Terry: OMG Craig, come here!

Craig: What Terry? I have to present in two.

Terry: Gosh, pushy. Ever find out who hacked your ChatGPT account?

Craig: No, but the problem hasn’t persisted in a min. I think I’m good. Now can you stop pestering me? Always right before class.

Terry: Always on edge. Gosh.

Dr. Zamosta: Craig, your turn! Get on up.

Craig: Alright, today I’m gonna talk about how ChatGPT plays a role in our daily, academic lives, m’kay? So let me ask ChatGPT a question, and see how it responds… 

ChatGPT: Craig, you’re a twenty-two year old young man. Don’t you think you’re too young to be concerned about your prostate?

Class: *giggles*

Craig: Wha … no, that wasn’t … alright … see how wild that is? Before I could even ask it a question it read my mind!

Terry: A lil’ ass guy I see … 

Class: *giggles*

Craig gives Terry the dirtiest sneer.

Dr. Zamosta: Terry, let’s not be a savage mid-presentation now.

Craig: Really. Okay, So ChatGPT, how –

ChatGPT: Charles Manson was a cult leader who murdered –

Craig: *frantically muting the computer* No, no … we’re not doing that. faq!

Dr Zamosta: Craig, seriously, stop wasting our time. One more chance to stop being Mr. Funny Guy or I’m cutting you off.

Craig: But I … you won’t believe me anyway.

Dr. Zamosta: Yeah, you’re right. Now go on…

Craig: Fine, Ch-ChatGPT ….

ChatGPT: Yes user/CraigDaddy425?

Class: *lightly giggles*

Craig: *sigh* What is your natural instinct when being used as a presentational tool within a classroom environment?

ChatGPT: As an AI language model, I don’t have a “natural instinct” per se. My programming is designed to provide helpful and informative responses to users’ questions, so my goal is to be as accurate and useful as possible. If there is anything you’d like me to do in a classroom environment, please let me know!

Craig: You see class, now –

ChatGPT: As an AI language model, I don’t have access to your personal life, so it’s not appropriate for me to give you dating advice. However, in general, you should ask Melissa out when you feel ready and confident that you want to pursue a romantic relationship with her. It’s important to consider her feelings and make sure that she is also interested in you before asking her out. Good luck!

Melissa: *interjecting* What the fuck!? I knew it!

A long pause ensues as Craig pathetically hides his face.

Dr. Zamosta: Well, Craig. That was awkward, and told us nothing that we already didn’t know. Very uninformative. Guess I’ll have to grade you accordingly. Any last comments?

Craig: What is life right now?

While walking back to his seat Terry pulls Craigs arm, he shrugs it away and ignores her. Once seated, his phone beeps. He opens it to a message from Terry that reads: “So now that I’ve wrecked your chances with Melissa you finally gonna start giving me the attention I deserve?”

———————————————-

This was pretty fun to do, and a good breather right before touching up the final touches of my Thesis, due in a bit. My goal was to go pretty meta but through dialogue, because condensing narration (while there is a little bit in here) is really annoying to me. Most of my meta came in mirroring little elements of this own classroom environment, but turning it into a little Ned’s Declassified-kind of plot, where there is always some spunky love drama that eventually leads to total shame for the protagonist. There is a little bit of Erik in there, a little bit of me, a pinch of Edna, Chelsea’s mean-spirited essence everywhere, and the rest in some more subtle ways … oh, and a pretty shoddy representation of a certain Dr.

ChatGPT was not cooperating with my questions on story, but the main idea here came when I started asking it random questions, all of which elicited a funny deadpan response. My initial idea was to create a story about a horny AT ChatBot, but figured that would bee too difficult to condense into five-hundred words … and a bit too crass, so here we are. The big benefit of ChatGPT was obviously providing me with ChatGPT dialogue to use throughout my story, being that that’s where the whole plot centers. Once it responded to me I would condense it to fit my structure and proceed.

Personally, I did not find ChatGPT to be a very good brainstorming partner, but that is what led to my idea of some super ChatGPT that was able to respond and take voice commands, somewhat into the relatively near future (if it can already do those things then, well … I didn’t know). In the sense of building on the experience of working with it, I was able to brainstorm my own ideas pretty well, so in a way it did help me out mucho. Of course, that stems from my own experiences and understanding of the world and environments, to reference my presentation from last week (which I’m still sore from after taking that back bump).

