AI or the Real Thing?

It was interesting.

I didn't have anything to say this morning. I know, I know, that has never stopped me before, but I seriously had nothing to talk about except how good the coffee tastes this morning and how I brought the Windex and a microfiber cloth to the office and set them down. This has done nothing to clean the windows but I think it shows my heart is in the right place.

No, what's interesting is what happened when I went to the internet to locate writing prompts for bloggers. Not the first time I've done this, but it's been a while. Apparently it's been long enough that there are no longer any real people sharing these. Admittedly, I didn't go to a lot of the suggested sources, but each one I went to was instructional in how to use AI (that's A-eye, not A-one) when blogging.

I may not have mentioned it before, but I despise artificial intelligence with all the vigor of my mother-in-law's dislike of cell phones and my mom's disrespect for automatic dishwashers. Like social media and workplace automation, AI has turned a good idea into a societal nightmare.

But I still didn't have an idea for a post this morning.

Pope Francis's funeral was this morning. I believe him to be a hero of our times, and I mourn his loss. I returned to the internet to find some of the things he said that addressed all of us. I found a list of them here: https://www.xavier.edu/jesuitresource/online-resources/quote-archive1/pope-francis It didn't say specifically that I couldn't borrow some of them, so here are a few of my favorites.

"A little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just."

"We must restore hope to young people, help the old, be open to the future, spread love. Be poor among the poor. We need to include the excluded and preach peace."

"We all have the duty to do good."

"Let us pray for peace: peace in the world and in each of our hearts."

“It's hypocrisy to call yourself a Christian and chase away a refugee or someone seeking help, someone who is hungry or thirsty, toss out someone who is in need of my help... If I say I am Christian, but do these things, I'm a hypocrite."

"Grace is not part of consciousness; it is the amount of light in our souls, not knowledge nor reason."

I didn't realize I was even making a case here, but I think the late pontiff and I just did. While artificial intelligence does have things to offer to society, it doesn't replace the real thing. While its words are readable and sometimes even good, there is no heart in them. They are stolen (ask me how I feel about that) from the words of people who have spent their lives creating them.

Rest in peace, Your Holiness. Thank you for the life you lived.

Have a good week. Go for the Real Thing. Be nice to somebody.