, to her they’d be kids…)
She’d also ignore them when it was convenient.
She’d had her time during WWII, as we have ours today.

It was okay for me to let her and her generation go. (A few tears, but necessary to honor and release.)

It was time for me to take on my own mantle of this newish language.
It was also time to make it my own.

Ownership of the language was key.

See…that’s really what it’s about.

Language. The words, meanings and how we use them to express ourselves.

Our language sets us apart from the generations behind and those to come.

Just like art’s Old Masters depicted their historical times through painting, we depict ours through photography, movies and books — all using language of our time.

Can you imagine talking like Shakespeare?
Egads, man!
The lady doth protest!

It’s not what we do, but the language we use to express meaning and form to bring it all into context with our reality. That’s a crucial part of this new space that hovers around us…until we create the words we need for our ideas, thoughts and future actions to become known.

So, AI can only mimic and mirror our language.

Besides, AI would never come up with an ad that highlights a 3 legged golfer! And, I wonder if copywriter, John Carlton, who created the ad, gives a whoopty-do about any of this newfound angst. I imagine he’d take it with a grain of salt and go out to play golf.

AI can’t think on its own.
AI won’t create anything new.
AI has to follow orders.
Like a good soldier’s computer program.

For the moment, AI belongs to this generation and players.
Those coming up will have newer versions to play with.

The guys and gals whose shoulders we stand on; they’ve already cut the paths for us to trample and create anew.

With our own particular spin.

It seems everyone who is anyone is jumping on the AI bandwagon and claiming they can do it better, faster, cheaper.

Point is, that’s what happens with the new. Everyone wants in. The best AI users will isolate and improve what works for them.

How?

By asking questions, digging deep and learning how to use it as the research tool it is.

As for me, I’ll leave them to their golf games. I’ve got some studying to do.