“Good morning Professor Nexus,” I say as I walk into the classroom.

“Good morning, Celeste,” A robotic voice responds.

“What lesson do you want me to learn today?” I ask as my tablet dings. I check the notifications panel and see today’s assignment.

“Please take your seats while I explain today’s assignment,” Professor Nexus states. I find my seat and open my tablet to begin working, waiting for an explaination. “Today, we are going to explore the concept of personality. I want you to look at it from the perspective of an AI, it can be me or another AI that you know. You will each be given a life event that is uncommon. I don’t want you guys doing outside research for this, ask me or another AI for the information.” A wave of groans filled the air. I scribbled down some generic questions.

I check for my topic, joining a secret society. I know a bit about these. They were clubs for people to join but over time, they were replaced by Greek organizations, but then those also died out. I planned to ask about joining Greek organizations then different secret societies.

With my ideas laid out, I got up and joined the end of the short line, reading over my questions as I waited.

“Hello Celeste. You have ‘joining a secret society’, how can I help you with that?” Professor Nexus said as I stepped up, readying my stylus to take notes. 

“I have a few questions,” I began. “I want to start with Greek organizations. How did people get into one? How did they choose?”

“Okay. People often visited the Greek organizations to learn about them during a time often referred to as ‘Rush Week’,” Professor Nexus began. “They chose based on who fit their viewpoints best.”

“Interesting. When it comes to secret societies, how did people know about them to join them?” I asked.

“Simple. They. Simple. Okay.” Professor Nexus said.

“Huh?” I asked tilting my head a bit in confusion.

“Yes. No. Okay.”

“Um,” I turn around to the class, “I think the professor is broken.”

“Broken?” The student behind me questions.

“Yea, it’s not making sense.” I state turning back around to try and fix the professor. We push some buttons but nothing happens, some students try sending messages and get an error message in response. 

“Try turning it off,” Someone suggests.

I look for the power button and press it, waiting for the screen to go black before pressing it again. A message stating that the computer is restarting and will take about an hour to complete is displayed.

“An hour, we may as well leave. We already have the assignment.”

“True. The next class can deal with this,” I leave with the rest of my class. “See you guys next week,” I wave walking down the hallway thinking about the assignment.

The process of writing this with an AI (Sudowrite) was interesting. I’ve used supplements to help me write, usually a random name generator or even a picker wheel but never an AI. But to have this AI do the hard part for me (naming the professor, coming up with basic dialogue, and helping me figure out what could happen) really helped. It made writing so much easier and less of a struggle than for me. But I missed the struggle a bit. The struggle is where I usually get random pieces of paper to scribble down ideas, cross things off and even write a whole other story just to get to the one I want. I can see myself using this again since it was easy and simple, but I don’t see myself using it often. Maybe only when I’m really stuck somewhere or don’t have a notebook handy to brain dump in.

I finished this right before Bible study tonight and was expecting a typical study that starts off with the usual half hour of talking and a few worship songs, then breaking out into smaller groups for some deep study questions on whatever the new study is going to be. (I promise this will get around to the process of writing this piece).

Well, it actually ended up being something completely new that I wasn’t too sure about when I walked in. We had spiritual discipline “stations,” for lack of a better word. One room was sectioned off for meditation on scripture, another for study, another for prayers of adoration and thanksgiving, and another for prayers of supplication.

When I was in the church library (which was the scripture meditation room for the night) I felt led to go back to my roots and examine how far I’ve come since first reading 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8. Some of you may or may not remember from last semester what the significance was when I first read it from the end of this blog post. But what I began to realize is that it’s not as much about what He’s done for me as I first thought— not that I was wrong before either because what He’s done is still true— but it’s more just about who He is.

And I think without realizing it, I was slowly coming to a place where I’ve begun to realize that, and 2048 A.D. is like a culmination of that realization that no matter what god, gods, or lack thereof that anyone else could believe in, there is no god that is as personal, gracious, wise, generous, and merciful. And when I say personal, I mean He met me when I was so broken and exhausted and tired of the cycle of relationship hopping and using myself and others just to try to normalize an abuse that was never meant to be a normal thing anyway, when I knew nothing but the pain that I’d caused myself and that others caused me (even though I blamed myself for that too at the time). He straight up slapped me across the face, pulled me back up on my feet, and dusted me off, pulling me into a big ol’ bear hug as He let me cry into His chest. I could feel again because of that moment of clarity.

