Wrinkly Bits
A Blog by Gail Cushman and My Newfound Friend
Originally posted 8/29/25
This AI thing is going to drive me bonkers. Here I am sitting in my cabin on a boat, minding my own business, lost in my own thoughts about Greece and Istanbul and having all kinds of adventures, and all of a sudden, an uninvited intruder shows up. The conversation slightly resembles this:
Co-pilot: How can I help you? What do you want to write about?
Gail: Who the hell are you? What do you want?
Co-pilot: I think you need help, just turn me loose and I’ll fix you right up. BTW, cut the profanity.
Gail: I’m thinking, and I don’t need any help.
Co-pilot: You don’t have to think. I can do it for you, and you can drink wine.
Gail: Don’t you get it? Get lost.
I like to write and think I do a pretty good job at it. I enjoy words and putting them together to form sentences, paragraphs, and whole blogs. As I am sitting here, without touching the computer, AI has recommended a few things for me to write about:
1. Potential itinerary for a college reunion in London
2. Successful camping ideas during the rainy season
3. Ideas for school science projects
4. Outdoor activities in Seattle in July
5. Planning for my mother’s 50th birthday
These are the most ludicrous writing ideas I have ever seen. Not going to London. Why would I camp when it’s raining? I have never done school science projects and don’t intend to start. It rains in Seattle all the time, so outdoor activities are a bust. And lastly, the most ridiculous of all, my mother has been dead for 15 years and would be 109 this year, if she hadn’t died.
See what I mean?
If you think about it, what is “Artificial Intelligence.” Intelligence is innate, we are either born with it or without it. It’s sort of like an egg. Eggs are delivered with shells, as far as I know there is no such thing as “Artificial Egg Shells.” Some things just can’t be manufactured.
I don’t know how AI invited itself into my computer and I don’t know how to send it out the door. Can’t we just go back to what my teachers said to me: “Put your thinking cap on, Gail, you’ll figure it out.” It worked then, and I think it will now.
