AI is Droning On

Godspeed: good fortune; success (used as a wish to a person starting on a journey, a new venture, etc.).

The other day, AI was whispering sweet nothings in my ear.

I was listening to a story about AI-enabled drone warfare in Ukraine. It was read by an “automated voice,” aka AI.

So not really a whisper, but hey – I do feel as if the AI titans – "titan" standing in as the godlike form for CEO in the general business world – have been whispering in our ears.

Now, I generally listen to most audio stories all the way through, and when I don’t complete them it’s usually without thinking much about it other than the story didn’t hold me. Or perhaps my phone burped or chirped that somebody somewhere on some platform was vying for my attention and I ditched the story never to return.

The subject of AI-enabled drones is fascinating to me – I mean, autonomous death drones? – and the writing quality was excellent, so for some reason (who can explain their brain?) a different thought pierced my dome:  Did I subconsciously pull my chute on the story because of the AI voice?

The voice wasn’t bad – it also was obviously not human or, to be generous, not a “professional voice.” 

Close, but…you likely know what I mean.

So, I started wondering:  Do we have an innate filter of which we’re unaware that recognizes the AI voice as synthetic and, just as our physical bodies recognize an invading foreign body (say, a wood sliver in an index finger), rejects the computer-generated, cost-saving voice?

Sure, it could have been that the story wasn’t interesting to me – or was just too long for my attention span.

Or is it that my brain – and yours – is using thousands of evolutionary years to actively filter out the digital algorithms?

Aha!  Fun to think about, which in most cases is spark to my prankster curiosity which, in this case, led me down the AI hole for any extant research on the subject.

I asked Claude, Anthropic’s generative AI chatbot, the following question: How do AI-read news stories compare to human-read news stories for engagement?

Granted, in hindsight, I could have written a better prompt.

Even with a poor prompt, turns out, there could be something there.  Claude returned research indicating that “Human newscasters were more engaging than AI newscasts, with human voices better activating listeners' working memory and prefrontal cortex engagement.

These researchers suggested that less natural, paralinguistic cues like intonation and rhythm in synthetic voices may reduce how much attention listeners can devote to the content.

Okay, we're on the trail...

Prankster here then issued a follow-on prompt:  I'm wondering specifically about a comparison between the two for how much of a story is listened to. Can you provide a comparison like that for completion rates?

Claude responded:  “Unfortunately, I couldn't find specific research that directly compares completion rates (how much of a story listeners actually finish) between AI-narrated and human-narrated news stories specifically.”

Admittedly, not a deep-dive inquisition on my behalf, though on the surface it appears there could be something here – though story completion rates may not have been researched.

So, I’m left pondering if we will adjust and absorb AI quickly and easily, as a natural embrace of the “singularity,” especially as AI morphs to better mimic us.

While we humans are visual by nature, and the time-tested axiom "Seeing is Believing" derives from that, I'm wondering if it will be our lesser senses, such as hearing, that will shield us by recognizing and rejecting the unreal? Throw in the olfactories and we could say when "Something just doesn't smell right."

Am I crazy?  Or might there be something here? I’m hoping there IS something here, and that our immune defenses are actively adapting to alert us to the presence of AI.

Or will the algorithms develop the synthetic senses to fully fake us out?

What do you think?

Can You Weaponize Wit?

According to critic at large A.O. Scott of the New York Times, you most certainly can – and he demonstrates by deftly annotating a federal judge's decision to free five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father. A highly recommended read if you enjoy words as weapons – especially when wielded against the universe's darker forces.

Alaskans Are Hungry For Performance Art

Graham Granger believes that “AI chews up and spits out art made by other people,” so he took this inequity into his own mouth by eating an AI art exhibit at his university in Alaska.  The performance art was arresting, and police followed suit by arresting Granger for his performance.

It's All (Not) Peachy Keen Here In The States

All things Minnesota and Ice aside, we continue to fall in the world’s Social Progress Index. Check it out – you can view social progress by your state, your city, and neighborhoods.

Meanwhile, Nicholas Kristof concurs with that droppity drop-drop in his New York Times Opinion piece, the aptly titled, “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Unhappiness.”

Yet Another Homage To Proofreaders Everywhere

That's it, folks. Thanks for tuning in again this week – with special thanks to the few, the proud, the financial supporters of Godspeed.

Godspeed, friends.

Russ