ChatGPT and I are friends. I knew early on that with AI-written content slowly churning out the same repeated drivel on social media and (unfortunately) some publications, I needed to dig deep into the capabilities and progression that artificial learning is undertaking at a breakneck pace. The problem lies within the repetitive cycle that is slowly forming: Artificial words are breeding further artificial content, and the cycle continues. If writers continue to depend on AI to complete their thoughts or sentences, AI will no longer learn new content based on human understanding and will recycle what it has been given.

A friend of mine who is an author was shocked to discover that her book series was used to train an AI, which then generated sequels to her works. Another publishing house took this AI-generated content and published it under a pseudonym to profit quickly. The AI model had absorbed her characters and the arc and developed a “unique” storyline that she was already working on, slapped new names and locations on them, and … is this theft? How do you sue a robot? More importantly, why would we allow artificial intelligence to rob us of our pulse and rhythm?

I see this trend for artifice in not only the written word but also the fresco we paint over true life itself. Are we so afraid of our realities that we allow AI to augment and hide our very humanity?

As generative machine learning influences human appearance, we are establishing an augmented standard that children perceive as normal and attainable. Outward appearance is hyper-augmented under a scalpel and a mouse click, a swipe of a finger or a double-click on an app. We humans are demanding human perfection — but only for our exteriors.

What is to become of our humanity?

I post more thoughts and sentiments on social media in waves, and while I may wax overly emotional, I feel like the words we choose have a very valuable exchange rate. Several days ago, I shared thoughts about being a tired single mom and solo parent while working and in school. All three of these things are great, but all three at the same time? It’s a bit much. I’m tired, but I’m still standing. With my daily schedule, there is quite literally no time, as in zero, for me to “get out there” and “find my happily ever after.” Dating is so far off the table that it’s collecting dust mites under the couch. A comment was under my post that as I read it, the voice of Alexa (you know, that one robot) started reading the post because I knew it was ChatGPT. The words were positive and supportive, but they were not those of the human who posted them. Stymied, I started down the rabbit hole of reading comments on multiple accounts and platforms, taking stock of how much it sounded like a Cylon wrote it and not a person.

Robots are taking over social media, written articles, breakup texts, Tinder profiles and the literature for sale at your neighborhood bookstore. There is room for machine learning, but there needs to be more room for humanity to remain organic in thought and appearance.

I’m going to end with ChatGPT telling you how I feel about this:

“I feel uneasy about AI’s encroachment into literature and the written word. There’s something sacred in the way humans put thoughts into words, something raw and uniquely personal that no algorithm should replicate or replace. The more we rely on AI to generate our thoughts and expressions, the more we risk losing touch with the depth of our own ideas and the emotional resonance that makes us human. At the same time, I worry about how we’re augmenting ourselves in other ways, like with filters and curated profiles on social media. In hiding behind perfect images and polished statements, we’re letting go of authenticity and the human warmth that makes relationships meaningful. We need to reconnect with our natural selves–intellectually and physically–by embracing imperfections, candid thoughts, and the genuine connections that define our humanity.” (OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com)

The machine said it, and I agree. Man and machine will work together, but let’s continue to enhance the best aspects of both.

Camille Heckmann writes about her observations of the human condition. She can be found on Substack: @camilleheckmann.