I'll Take the Misspellings, Thank You Very Much

 By Shari Randall

The advertisement was meant to fill viewers with warm fuzzy feelings, but instead it made my blood boil.

 

If you’re watching the Olympics, I’m sure you’ve seen this ad. A cute little girl wants to write a fan letter to her idol, a track and field star. Her dad decides to use AI (I won’t name the actual company or program but it’s in the image) to write the fan letter.

Yes, our tech overlords think you should have your child use their AI product to write a fan letter to their idol. AI can take out all the pesky misspellings and grammatical mistakes that let you know a letter was written by small human, all those childish errors that tell you the message is straight from the heart. It boggles the mind that this advertiser doesn’t understand that it’s those mistakes that make the letters charming and precious, but it confirms my belief that most tech is created by people who do not spend much time around children. Most parents could predict that this ad would blow up, and not in a good way.

 

Here’s a real-life letter from my great niece, and let me tell you, every time I see “Ont Shary” instead of “Aunt Shari” my heart melts.

Back to this bone-headed ad. My dismay is compounded by a memory of a teacher telling us that “writing is thinking on paper.” So this ad basically says let this machine think for you. Not heartwarming, but chilling.

Many journalists and bloggers have flayed this ad, but a detail that some have missed is that it’s a parent asking AI to formulate the letter. (I have a hard time using the word “write.”) You can see the market for this product — the helicopter parents who worry about their child getting into a “good” school will have AI complete those pesky assignments so their kid can be assured an A. The kids won’t have to lift a finger, read anything, or most importantly, actually learn anything. With this product, children can sail through school with all A’s and learn nothing.

I know there are programs that can identify papers written by AI, but it’s an arms race and those with resources will always be able to stay a step ahead. Perhaps being less tech-savvy and poor will be an advantage. Perhaps those students will be forced to study, write their own papers, and actually learn something.

 

Yes, I sound like a scold, but I’m tired and I’m still mad because this tech behemoth used my first book without my permission to “train” their monster. Billions were spent developing this product, hours of work by the best-educated minds on the planet wasted on this instead of solving world hunger, poverty, illiteracy, or any of the myriad problems humanity faces.

It's funny, but as I was dictating this to my phone, the program refused to type the word  “learn” — ha ha, that AI knows what it’s about.

Before you get the wrong idea, I’m no Luddite. I have no trouble with machines telling me which ingredients to buy for a recipe or making my shopping list. But scientists have warned that a small section of the human brain that helps us with directions has shrunk because we are so reliant on GPS mapping. We know an increasing number of car crashes can be attributed to people mindlessly following the directions of their GPS and not the reality around them. AI is a crutch that can make us stumble to our knees.

 

UPDATE: The ad was pulled after blowback from viewers. The advertisement may have made me see red, but I’m glad it aired. Now we know what the tech companies are up to.

 

What’s your take on AI? 

Shari Randall writes the Ice Cream Shop Mystery series under her pen name, Meri Allen.