A man and a machine

All the way back in 2011, when IBM Watson was being unveiled, we started promoting this concept: "A man AND a machine can do more than a man OR a machine."

I'm not one to simply handover creativity to a machine, but I believe there are ways it can be leveraged to assist us in our efforts to understand and organize concepts. For instance, this mind map was generated from the content of my recent book "The Journey of Belief". The structure, the parts, the chapters and their content are man (mine). The symbolism, the diagram is machine. Does it look like AI played a part? Yes. But I, as one man, am not capable of this. The machine, itself, was not capable of the content needed to create this. But together, I believe this cooperation has created a visual representation of the concepts of my book.

I admit, there are often times I need help. I still depend heavily on people around me and individuals who have knowledge that mentor and guide me. That hasn’t changed. But as someone who is focused on helping people move in their journey of belief, having tools and data available to help construct effective messages is welcomed. I previously used Google. Before that I used clipart and Encarta. In my youth, it was a shelf full of World Book Encyclopedias.

There is a line in a song from Scott Mulvahill’s titled “Top of the Stairs” in which he says “It’s all about steps, not the top of the stairs”. So I recognize that the significance is not just about the destination, it’s about the journey itself. So the search for information, the creative process involved and the imagination muscles that are exercised is important.

I have three very creative kids. They are very successful in their careers and leveraging their gifts and imaginations to create works of art, design amazing content and engineer fantastical machines and devices. And I do not believe a soulless machine can produce the same meaningful content on its own. But should the machine be shelved?

Conrad Gessner stated the modern world was overwhelming people with data and that this overabundance was both “confusing and harmful” to the mind. He was speaking about the invention of the printing press in the 1500’s. So we’ve faced this dilemma before.

Here are my current thoughts, which I reserve the right to change: I will continue to use a machine to assist in the mundane while I concentrate my efforts on the meaningful. I could have produced something similar to the mind map graphic on my own. I don’t have the illustrative skills to create the chapter images, but without AI, I would have searched for imagery or invested in the creation of the artwork itself. I have Photoshop and Illustrator skills and access to the Adobe Creative Suite of tools, so I have much of the technology necessary to create this from scratch. A conservative estimate of effort would be measured in many hours of effort and research. Using a machine, providing the content of my book and a simple query, created a first rendition. After some simple editorial changes and two renditions later, I have a result that communicates what I was looking for. It took less than the time it’s taken for me to write this article.

I’m 69, which alone doesn’t give me an excuse for leveraging a machine. But my time for contributing to others around me is limited. Two minutes vs. two days matters.

I’m not ashamed of using a machine to do the stuff I can’t effectively do. Now, maybe more than ever, I greatly admire the creatives among us and their ability to produce soulful creations. I proudly wear a t-shirt that states “Art by Artists”. My home is a gallery of brilliant paintings by my children and close friends. When I look at them I can feel the “meaning”. Compared to when I look at a machine’s work, I can usually just derive the “message”. There is a big difference and I think most of us know it when we see it.

Will it always be this way? I don’t know. Will I feel differently later? It’s very possible. When that happens…I’ll let you know.