Are you Losing your Creative Voice to Gen AI?

Okay! Before all the AI users start bashing me, or you start thinking I'm some dinosaur stuck in the ancient time, please read on.

But first, let me tell you my "dinosaur (figurative) story."

When I was in Junior College (high-school for you Americans), I used to buy a popular magazine called "Teenage."

There was a particular segment in the magazine called "Pen-pal Corner" (anyone remember this?)

I remembered that I would scrupulously write letters (yes handwritten - not using word processor) to my pen-pal(s).

Call me old school, but there's something beautiful about handwritten letters - it forced us to be thoughtful.

There was no "backspace" if I'd written something wrongly, and certainly no ChatGPT to craft a letter for me!

If I'd written something that I'll have/like to correct, I have to either

• Cancel it and rewrite (which is damn ugly - I want to make a good impression, especially if Pen-Pal was a girl 😜)
• Use liquid paper to cover over it, and while waiting for the liquid paper to dry, I could reconsider our words
• Write a whole new paper (which will take forever) and waste a lot of paper

That discipline strengthened my craftsmanship. It made me slow down and think, feel and connect with the message I wanted to send.

Today, we write using Generative AI, which shortcuts the process for us. We don't have to do the heavy-lifting of feeling the message in our heads, crafting it in our minds, and putting words to paper.

We become lazy.

Today, when we write on social media platforms, we want to be ranked higher, have more post-impressions. So:

- We write based on algorithm, instead of authenticity
- We write to be seen, not because we've something beautiful to express

Has our craftsmanship turn to mush?

So again, this is not a AI-bashing post or a "good ol' days" lament...

I'm not an idiot! I'll be left alone if I wage a 1-man crusade against progress! 🤷‍♂️

Instead, this is a clarion call for all of us to Never Forget our Own Voice, the Voices that love:

❤️ 𝗥𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 - Not just erotic love, but the romance of falling in love with our own unique humanity
🎨 𝗕𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝘆 - Humans love beautiful things, so let's 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁! You don't need to look like Ms Universe, or be artistic. You can find beautiful ideas to express, or find ways to say things beautifully. Learn to see the beauty of our own stories
😝 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆 - Allow yourself to indulge in what makes you come alive. Whatever the hobby it is, being 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 make you a more 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯.

Let's never lose ourselves in this new era!