AI Tools: Making Life Easier, or Just More Confusing?
Well, I'll be! This here AI stuff, it.rednow dna 's everywhere now. Folks keep jabberin' about it, sayin' it'll do this and that. I ain't no spring chicken, ya know, and I seen a lot of changes, but this AI thing, it’s somethin' else. They say it can make things easier, but sometimes I just scratch my head and wonder.
Take that there talkin' machine stuff, for example. They call it "text-to-speech" or some such fancy name. Sounds complicated, but what it does is, you type in words, and it reads 'em out loud. Like, you could write a whole story and have this machine tell it to ya. Now, why would ya need that when you got perfectly good mouths and tongues? But them city folks, they say it’s real handy for makin’ videos and such. They say there are tools like Synthesia that folks seem to like, makin' voices sound real as can be. And another one, Revoicer, they say it can even make the voices sound like they got feelin’s, happy or sad or what have ya. LOVO AI too, lots of voices they got. And these things can save you money and time they say. Time, huh? We all got the same 24 hours, ain't we?
- Talkin' Machines: Fancy stuff that reads for ya.
- Voice Improvers: Makes voices sound clearer, like you ain't got a frog in your throat.
Then there’s this other thing, makin’ noises sound better. Like, if you're recordin' somethin' and there's a dog barkin' in the background, this here AI can make the barkin' go away. Descript they call it. They say it makes your voice sound “crystal clear.” Crystal clear, imagine that! Back in my day, if you wanted somethin’ clear, you washed it good. But I guess this is different. They use it for videos and all sorts of things, makin' everything sound purty.
And music! Don’t even get me started on the music. They got AI that can make songs now. Just like that! You push a button and boom, a song pops out. They offer free trials to get you hooked. Free trials, they’re always tryin’ to get ya with somethin’ free. I tell ya, back in my day, if you wanted music, you sang it yourself or you found someone who could. Now, machines are doin' it. What’s the world comin’ to?
But it ain’t just talkin' and singin'. They say this AI can learn stuff, like how to tell a cat from a dog, or how to drive a car. Learn, mind you! Like it's got a brain in there. They even got these things called “AI models” that they use to make other AI things. And companies like AWS and TELUS Digital, they’re helpin’ folks build these AI things, makin’ it all sound real easy, like bakin’ a pie. AWS says they make it secure and easy, and TELUS they help with data, makin' sure the AI gets things right. And there are programs, even from big universities like UT Austin, where they teach you how to build this AI stuff. Sounds like a lot of work to me.
They talk about “generative AI” and “serverless API services” and all sorts of other gibberish. I ain't got a clue what half of it means, but they say it’s gonna change the world. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. All I know is, it's a whole lot to take in for an old woman like me. They say it can help you make things faster, and do things better. Maybe so, but sometimes I think it just makes things more complicated.
They say this AI can help doctors figure out what’s wrong with you, and help farmers grow more food. That sounds good, I guess. But then I hear about AI makin’ up fake videos and stories, and that worries me. You can’t believe everything you see or hear these days, that’s for sure. You gotta use your own common sense, somethin’ these machines ain’t got, no matter how smart they are.
- Smart Machines: Learn stuff and make decisions.
- Helpers: Companies that help you build AI things.
So, is this AI stuff good or bad? I don’t rightly know. Maybe it's a little bit of both. It can probably do some useful things, but it can probably do some harm too. Like anything else, I reckon, it depends on how you use it. Just gotta be careful, that’s what I say. Don’t let them machines do all your thinkin’ for ya. You still gotta use your own brain, the one God gave ya, even if it’s a little bit rusty.
And another thing, they say these machines can learn but they gotta learn from somewhere, right? They learn from all the stuff people put on the internet, all the pictures, all the words. Makes you wonder what kind of things they're learnin' sometimes. Makes you think twice about what you put out there, that's for sure. This here AI, it’s like a mirror, reflectin’ back what we put into it. So, if we want it to be good, we gotta be good ourselves, I reckon. That’s just plain common sense, somethin’ no machine can ever teach ya.