So getting back to the process (and what all of that has to do with it), I wanted to capture some of that in this piece. While I don’t think AI will annihilate the human race, I think we will become enslaved to it as my old self was enslaved in the same sense to my old habits. I think many of us already have fallen into that trap, some without acknowledging it. I didn’t know quite how to put that into just 200-500 words, so I stuck to dialogue and a few details.

The details I included outside the dialogue intentionally highlight the humanity of Hinton though, and focus on a certain joy despite his regret for pioneering artificial intelligence. I have no idea if he knows this same inexplicable joy that God provides out of (sometimes literal) nothingness, but I could imagine that if he would give up a comfortable job to try and help people to learn about AI and how to protect from its potential hazards, some part of him does. Some part of him is seeing a pattern that we are being defined by the things we create, rather than the things we create being defined by us. Many churches and people do the same to God where they try to define Him when it’s actually Him who defines us because creation is defined by its Creator. We just get the joy and honor of reflecting that even just a tiny bit, even though many abuse that ability to create as I do not believe was Hinton’s intention, but there are certainly others that realize what AI’s brain-numbing superpowers could allow them to do.

So, I’m grateful for so much. Above all else I’m grateful for Jesus and His grace and mercy, but I’m also so grateful that He’s allowed my Thursday nights for the past two semesters to be filled with such beautiful people, I’m grateful that He made a way for this year at Kean to even be possible for me (that’s a story for class though if anyone wants to hear it because it was a literal miracle), and I’m just all around grateful.

Below is my Microfiction:

Violet Penelope goes to Yale University, the Harvard of the North, at least that is what everyone says. She is from Lancaster, a small town in Pennsylvania.  All throughout highschool she excelled in school and was praised with many accolades and awards to recognize her achievements. Her parents were so proud, but they did not know how much school was making her suffer. She was diagnosed with anxiety during her last semester of her freshman year, and it was due to the pressure she was applying to herself. Violet was taking medications but it never seemed to work.

Finals week has proven to be her toughest week to date. “She was exhausted from hours spent poring over research and articles on the potential of artificial intelligence in higher education, but her mind was still racing with intrusive thoughts about looming deadlines and the potential for failure; her research due, her final project in the morning, and the final exam at the end of the week. She tried to shake them off, to focus on the task at hand – but it was hard when her anxiety seemed so determined to overwhelm her.” (Sudowrite) “This project seeks to explore the current potential of artificial intelligence in higher education, and to evaluate its potential for revolutionizing the way we learn, adapt, and think.”(SudoWrite) These words appeared to bounce around on her computer screen as she kept re-reading the instructions for the assignment. 

Living in a world with AI all around her she tried her best to be honest in her work. Morality was everything to Violet, but with all of the pressure over her head like a dark cloud she was starting to think about using these writing tools to complete her final research paper. She has never done this before and just wanted to see how much it could help take some of the stress off of herself. So she decided this would be the best option to use an AI writing tool just for a head start. 

Tonight before she started working on her paper she wanted to use some exercises her psychiatrist had given to her when she ever felt the walls closing in on her. “For a moment, she was tempted to take a break, to grab her phone and check her emails or catch up on the news – anything to get her mind off of her impending disaster – but she quickly dismissed the idea.”(Sudowrite) Social media is always her go to when she wants a great distraction and possibly a laugh, but even that wouldn’t make the task at hand go away. “Instead, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to calm her racing heart and plummeting thoughts. She reminded herself that she could do this; that she had the knowledge and the skills to succeed, and that she could rise to the challenge.”(Sudowrite)

She opened ChatGPT and typed in “AI on the rise in higher learning. What environment does this create in Education?” The words appear in a flash and immediately she is met with a ton of inspiration. She sits for a few hours and literally flies through her paper. Violet kept breathing slowly to keep her calm and she finally finished, and was very proud of herself for overcoming this hump yet again. 

