Will AI make my job obsolete? Not in Dalí's world

I wondered if ChatGPT could write a column for me that might make me change my mind about the future of artificial intelligence.

From our visit today at the Dalí museum in Figueres, Spain.

Hello, readers!

I’m writing this Friday from a beautiful apartment in Figueres, Spain, where Frank is making pinchos — paprika-spiced pork skewers that are a favorite at home, too — and the boys are out for one of their nightly strolls.

I was having a cafe con leche this morning at a little breakfast spot close by, where I got to practice one of my favorite language-learning tools: reading the newspaper.

Y’all know I can’t go long without holding a physical newspaper in my hands, and it was so nice to flip through something so familiar to catch up on what Spaniards are talking about.

There’s a big election coming up; they just found a cistern under Park Güell in Barcelona; Harrison Ford is at Cannes and la mujer del Rey — the former queen, Sofia — was just in Houston with Gloria Estefan promoting the cultural connection between the U.S. and Spain.

I learned some new words, including gentriansiedad, a newly coined word that means “anxiety about aging.” I also read a story about IA — the Spanish version of AI — and how doctors are using it to help with cardiovascular medicine.

It reminded me that before I left on this trip, I was playing around with ChatGPT for a SXSW panel I’m developing about facing our anxieties about artificial intelligence and work.

Salvador Dali created this pixelated portrait of Abraham Lincoln (that is also a portrait of his wife, Gala) in 1977.

I hear so many people wringing their hands about AI — artists and teachers, mostly — but I am firmly in the “pro” camp. My kids and I talk about ways they can use it as a resource for their own work, and I was just emailing with an editor the other day who used ChatGPT to help her find sources of photos for a story we’re working on together.

The potential is just so great to liberate people from jobs where their own creativity isn’t being utilized. My theory is that if all those desk jobs go away, people will find other ways to use their time, their bodies, their intellect, their compassion in meaningful ways.

And having just seen the Dalí Theatre-Museum today, I just don’t think AI can match what the human mind can create.

When viewed from above, this room was designed to look like the face of Mae West.

So, for kicks, a few weeks ago I asked ChatGPT to write “a column in the style of Addie Broyles that references grief, quilting, Emergent Strategy, and healing from trauma.”

I had a nice little chuckle when I read what it generated. I hope you do, too.

Back with more from Spain, muy pronto.