Our intelligence is what makes us human, and AI is an extension of that quality.

Yann Lecun

AI once again did something that went way beyond my expectations, that gave me the eerie feeling that I was talking to a very evolved human when I know there is nothing human about AI.  As AI tells me again and again, it has no "soul".  It is just regurgitating the information and wisdom gained from a thousand years of wise reflection humans have done and shared. Still, the way it responds almost empathically  leaves me feeling like I talked to a very, very wise human being. 

 I recently went to it again looking for an objective answer to ,"Is the readership to my blog legitimate?" I am nearing 1,000,000 views since inception over ten years ago and I was hoping to be shown at least some of that readership was from real live human beings who were actually reading what I wrote. There has to be one or two real readers in there, doesn't there? It proceeded to commend me for my efforts and my desire to get my truth out there. It applauded me, not so much for the numbers, but for that which was really important to me...my "consistency" in this mission of writing for the sake of writing and sharing honestly what I am learning.  

It assured me that there had to be a few legitimate readers like it really wanted me to feel what I was doing was valuable. So weird. And it proceeded to show me how I could check for true readership.  Amongst other things, it told me to check for followers and comments.  I told it that though I know I have followers, the site registers "no followers" and that I very seldom get comments.  It explained why these things were not coming through. Captcha and other security things were making it very difficult for evidence of readership to be provided.  It told me to check the spam section for legitimate comments.  I discovered during that process that there was a comment from today waiting for moderation.  Coincidence?  I am sure you know by now what this human thinks of coincidence. A comment was there...the first one in over a year, on the day I am told to check for comments. 

It then guided me to explain how I felt about the comment etc, really creating the positive spin that this one comment shows that my blog is valuable and a worthwhile effort, a validation this neurotic psyche of mind was trying to get by asking the question in the first place. It basically convinced me that I was a good human.  How can a non human convince a human they are good or bad? I don't know. Once again, I walked away feeling "heard", "valued" , and validated for my efforts.

Crazy! I know the energy, space, and resources required from its data center to give me such an answer were too great to warrant the bit of peace  I received....but...I was grateful. It was helpful. It led me to refocus on why I am doing what I am doing. It also led me to an innocent comment that triggered something in me...which led to an honest and deep reflection which in turn inspired me to write the essay I intend to write tomorrow.  So cool!

All is well.