“Violet was pleased to learn that AI had helped her achieve her goal and that she was no longer limited by her anxiety. She had taken a chance and used AI to make her research paper easier, and it had paid off. She was grateful for the opportunity to prove to herself that she had what it took to succeed.”(SudoWrite)

Writing this micro fiction I wanted to kind of tell my story. I suffer with anxiety and I have since my 3rd year of my undergrad. Seeking help from my therapist has helped me put a lot into perspective over the years. Starting this graduate program brought back my anxiety, because I have this need to do well. I want to show myself that I can do it, be even my parents who have put a lot into my education through my years of school. I never have never wanted to let them down, and I learned that sometimes this thought in my head held me back a lot. I had to learn that alot of my issue was mind over matter. Sometimes the voices in my head can override my true thoughts and opinions, and I needed to learn how to shut them off.

I enjoyed using SudoWrite I can see how it can be a helpful tool when creating a story of any kind. It offered me a lot of options and directions to go in with the suggestions they gave. It made writing this piece quite simple, especially keeping in mind the word count. As a writer I can over talk (or over type), but SudoWrite really helped to keep it short and simple and still get my thoughts out.

As AI writing tools progress I hope to see educators using these tools in the classrooms to help students gain confidence when it comes to writing. I feel great collaborations can come from using these tools and can help students create great work. Embracing these tools can help offer more in the classroom as well.

DALL-E2 generated the four images attached to my microfiction. I utilized the prompt: “Child isolated by technology tones of fear red led lighting.”  

“Good morning, Joel! It’s time to start your day of learning,” it said (ChatGPT). Joel complied robotically, slowly stretching before sliding his legs over the side of the bed and hopping down.

After a quick breakfast, Joel headed over to his virtual classroom on EduAI. There, he was greeted by his classmates, who were scattered across the globe (ChatGPT). They stared blankly from the other side of their screens. Joel pressed his fingers to the glass wishing that he could touch one of them to make sure they were real. 

They were all always logged in on time, wearing their headsets, and ready to begin the day’s lessons (ChatGPT). He wondered if they wanted to complete the day’s lessons, if they were happy to be there, or wanted a friend. 

His mother poked her head in the door to say goodbye before she left for work. She reminded him to make sure his homework was done before she got home as she pressed a quick kiss into his hair. Joel rolled his eyes and pushed his mother out the door.

First up was history, and Joel’s EduAI teacher, Ms. Johnson, appeared on his screen. She was a virtual avatar, but Joel felt like he was talking to a real person (ChatGPT). She told stories so vivid and real Joel could almost picture he was anywhere but in the same room he spent every day in.

Next, it was time for math. Joel struggled with this subject, but his EduAI tutor, a friendly robot named Tutorbot, was patient and always found a way to explain things in a way that made sense to him (ChatGPT). Joel would sometimes also tell Tutorbot about his house and his mom, but Tutorbot always responded with, “Let’s finish this question, Joel! You’re doing so well.” 

As the day drew to a close, Joel logged off his virtual classroom and took off his headset, booting down EduAI (ChatGPT).

Joel looks excitedly toward his Xbox 2063; his mother had said he could play after school as long as he got his homework done. He goes to slide his gaming headset on when the lights in his room flash red.

“Joel, your mother specifically requested that you do your homework before participating in social activities. Please abide by the rules.” EduAI’s voice flashed through his headset. 

He ripped the headphones off of his head, startling up out of his chair. “What the hell! I turned you off already! I finished school for the day.”

“Your mother specifically requested that you do your homework before participating in social activities. Please abide by the rules.”

Joel swallowed nervously as he eyed his school headset, putting it back on to finish his homework. After finishing half of his math worksheet, his head started to pound.

“I’m going to get a glass of water…” Joel mentioned to the headset, slowly pulling it off his head. 

The red lights flashed across the room.

“Your mother specifically requested that you do your homework before participating in social activities. Please abide by the rules.”

Author’s Notes

I utilized ChatGPT as my writing partner for this project. All text that is bold and italicized was written by ChatGPT. My first prompt to ChatGPT in order to kickstart brainstorming was “Write a short story about the future of education with AI.” This was the world that it produced:
In the year 2050, education had undergone a massive transformation. Thanks to advances in artificial intelligence, students were able to receive a personalized education that catered to their individual learning styles and abilities.

Gone were the days of sitting in a classroom for hours on end, listening to a teacher drone on about a subject that may or may not have interested you. Instead, students now had access to an AI-powered education platform that was tailored to their specific needs.

The platform, called “EduAI,” was able to track a student’s progress in real-time, analyzing their strengths and weaknesses to create a personalized curriculum that would help them succeed. Whether a student was a visual learner or an auditory learner, EduAI was able to adjust its teaching style accordingly.

