How has technology changed your job?
Although it was not some elaborate plan from childhood like many apparently have, I ended up having a career in the field of writing and editing. When I was small, computers were there, but pen and paper were still enjoying their days of prominence.
As a child I loved buttons though, be it on a television remote control or on the joystick of a video game console, or even in cars and mobile phones, thus no one can guess the fun I have typing on a good keyboard.
One of my aunts consulted and still consults an astrologer for apparently everything in her life. Thus, when my mother told her that I wasn’t scoring well in school, my aunt somehow felt it necessary to consult the astrologer for me as well. The astrologer said what they usually do, that I have a bright future and there is some form of problem in the present which can be eradicated if certain things are taken care of and most importantly, he focussed upon that what I would do in life would heavily involve computers.
I don’t think back then the astrologer had predicted the magnitude at which computers would be brought to use in future, to the level where computing devices such as smartphones would be within the palms of people, or he did predict and thus his suggestions. Well, I did end up working heavily with computers, no surprise there, I do all of my writing and editing work on it.
I had learnt to work alongside the internet, so no major technological change really came until AI. I still remember the air of anxiety which came along with it. Thanks to news channels there was all this tension about AI consuming up many professions across the world, one of the professions was writing. It actually did upto a certain extent and is continuing to do so, there is no denying it. It did affect the field of writing, but not with the severity as many thought it would.
I trust human written writing any day more than what an AI prompt can produce. A writing is not just a few words put together, those words come from experiences and the associated feelings, and they change as people grow and learn more.
But AI is a pretty useful tool, with it being an effective information searching tool at one place, for casual references and it saves up a good amount of time at that. But I would recommend cross checking from an authentic source when putting it to serious work.
When it comes to formal writing, AI has certainly saved a lot of people much time and maybe a little embarrassment of asking another person the ‘format’ for writing something particular. I still remember the time when I used to do the formal writing part for friends and relatives, so I am thankful to AI for taking over there and allowing me to write what can only be humanly possible at the moment and I wish it continues to be so for the longest time to come.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
Early Morning Memories 