Open Thread: First Brush with AI - Senior Planet from AARP

Its kind of funny that when I googled AI the first item that popped was a definition of AI produced byAI: the ability of a machine to perform tasks that are usually associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning and making decisions.(Holy Skynet, Batman!)However, I felt the entire thing was irrelevant to me.I havent written a termpaper or academic essay in fifty years.

That seemed to be the only use for it.First Brush With AIIt took a Broadway play to make me take a second look.McNeal, starting Robert Downey Jr.in a limited run at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, weaves a clever web with AI as a key plot element.

Its practically a tutorial, since large screens purportedly show RD Jr., as author Jacob McNeal, using AI in real time to write a book and solve personal dilemmasdespite his complex and contradictory fascination with it.Without giving too much of the plot away (and it was great, albeit a bit gimmicky) author McNeal throughout the play mentions that almost all works of art are derivative in some way, depending on influences from previous authors and artists.He points out that Shakespeare may have acted in a play called King Leir, a tragedy about a ailing king with three daughters and that much of the dialog in Shakespeares version is close or identical to that in King Leir.The play is wonderfully clever and Downey is terrific in his stage debut as an arrogant, talented, utterly flawed human being, a real counterpart to the neutral and dispassionate AI presence, which acts as an extra character.The play actually merges the two in one scene featuring a scarily realistic Metahuman Digital Likeness of RDJ, Jr.But the aspect that pushed me to try AI for the first time was the many AI prompts McNeal uses to generate predictions, solve problems, and more, especially at the end.The final screen shows the promptPlease write a final speech for an audience confused by what is real and what isnt, inspired by Prosperos final speech to the audience in ShakespearesThe Tempest.

RDJ Jr rocked the house with it.It was a very good approximation of Shakespeares language and begged the question: who or what really wrote the play?Nick Buchholz, Director of PR for Lincoln Center, wrote me that playwright and author Ayad Akhtar has been experimenting with the LLMs(Large Language Models) since theyve gone public, and the play is a result of his experiences with the various chatbots.Ayad did not use GPT or any other LLM to write the plays text, including the final speech with the exception of the last speechs final couplet, which was generated by AI.Are you curious about AI? Senior Planet has you covered with a full slate of programs! The AI landing page with listings of upcoming classes, an infographic and a fun quiz, can be found here.The AI takeawaySo as soon as I got back home, I fired up ChatGPT and asked it to summarize the plot of 300 as a Shakespearean sonnetand two seconds later, there it was.

It was fabulous entertainment and I was impressedbut it reminded me of something Samuel Johnson said.Since then, Ive experimented with it creating a diet and exercise plan, and making a timeline for getting certain long-procrastinated tasks done.Its like a Roomba it saves me a bit of time with routine tasks.I tried to use it to write something, but nah.

There was no zip, no insight, no inspiration and no enjoyment or involvement by me.And that, really, is the point, isnt it?Still AI, seems to be a useful tool we all should learn more about.Here are some upcoming online classes to get you started:Tues, 11/5: AI All AroundTues, 11/12: AI & DisinformationTues, 11/19: Intro to AITues, 11/26: Everyday Uses of AIYOUR TURNWhat have you used AI for? Were you satisfied? Share your experiences in the comments!Virge Randall is Senior Planets Managing Editor.

She is also a freelance culture reporter who seeks out hidden gems and unsung (or undersung) treasures for Straus Newspapers; her blog Dont Get Me Started puts a quirky new spin on Old School New York City.Send Open Thread suggestions to [email protected].