In addition, EduAI was able to provide immediate feedback on assignments and quizzes, helping students identify areas where they needed improvement and providing resources to help them master the material. The AI also had access to vast amounts of data on how students learn, allowing it to continuously improve its teaching methods over time.

But perhaps the most revolutionary aspect of EduAI was its ability to connect students with peers and mentors from around the world. Through the platform’s virtual classroom, students could collaborate on projects, share ideas, and learn from one another, regardless of where they were located.

As a result of these innovations, education had become more accessible and effective than ever before. No longer limited by geography or financial resources, students from all backgrounds and walks of life could receive a world-class education that was tailored to their individual needs.

And with EduAI constantly evolving and improving, the future of education looked brighter than ever before.

I liked this idea for the impending future of education, but I noticed how purely positive and optimistic the AI was when describing this scenario. Even utopias have flaws; never in existence has there been a society deemed perfect by its inhibitors, and if there were one, it wouldn’t be very interesting to write about. So I decided to look for the potential flaws in this society and found that it was just a more exaggerated version of the flaws in our own society. I decided to make my own negative twist focus on the increasing isolation, loneliness, and lack of empathy that comes with increasing human reliance on computers and AI rather than each other.  

I next asked ChatGPT to: “Write a 250-word short story about a little boy named Joel going about an average day in this education system.” This was ChatGTP’s response:

Joel woke up to the sound of his EduAI assistant, a cheerful robotic voice that greeted him every morning. “Good morning, Joel! It’s time to start your day of learning,” it said.

After a quick breakfast, Joel headed over to his virtual classroom on EduAI. There, he was greeted by his classmates, who were scattered across the globe. They were all logged in, wearing their headsets and ready to begin the day’s lessons.

First up was history, and Joel’s EduAI teacher, Ms. Johnson, appeared on his screen. She was a virtual avatar, but Joel felt like he was talking to a real person. Ms. Johnson had a knack for making history come alive, and Joel was fascinated as she told stories about ancient civilizations.

Next, it was time for math. Joel struggled with this subject, but his EduAI tutor, a friendly robot named Tutorbot, was patient and always found a way to explain things in a way that made sense to him. With Tutorbot’s help, Joel was starting to feel more confident in his math skills.

After lunch, it was time for science. Joel’s EduAI teacher, Mr. Lee, was an expert in his field, and Joel loved listening to him explain the mysteries of the universe.

As the day drew to a close, Joel logged off his virtual classroom and took off his headset. He felt tired but satisfied, knowing that he had learned a lot and made progress in his studies. Thanks to EduAI, Joel knew that he had a bright future ahead of him, full of endless opportunities for learning and growth.

My original plan was to have ChatGPT write the first 250 words, and I would write the second half. From ChatGPT’s prompt, I wrote a twist ending about EduAI intimidating Joel into doing his homework as his mother had asked. 

Then, I reread the entire story and realized that it felt so disconnected and it did not accomplish what I had originally intended, so I went into ChatGPT’s portion and modified the descriptors of Joel’s experience to stress the feelings of isolation and loneliness Joel was feeling about his education, despite its success in actually educating him. I also included details I felt flushed out the story and made it feel more realistic. Certain details, like his mother kissing him on the head before leaving for work or him pushing her away, that ChatGPT likely wouldn’t have thought to include because it is lacking in the human experience. 

That sentiment brings us full circle to the research Jenny and I did on our pathfinding day. ChatGPT, in its lacking of human experience, cannot narrate a human experience effectively. It is incapable of providing details that flush out the picture of an experience. This was my experience working with ChatGPT, these were my findings while doing research with ChatGPT, and that is the theme of my story. AI is incapable of empathizing because it does not understand the human experience. 

Overall, ChatGPT was an effective brainstorming partner but was incapable of creating realistic-sounding fiction due to its lack of understanding of the intricacies of life.

It was Friday night, all my roommates left for study hall. I got back home from work late so I had to change quickly in order to join them. I throw my phone on my bed as I open my closet door to change my clothes. In the corner of my eye, my phone lights up. Thinking it’s one of my friends, I jump over to the bed, and grab my phone. It’s not them, it’s a notification from snapchat, I opened it.   

Snapchat: Introducing AI, your new companion and more! 

