Artificial Intelligence: My Opinion

 

Love me or hate me, but this is my opinion. As a published author and a professional editor, I will tell you my honest opinion about AI.

I hate it.

HATE IT.

I don’t like cashing myself out at Walmart, Hannaford, Kohls, or anywhere else. I don’t like machines doing the work of a human to “make things easier.” I do not want computers to take over the world. I don’t even like Alexa. I think it’s a terrible joke, to be honest.

I digress.

So many people are “ga-ga” over AI. Ummmm…ok. You want AI to take over YOUR job? Because I don’t! Let’s talk editing. I believe a human being should edit your work (whether it be books, school papers, or business documents). Computers cannot catch everything and definitely won’t do it properly. Do you think QuillBot or Grammarly can catch missing quotations or mistakes in a plot? Do you think they follow the Chicago Manual of Style? Nope. No way.

Do you think a human being editor is 100% perfect? No. Do we make errors or miss errors? Yep. But we’re expected to. Using computer software for things like that SHOULD be error-free. Am I wrong?

Moving on to writing. I’m a published author and a blogger. I can safely say that not only do I not use AI or any other software to edit, I also do not use it to write. I use my brain. My talent. My gift, if you will. A recent client of mine assured me her book would be so much better written because she used AI this time. Guess what? It wasn’t. In fact, it was worse!! It took me longer to edit because of all the mistakes. Hire a ghostwriter if you can’t write. Sheesh.

I, for one, don’t want AI or anything like it to take over my clients and potential clients. I make a living with my published books and my editing and publishing business. And I take pride in all of that. So please think twice before you spend money on something that isn’t intelligent enough to do the job you need it to and instead support people with real skill, education, experience, and know-how.

Don’t even get me started on AI for illustrations. I wouldn’t want AI taking MY own children’s book illustrations or photos for someone else’s work. Would you?

Tell me your thoughts on AI in the comments.

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Another Day at Walmart

I was in the parking lot at Walmart and stopped walking to adjust my sneaker. I did it right behind a car (there were no brake lights on, and the car didn’t seem to be running), and they started to back up!! I BARELY escaped being bumped by the car by jumping out of the way (thank God for excellent peripheral vision), but how mortifying. The driver didn’t get out to check on me, which was fine. Not like they bumped me or anything. I simply waved, and the driver had a funny look on his face. I kept walking. So embarrassing.

It gets better.

Inside the store, I was trying to get out of someone’s way in the card aisle and proceeded to get my foot stuck under the wheel of my cart. So, of course, as I was about to fall on my face, I reached out and grabbed the first thing I could, which happened to be someone else’s cart as they were walking away! Ugh. I didn’t fall on my face but nearly to my knees. I managed to catch myself and do a little jump-jig then laughed OUT LOUD, saying, “Whew, walk much?” A few heads turned, but no one seemed amused. Geesh. Tough crowd.

Anyhoo, it was an interesting day at Walmart, to say the least.

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The DUMBEST "Scary" Movie

 **This is my personal opinion....

SPOILER ALERT!!!!

For years, I have wanted to see the movie, “The Boy” but had no one to watch with me. (My husband isn’t into “scary” movies). Finally, this year on Halloween, I had someone to watch with me. My dad, who was visiting from AZ. Halloween would be a perfect night to watch it, don’t you think?

We settled in, turned off the lights, and pressed the PLAY button.

Oh.

My.

Goodness.

It was almost as bad as “TheVillage” (I actually laughed through most of that one).

The movie STUNK. It WOULD have been good if the doll was actually possessed by the boy. But that wasn’t the case. Here are my thoughts on this “scary” movie (also, don’t waste your time!).

1.  When the young woman showed up at the house, and the couple held out a doll, telling her she’d be taking care of it, she laughed. I would have too! Then I’d turn around and leave. She didn’t. How stupid. Your life is THAT bad that you need to stay and be a nanny to a DOLL??

2.  She ends up staying, and the parents leave. Fine. But they left a list of RULES and, of course, she doesn’t follow them. You’re getting paid to take care of a DOLL, for crying out loud. Follow the darn rules!!

3.  The parents killed themselves (they left a letter for the nanny, giving her the house and “the boy”) because they thought their dead son was possessing a doll. Guess what? HE WASN’T DEAD!! THAT is the dumbest part. Turns out, the kid killed a little girl when he was like 8 (?) then burned the house down or something like that. Don’t remember. It was too dumb. The kid hides out in the walls (or passageways?) of the house his entire life.

So yeah. Would have been better if the doll really was possessed. The movie, in my opinion, could have been much better.

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Missing Hitch

 

My husband and I had to say goodbye last week to our spoiled and protective dog, Hitch. We had three dogs and had to say goodbye to Luke in March. Then Hitch had a cancerous tumor removed, but it came back… with a vengeance.

Hitch was twelve years old. We adopted him when he was four. His story is actually quite amazing. When Hitch was young, before we got him, he lived in Georgia. Someone found him on the side of the highway one day. He had been hit by a vehicle and left for dead. The wonderful animal hospital in GA performed surgery on his leg and he still has the scar today. He spent a month in that hospital. They named him “Hitch” because he was found on the highway… like a hitchhiker.

He was then adopted by a man who adored him, and they later moved to NJ then to NY. Unfortunately, circumstances caused the man to give Hitch up. He just couldn’t take care of him. So, my local animal rescue group, Pause 4 All Paws, contacted me and I said we’d foster him. Of course, we fell in love with him and ended up adopting him. The funny and great thing is that a friend of mine who was a huge part of the P4AP group was Hitch’s grandma! It was her son who couldn’t take care of him anymore. So, she was able to visit him since she lives in the same town as we do.

Hitch became very spoiled with us and super (over)protective of me and the household. He loved to bark at our mailmen (and any trucks that drove by). He was very empathetic. He knew when someone – or one of his brothers – was in pain. He was snuggly and loveable. He was one of my best friends.

Hitch is also one of the stars of my children’s chapter book series, The Border Buddies. 

I told him to greet his brother, Luke, when he crossed the rainbow bridge. I also told him that the first thing I’m going to do when I get to Heaven is call for him and his brothers.

I miss him like crazy, and my heart hurts. But he had a WONDERFUL life with us, and I know he’s no longer in pain.