Essay by Invisible Kingdom Author Meghan O’Rouke
“But in other aspects of life, A.I. surprised me. I asked it to write memos, draft job postings, create editorial checklists — even offer its opinion on the order of poems in an anthology I was assembling. Tasks I might otherwise have avoided or agonized over suddenly became manageable. It did not just format documents; it asked helpful follow-up questions. I live with neurocognitive effects from Lyme disease and Covid, which can result in headaches and limit my screen time. ChatGPT helped me conserve energy for higher-order thinking and writing. It didn’t diminish my sense of agency; it restored it. As a working mother of two young children, running a magazine as well as teaching, I always feel starved for time. With ChatGPT, I felt like I had an intern with the cheerful affect of a golden retriever and the speed of the Flash.”
“But in other aspects of life, A.I. surprised me. I asked it to write memos, draft job postings, create editorial checklists — even offer its opinion on the order of poems in an anthology I was assembling. Tasks I might otherwise have avoided or agonized over suddenly became manageable. It did not just format documents; it asked helpful follow-up questions. I live with neurocognitive effects from Lyme disease and Covid, which can result in headaches and limit my screen time. ChatGPT helped me conserve energy for higher-order thinking and writing. It didn’t diminish my sense of agency; it restored it. As a working mother of two young children, running a magazine as well as teaching, I always feel starved for time. With ChatGPT, I felt like I had an intern with the cheerful affect of a golden retriever and the speed of the Flash.”