I find my current relation with large language model AI in a bit of a strange and certainly frustrating place.  On the one hand, I have several concerns and disagreements with the technology as it exist, mostly on both moral and environmental fronts.  As a writer, and one who is just throwing up most of my stories online for all to see, I know that it’s likely my words have been vacuumed up and fed into at least some of the LLM AIs out there.  While, I don’t have issue with a person reading my stories and then finding inspiration in them to write their own tales (that is after all one of the founding ideals of this website), the scale and nature how LLM AI consumes media is just on a different order of magnitude.  Toss in those people’s whose works were used without them being paid for and its even worse.  The environmental implication (especially on the power side) of the data centers needed to support LLM AI is my other main concern.  Building them without a look at responsibly increasing power production, and instead seemingly working with power companies to offload the cost on the average consumer, greatly offends me.

So, my dislike of LLM AI as currently employed (and I should note here that I think there are versions of these tools capable of delivering good to the world and some of the medical advances being made with the assistance of tailored tool AI are proof of this) is contrasted by my professional side.  My job has been increasingly introducing LLM AIs for me to make use of, even at times providing trainings on their use.  I can see where they can benefit me at work, helping to deal with route tasks and data retrieval (though I’ve had some mixed results with the models at times fabricating answers, a common problem from my research).  I also see how this is a squeeze for efficiency, another iteration of the “Do more with less” that seems to have defined much of my working years.  I expect the “Well, AI efficiencies will help,” will be used as an argument against all kinds of attempts asking for more time, resources, people, etc.  Further, I think the push for AI use on entry tasks done without an eye for how it will impact professional development and retention of certain knowledge is shortsighted.  If people don’t learnt he basics of some skills because of AI, will it impact their ability to acquire more advance skills?  I suppose the counter would be that I never learned how to scrub my clothes by hand and I use a laundry machine just fine and keep my clothes clean.  However, I can’t deny that using LLM AI can offer an edge and so I’m faced with don’t use and I run the risk of falling behind and all the professional implication that can come with that statement or to use it despite the fact that I have objections to it.

So, like a said a bit of a conundrum.  Certainly, I can say without a doubt that everything you see here will continue to be created by me, a human being, without AI assistance.  The creative process is part of the great joy of this writing hobby of mine and I’m not going to sacrifice that.  On my professional side, I’m not entirely sure where I’ll draw the line.  I see peers using it to write things like emails and quite frankly I don’t need the help, nor do I see the benefit there.  I do see some cases where it can save me hours of time over a few weeks or a month and that’s harder to ignore.  I see a thing referred to as Tool AI that is trained on a much more specialized data set to do certain tasks. I think that’s where the tech needs to go and I wonder if I can tap a bit more into something like that.

Setting all that aside, I hope you enjoyed the run of February stories.  Three out of the four were ones I had planned specifically for last month.  They were ways to reflect on the last year, to let Quartes and Keto have some closer moments.  There’s hints there at some of the larger story of this Cycle of Illithiust, and where the characters in end in their lives.  All of which I look forward to getting to whether here or in my novel.  “Crumbling Statue” was the unexpected entry for the month as I wrote it on a whim after I started the series Fieren.  That show shares my love for slow moments, the friend who recommended it to me said he thought I’d enjoy its “thoughtful melancholy,” and I certainly have in the handful of episodes I’ve watched.  It is another case of a piece of media that makes me feel confident that I’m telling a type of story that can work while also making me wish I was better at storytelling.

What’s next is getting to a multi-part story that I’ve wanted to tell for a while.  The story of how the Fey and Bard met the Rider, Brokel.  I’ve got the first part written and the next two outlined.  Not entirely sure how long it will run but I think getting to see the Riders of the Finnupave will be a fun bit of cultural lore to explore.  As will be what has put them in opposition to Quartes in the first place as I think some of the Last Landian’s past will be dug up.  

Where we go after that I am mulling over.  Part of me wants to maybe give Quartes and Keto a rest for a time.  They will no doubt remain the heart of the website but February I think left them in a good place and I think it would be nice to let them linger there for a time.  I’m toying to returning to Airka but also some other characters from further in Quartes’ past.  We’ll see where they go as I develop them and I’d be curious to hear any thoughts or interest you may have.

Go forth and do good things,

Sean