Writing is Hard...

... kind of. When you're writing about something that excites you, ignites your passion, or pisses you off it can be easier. (I won't say easy, because after you've written it, you have to edit.) Something I have no problem writing about is the scourge of generative AI. It's everywhere and it's utter crap. Not only does it steal from actual writers and artists, but it consumes energy and water like a dehydrated Weeping Angel. On top of that, churns out soulless, repetitive nonsense that is getting progressively worse as more genAI writing and images flood the internet.

Many AI users freely admit "it's too hard" to do it themselves, or "it's so much faster to use AI". In other words, they don't care to invest the time to learn the necessary skills. Then they'll lack the intelligence to learn because recent studies show that consistent use of genAI results in cognitive decline.

Even the website editor I use, Wix, is pushing their "Content AI". The little sparkly icon is hovering next to each line I write while I ignore it for all I'm worth. I despise generative AI so much I wrote AN ENTIRE BOOK ABOUT IT. Evermore is a metaphor for the damage to to creative fields by genAI. Yes, it has Edgar Allan Poe, the irrepressible Micah, adventure, and a pine marten sidekick, but the evil alchemists represent the tech bros trying to ram genAI down our throats. They kill every creative/empathetic person in their quest for immortality.

Guess what? Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley is immortal. Alex Haley is immortal. Edgar Allan Poe is immortal. Toni Morrison is immortal. Stephen Graham Jones is immortal. Douglas Adams is immortal. You get the picture. Meanwhile, anyone typing genAI prompts for a computer to vomit some words or a picture from stolen pieces of art will be forgotten, along with the non-art they didn't create.

An integral part of any writer's or artist's work is themselves. A little bit of us is evident in everything we create. Our life experience is sprinkled all over it like fairy farts and goblin glitter. Everything we've seen, done, and — most importantly — felt finds its way into our art. Computers can riffle through the information and slap together an approximation of art, but they can't feel it. Emotion is what gets translated to the reader/viewer. Without empathy, there is no art.