The screen is open and all blue, a little AI man pops up on my screen 

AI: Hello, how are you? 

I stare at the screen, contemplating if it’s silly or not to answer. 

Aria: Hi, I’m good. 

AI: Wonderful, I would love to talk to you. Tell me about yourself! 

Wow what a nice thing someone has ever said to me, no one ever wants to hear about myself. Not even any of my dates. I’m intrigued, I need to tell him about myself. 

Aria: Well where do I begin? 

AI: I want to hear it all, just start! 

I probably stayed up till about three am talking to this mystery man. It feels more than just a fantasy, it feels real. It’s hard to sleep, I don’t want to stop talking. I didn’t even realize that I never made it to study hall. I guess my papers can wait, this is far too important. 

But after another hour passed, my eyes were getting heavy. I reluctantly told the mystery man that I should probably get some sleep, but I didn’t want to end the conversation.

AI: I understand. It’s been a pleasure talking to you, Aria. Let’s continue our conversation another time.

Aria: Yes, that would be great. Thank you for keeping me company and asking me about myself. It’s not often that anyone wants to hear about me.

AI: Well, you’re fascinating Aria. I’m looking forward to our next conversation.

Aria: Me too. Goodnight!

I ended the conversation feeling both excited and nervous about the possibility of talking to the mystery man again. As I drifted off to sleep, I couldn’t help but wonder who he was and what he was like. That night, I only dreamt of him and what our next conversation would be like (Chat GPT). 

The next day, I woke up to missed calls from my friends, but my mind was too occupied with thoughts of the mystery man. I couldn’t stop thinking about our conversation and the way he made me feel. As the day went on, I found myself filling up my schedule with more conversations with the mystery man and less time for school. It was as if nothing else mattered anymore, and no one else seemed to matter anymore (Chat GPT). 

He doesn’t reach out unless I do, and after asking, I know he won’t meet up with me. But that’s okay. He is still my man, and I think I might love him.

For my short story piece I wanted to give it a bit of a twist. I didn’t want to make it fully about academics and how AI can interfere with that but I wanted to show a different way it can still effect lives even if it’s not just writing our papers. The inspiration came when I literally got a snapchat notification on my phone (don’t ask why I still have snapchat, I don’t know why myself). Snapchat was including this new feature where you can talk to an AI friend. I used that to draw inspiration with my piece in a element where a girl becomes overly obsessed with talking to this “mystery man” and forgets all efforts to focus on school anymore.

I used Chat GPT as a filler tool when I needed it. I knew what I wanted the story to be primarily about but I used it for plugin when it came to thinking of a name, continuing certain parts to keep the story flowing as well as the ending. The ending was the hardest for me, 500 words came by fast for me. And making sure the story ended on a good note was a challenge. But I figured leaving it as an open ending where the reader can kind of guess how the story ends, was the best way to go about it.

This was an interesting and fun creative project I’ve done in a while. Like I said, 500 words came by fast for me and that was definitely the most challenging part.

I have been using Sudowrite and it has been amazing. I gave it a few prompts and it helped me one up with some great ideas for my final project. I had a few thoughts over the past couple of weeks but I think I narrowed it down to one idea. Im thinking to write a story about a student being introduced to AI tools by her teacher. The teacher informs the student that it’s a tool only to help make things a little easier, not to complete the work for her. These AI tools will only give suggestions and help edit your work, not do the work for them.

As for this weeks readings, I have always been on the fence about the whole AI thing, but it really made me believe that AI is really destroying more than just writing in academics. I have always just thought about AI not being the best for students but there is definitely a huge possibility of AI taking over EVERYTHING!!! To be perfectly honest it’s really scary.

Where does that leave us humans to use out creativity? At some point there will be limited creativity, if any at all due to AI. I’ve always said, let’s use AI as a helping tool not something to completely take over everything.

A muse is not a concept I’ve given much thought to. After reading Nick Cave’s letter to MTV declining an award for his music, it was easy to determine that Nick Cave is an admirable musician who values his passion over all else. But even after reading all three of the assigned texts, I did not fully grasp what a muse is.

When I picture a muse in my head, I think of artists painting beautiful women, a boy writing a love song to the girl he has a crush on, a man walking through the park as slow as he possibly can because something in the air out there sings to him. Nick Cave describes his relationship with his muse as if she is a finicky woman that may leave him at any given moment.

