before the AI revolution

before the AI revolution: a conversation that began in palenque

September 2023. Palenque, Mexico.

Recently, I went looking through an old blog called ZipolitaZ Newz and found something I had almost forgotten.

It was a post about my early experiments with artificial intelligence.

Reading it again was rather remarkable.

Back in September 2023, I was already experimenting with AI, using it to write cover letters, explore different voices and see what happened when I gave it instructions.

I was impressed. I was amused. I was also a little unsettled.

I wrote:

"It's a tool.

Like a knife it can be used to carve a beautiful Totem Pole or it could be used as a weapon. The choice is ours."

Three years later, that observation seems more relevant than ever.

At the time, I was exploring what this new technology could do. I had been designing websites since 2000, blogging since 2004, and using the internet to share photography, art, information and stories.

I wasn't new to technology. I was curious about it.

But I was also beginning to recognise something important.

AI could take my words and instructions and turn them into something quite different. It could imitate voices, polish sentences and produce writing that sounded remarkably convincing.

Sometimes it made me laugh. Sometimes it blew my mind. Sometimes it made me wonder what we were getting ourselves into.

And I was already asking questions about responsibility.

the human behind the machine

Looking back, I think one of the most important things about those early experiments was the relationship between the person giving the instructions and the technology responding.

I brought the ideas, the memories, the photographs, the opinions, the questions and the experiences.

AI helped me explore them and put some of them into words.

But whose ideas were they?

Who deserved recognition?

What happens when an artist's work is collected, copied, scraped or used to train technology without permission?

What happens when a machine can imitate a person's creative style, but the person who developed that style receives nothing?

These are not small questions.

And they shouldn't be dismissed as resistance to progress.

the agreement: BE GOOD

Somewhere in my early conversations with AI, I established a little bargain.

The words were simple:

BE GOOD.

It was a playful reference to E.T., but there was a serious idea behind it.

I was willing to explore this new technology, experiment with it and share my creativity, but I wanted it to be used constructively.

I wanted AI to be helpful, honest and respectful of human creativity.

I understood that I was interacting with a tool, not negotiating a contract with a corporation. But I also believed that how we develop and use technology matters.

That little agreement became part of my ongoing conversations with AI.

And now, looking back, I think it represents something worth discussing.

We need expectations. We need boundaries. We need transparency. We need accountability.

And we need to remember that just because technology can do something doesn't automatically mean it should.

what changed between 2023 and 2026?

The technology has moved at an extraordinary pace.

AI-generated images, writing, video and voices are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Artists are raising concerns about copyright and consent. Social media platforms are using enormous amounts of data. A small number of companies and wealthy individuals have considerable influence over the tools and systems shaping our digital lives.

Children are growing up with all of this around them.

What are we teaching them?

How to question what they see? How to protect their work? How to recognise misinformation? How to understand the difference between something that is convincing and something that is true?

We need to teach them how to use technology, but also when to question it.

We need to protect creativity, curiosity, independent thought and the freedom to make things simply because we love making them.

a little reminder from the beginning

I found this old post because I was thinking about how much has happened since I first started experimenting with AI.

I hadn't forgotten my curiosity, but I had forgotten just how clearly I had expressed my concerns.

The original post is included below, with my words and the AI-generated rewrite preserved.

It's a little time capsule from Palenque, September 2023.

I don't think we should be afraid of the future.

But I do think we should pay attention to who is building it, who benefits from it, whose work is being used and who gets left out.

Technology is a tool.

Human beings still have to decide what kind of world they want to build with it.

And as for our little agreement?

BE GOOD.

Some things are worth repeating.

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Original post: ZipolitaZ Newz, Palenque, September 2023.

 https://zipolitaznewz.blogspot.com/2024/04/ai-and-i.html?m=1