Like everyone in my generation we learnt to write first with a 2 B pencil then progressed to a scratchy dip pen on paper .A haptic physical process where nuance of meaning and grammatical emphasis required physical crossings out and repositioning of words and even whole Paragraphs . I know subliminally ,that this physical process of préc…
Like everyone in my generation we learnt to write first with a 2 B pencil then progressed to a scratchy dip pen on paper .A haptic physical process where nuance of meaning and grammatical emphasis required physical crossings out and repositioning of words and even whole Paragraphs . I know subliminally ,that this physical process of précis ( is that even taught in schools now ?)and conjecture to convey a particular or hidden sense of meaning is a very different process to the detached process of writing on screen .Certainly different to speaking what you wish to convey and watching wizardry turn speech into prose .
I note my grandchildren now write at breakneck speed with thumbs on screens without the need of any physical intervening instruments.For me , What comes out of this process is mostly meaningless to me and requires decoding as if it were a similar but foreign language .Are the days of writing by hand now coming to an end ? if so will alphabets that have developed over millenia from picture grams to suit the constraints and particularities of the human hand and brain soon follow ? Thumbs and grunts rule OK !
Churchill used to dictate his books to a secretary, sometimes while lying in the bath. I'm sure he would have loved voice recognition transcription software, but a shorthand secretary is still the gold standard for business purposes and its hard to see that changing in a hurry.
I seem to remember that Churchill was also mildly dyslexic and his spelling poor when at school . I am also mildly dyslexic though it was not something even considered at school ,and dismissed as idleness !In. Fact ,out of interest, I was tested in my mid forties which revealed it .
For me good writing paints pictures and narratives in the minds eye from which meaning is then derived ,over time, as those pictures and narratives are replayed and reconsidered .Often the meaning and the writers true intention only emerges from this reflective cerebral process of reconsideration and inward discussion .How that process works in the human brain is ,like most things about that extraordinary organ, still a complete mystery to medical science .Perhaps AI will ultimately be the key that unlocks those mysteries .God help us when that time comes ! Cheers .
Good point and I think it’s important to remember that these things are tools. There comes a point where you have to decide why we do the things we do and at some level that’s about connecting with other human beings. AI is great when it enhances us but terrible when it diminishes us.
Beautifully put. I think we overlook how much the body and mind are linked, which I guess is a very ancient concept, but many writers wrote (and indeed write) as much out of some physical sense as they did mental. I suppose the brain simply creates whatever it is that the body feels and it's this link that's missing in AI. It's a game being played with the products of mind without any understanding of the physical world beyond it. I suspect this is why AI doesn't get humour (and I hope never will get humour). It doesn't, as you put it, know how to grunt.
Like everyone in my generation we learnt to write first with a 2 B pencil then progressed to a scratchy dip pen on paper .A haptic physical process where nuance of meaning and grammatical emphasis required physical crossings out and repositioning of words and even whole Paragraphs . I know subliminally ,that this physical process of précis ( is that even taught in schools now ?)and conjecture to convey a particular or hidden sense of meaning is a very different process to the detached process of writing on screen .Certainly different to speaking what you wish to convey and watching wizardry turn speech into prose .
I note my grandchildren now write at breakneck speed with thumbs on screens without the need of any physical intervening instruments.For me , What comes out of this process is mostly meaningless to me and requires decoding as if it were a similar but foreign language .Are the days of writing by hand now coming to an end ? if so will alphabets that have developed over millenia from picture grams to suit the constraints and particularities of the human hand and brain soon follow ? Thumbs and grunts rule OK !
Churchill used to dictate his books to a secretary, sometimes while lying in the bath. I'm sure he would have loved voice recognition transcription software, but a shorthand secretary is still the gold standard for business purposes and its hard to see that changing in a hurry.
I seem to remember that Churchill was also mildly dyslexic and his spelling poor when at school . I am also mildly dyslexic though it was not something even considered at school ,and dismissed as idleness !In. Fact ,out of interest, I was tested in my mid forties which revealed it .
For me good writing paints pictures and narratives in the minds eye from which meaning is then derived ,over time, as those pictures and narratives are replayed and reconsidered .Often the meaning and the writers true intention only emerges from this reflective cerebral process of reconsideration and inward discussion .How that process works in the human brain is ,like most things about that extraordinary organ, still a complete mystery to medical science .Perhaps AI will ultimately be the key that unlocks those mysteries .God help us when that time comes ! Cheers .
Good point and I think it’s important to remember that these things are tools. There comes a point where you have to decide why we do the things we do and at some level that’s about connecting with other human beings. AI is great when it enhances us but terrible when it diminishes us.
Beautifully put. I think we overlook how much the body and mind are linked, which I guess is a very ancient concept, but many writers wrote (and indeed write) as much out of some physical sense as they did mental. I suppose the brain simply creates whatever it is that the body feels and it's this link that's missing in AI. It's a game being played with the products of mind without any understanding of the physical world beyond it. I suspect this is why AI doesn't get humour (and I hope never will get humour). It doesn't, as you put it, know how to grunt.