The Witch Hunt
Judging from the prevalence of topics I see on Bear's Discovery tab, a lot of people is not a fan of GenAI writing. I can understand that, me too. However, sometimes the sheer vehemence contained in these posts and the certainty of their judgments bring me dread. Once upon a time (only a couple years ago), generated text was easy to spot. These days, I will be hesitant to say so. I certainly have been fooled before, and I spend so much time analyzing GenAI text.
The thing about "telltale signs"? They're bogus. The models are evolving as we speak, and many people seem to forget they were trained on human outputs. Many "telltale signs" propagated from one place to another, whispered in the reverence of an incantation, were once hallmarks of highly rated human voices. They might also be styles adopted in regional variations of a language, which might not always match the most common usage. Phrases uttered in the breath of our fellows, dictions familiar to real fleshy tongues.
Some of us naturally write in GenAI-favored styles. Many are well-read, and grew up influenced by the same text the machine devoured. I couldn't help but wonder if someone has accused me of using GenAI to write, if my voice is ever in doubt. Or maybe I've done such mediocre job that I could never be mistaken for a machine.
In turn, fearful people have already retracted, trying to distance themselves away from such styles. We butcher our own languages as if it would stop them. I'd rather fight and not let them have my em dashes, though I wouldn't be surprised that we have grown weary.
It's impossible to judge a person's stance on GenAI from their frequency of using it either. The tendrils have creeped into many (if not most) workplaces, the sweet siren song of efficiency luring corporate managements worldwide. You and I might hate the notion all the same, and yet you use it still, because the boss said so.
I was adamant to do my code reviews manually, and I got laughed at for my trouble.
I'm practically no one. I could make stupid things as I wish. However, with my day job, I have no amount of fear that one day the witch hunt would reach me. I don't care what people think of my nonsense, I do somewhat care if they don't think it's my nonsense. Perhaps, the only thing I can do is just make more nonsense.
I have nothing to conclude this post. If you read this far, be human, be respectful to your fellow human, and keep being human in all your perfect and imperfect ways.