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Keeping to the Cackle with AI
No matter where I look these days, it seems everyone is worried about the dangers of the latest artificial intelligence tools. Here’s a typical concern I’ve heard repeatedly:
Oh my gosh, look at that — this thing can generate very reasonably sounding essays, just by studying which words tend to follow others, and then plugging in one likely word after another! How will teachers ever be able to tell original works from AI-generated text?”
Well, if you’re worried about this, I’ve got an update for you.
Yes, this sort of thing is dangerous.
But it’s nothing new.
Here’s a quote from a mystery novel, The Seven Suspects, written by Michael Innes in 1936. Innes himself, it should be noted, was a professor, and the character named Gott, who speaks in the following excerpt, is also an academic.
“And your remarks on the text,” Mr. Gott declared, “are merely a muddle.”
“Yes, Gott,” said Mike meekly.
“You see, Mike, you haven’t any brain really.”
“No, of course not,” said Mike.
“You must just keep to the cackle and write very nicely. You write very nicely.”
“Yes,” said Mike, dubiously.
“Keep off thinking things out, and you’ll…
