Heifers to Artificial Intelligence

Mac hadn’t been impressed with the greenhorn they’d hired, but had given the kid a chance.

Talk around the breakfast table came to a halt when the kid said he had an AI Degree from the nearby Agricultural College.

Mac told everyone to meet in the barn after breakfast and the kid could give them a lesson on AI.

The others around the table stared. The greenhorn turned white.

“My degree is in artificial intelligence.”

“Flying saucers!” Boomed Mac as he left the room.

The morning orders echoed from the hall. “Barn! Ten minutes! That includes you too, greenhorn!”

When two different worlds collide, there is a possibility the words we hear do not mean the same, especially if an acronym is used. And even more so, when different generations have their own meaning of the acronym. All is correct, and all is with the ability to get people’s dander up. 

Tell me one person who is from an era before the internet that doesn’t think of green men and spaceships when they hear those words: artificial intelligence. Giving it the acronym AI only makes it worse, because there are also probably many in this same era who immediately let their brain go to the memory of the veterinarian showing up with the stems of bull semen he used to AI (artificially inseminate) the cows. I am from the generation where the vet’s AI takes precedence over other types of AI, as in artificial intelligence – green men or modern technology. There will be those of you reading this who will want to jump onto the debate bandwagon, and that is fine; but please remember, everyone is permitted to have their own opinion, just keep it civil. 

How do I feel about the intrusion of this new form of life? I am not trundling down the rabbit hole just because it’s trendy. You must remember I like to write my stories longhand first. Perhaps when I no longer have my vision, or I’m unable to clutch a pen, or use a keyboard, I can only hope that most of the bugs have been swatted away and debunked from this thing we call artificial intelligence. I may then choose to embrace some of the concepts in the continuity of letting my imagination show up on the pages of my books. For now, I feel it is in my best interest to investigate and learn about this twenty-first century AI thing everyone is going on about. 

I would be remiss if I didn’t say I have used different forms of AI for years to check spelling and punctuation. In this regard and for the sake of transparency, my imagination allows me to think I have a personal little minion snoozing in the backroom of my computer waiting for me to spell something wrong. Unfortunately, my minion doesn’t get much sleep due to my use of Canadian spelling content vs American replacements it chooses to pop up on my screen for me to consider. 

AI has been here for a long time already, and like it or not, it is here to stay. How we choose to use it is up to each individual to decide. Do I use Artificial Intelligence? – Since the day I made the decision to turn on the autocorrect button in my writing program. Do I use Artificial Intelligence to write my books or other content? – No!

Disclaimer: While writing out the first draft of the Little Bit More portion of this post, I am certain the minions were on a coffee break; in case you find something that coulda/shoulda/woulda needs to be corrected, I am hoping you are pretending not to notice. After all, we are human, we make mistakes. The minions? There is a possibility that their involvement in my writing could become another imaginative story for the future.

In finishing, I will share that I have often taken liberties in calling the 21st Century AI by my own description, which I mostly mumble under my breath because it is not appreciated by some during public discourse. I’ll leave it at that.

What types of AI do you use?