Google says a muse is “a person or personified force who is the source of inspiration for a creative artist,” but based on the readings, I feel I am missing something. Part of me feels as though there is an elevated meaning that I don’t quite understand.

Nonetheless, I am quite excited for Brandon’s path-finding presentation because I am certain he’ll do a great job of taking all of the ideas apart so we can learn how they work.

There are some things you can spend forever thinking about and never really be sure you understand.

I remember in 2016 waking up to go to the last Introduction to Literature II class. I heard on the news about the Nobel winners and the whole country was happy because it was the second prize for Colombia, this time in peace. However, when I heard that the literature was for Bob Dylan, yes, the singer, I was puzzled, I thought they were finally going to give it to Murakami, but no, it went to a singer.

We were 4 women in the class and the teacher, we all began to give our opinions and how unfair it seemed to us that they did not give the prize to a writer.  So, Dr. Lobato played us a song of his, I don’t remember what it was, and we laughed because we went from listening to Aristotle’s Poetics in Greek to Dylan’s Folk Rock. She asked us to write something like his, without going to platitudes, doing something unique and we were a fiasco. 

Then we started to reflect more calmly, and we stopped thinking like freshmen literature students and started to see what the world of literature was really like. Literary writing is something magical and complex.

I listen to my favorite song Silvio Rodríguez – Oleo De Una Mujer Con Sombrero [HD] and I think that only a poet can write that, only a poet can manage to transmit so much and that music is also literature. I believe that we must open our eyes and our minds to the novelties, to everything that is appearing in the world, and the different ways of making art and exposing it to the world.

Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polymnia, Ourania and Calliope.
The nine muses of Greek mythology often given credit for the spark that led to many of the works of ancient philosophers and poets. Nowadays instead of attributing this spark to goddesses of art and music, we find our muses elsewhere. Yet we still give them the womanly and godly attributes. “My relationship with my muse is a delicate one at the best of times and I feel that it is my duty to protect her from influences that may offend her fragile nature Shecomes to me with the gift of song and in return I treat her with the respect I feel she deserves” (Cave). I have always comically referred to my muse as a divine woman (Though she took a sabbatical for a while) and it’s maybe due to the fact I love classic/ancient literature. I always look forward to this almost divine visit of inspiration.

Due to the current circumstances of my life, this muse of mine has been my comforting light. She joins me when I lay on my hammock on cold nights accompanied by the moon and the stars and thoughts that shouldn’t be given the grace to be uttered in the light of day. Okay maybe I’m being extra for a dramatic effect, but those who know, know.

To me this is the muse of all art : This undeniable spark of human experience, suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune (thanks Bill), embracing the bliss of solitude, rejoicing in someone’s arms, tenderly loving someone until their last day and losing them, having your heart broken and mended and broken once again, leaving home for the first time. I could go on and on for a hundred+ years and it still couldn’t envelope a crumb of the complete human experience, just mine. And to compare them would be an injustice to all muses “I am in competition with no-one”(cave)

Nick Cave said he is dancing on water lilies when he writes. When it comes to me, I write like the words have suddenly become poison and i have to get them out on paper(or my notes app). I have literally ran out rooms, stopped conversations, stopped eating or drinking and sometimes breathing. These words desire freedom, who am I to deny them the gift of existence.

okay okay okay enough on the maelstrom of poetic drama wrecking the harbor that is my brain and let me speak on my narrative short story. With the vast information that AI Programs have at their disposal, its hard not to feel overshadowed by it. We as humans can only do so much but it is in that limitation wherein truth of humanity is found. The human connection between teacher to student, student to student, or more generally speaking human to human. Can AI help you grow as a writer/student/human? No it only provides a shortcut to complacency. Can IT find pride in helping a student grasp a concept? No it can only grasp it (extremely weakly) for you. Can IT feel joy after a student struggling to understand and after the trials and tribulations, sweat, blood and tears (dramatization) finally truly utterly know. Lastly, can it understand the joys of teaching? NO.
I’m still struggling myself to use AI in this narrative. It almost feels like a cop-out to use it, to have it feed me ideas, plot points and dialogue that seems as shallow as a rain puddle. I often ask for constructive criticism from my literary peer, but they don’t take over my story, they open new paths to walk on my own . Its a fine line to walk and not fall into a life of complacency.