There is a famous saying in the movie “Dead Poet’s Society” when Robin Williams words has been planted deep into my Being since 1989 when it was first aired.
He was a teacher of an elite school who focused a lot on driving students to produce top results that are defined as great success by the society. He wanted to give his students a space to appreciate life to it’s fullest instead of just conforming to the societal norms.
In one of the most memorable scenes, he brought his students close to him and whispered to them:
“Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits, and necessary to sustain life.
But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”
What we stay alive for… how powerful this sentence has been to me. It forces me to constantly reflect over many decades in my life what I stay alive for. It makes me appreciate the importance of slowing down and be totally presence to admire arts, poetry, beauty, romance and most frequently love.
AI certainly has become a noble pursuit that dominated our lives in the last 2 years. It is to me one of the highest peaks over my last 52 years of living. It defines the best of human ingenuity.
Just 2 years ago, I would have to write my blog using my own words and it will take hours to write and rephase. Now, with AI, I keyed in my thoughts and the blog just came out well formatted, expressed in the way I wanted, creatively interlaced it with crazy ideas that I had in mind and unbelievably in perfect English, which is something that rarely happened to me when I write on my own.
Yet, something within me is tingling. It just doesn’t feel authentic. It feels perfect. Too perfect to really represent who I am.
Human is never perfect in words or actions. We made silly mistakes all the time. We get fooled often. Yet, we have progressed to become one of the most intelligent living beings on Earth.
For good or for bad, we dominated Earth. This is not because we are perfect. It is despite the fact that we are imperfect and we know it and that is what drives us to want to improve, making us who we are today.
I have no doubt that AI will continue to dominate our living and will eventually affect our livelihood. But I just feel that it is important for me to never forget the words of Robin Williams… what we stay alive for.
That is why this blog is handwritten. Zero AI. Right from the Heart. Unfiltered. Authentic.
If we all write this way which we have for centuries, maybe we can still keep a small slice of what we stay alive for as the tsunami of AI washed over every aspect of our life.
What we stay alive for … a sentence that has forever be emgraved in my soul to make this my only life worthwhile pursuit.
I hope the same for you.