I curated this year’s panel about AI for The California Writers Club. The Berkeley Branch has taken a neutral position on AI, understanding that using it is a choice all writers must make for themselves. Here’s an excerpt from the blog post that features me and the way I use it. Do you? Why or why not, and if so, how?
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In her article, “I Am Notable and Superlative…and this does nothing for my self-esteem,” (on Medium and Substack), our interim VP Kristen Caven explores the false ego boost of having an AI (Chatty Jeep) make shit up about you. She writes this about her use of an AI in some of her work (not her writing) as Writer in Residence at Joaquin Miller Park:
“Aside from the predation on our data and ties with fascist politics, my biggest problem with AI is its irresponsible drain on natural resources. I looked for and found only two that take responsibility for this problem. Use Ecosia for browsing (a search takes a tenth of the energy than an AI response) and Viro AI if you need to use AI. With Viro, you can choose which engine to use (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) and create personae.
Since I need writing assistance for my work as Writer in Residence—drafting grants, preparing budgets—and although I would prefer to have a volunteer help me, all the writers I know are volunteering for themselves, I am glad I found Viro. I call my persona “my incorporeal amanuensis, Oscar of the Wild.” (The real Wilde and Miller were quite sweet to each other.) In Victorian fashion, Oscar answers me in Initial Caps when he’s saying Something Important and adds witty flourishes to keep things Olde School. I could have drawn a cartoon avatar, but it made more sense artistically to collaborate on a headshot with the AI. (And I know it used a lot of water so I didn’t flush on the day we collaborated on this portrait.) I use the bot sparingly and judiciously, ever mindful of my resources. I also plant a tree for every 10 books I sell - buy one here!”
— Kristen Caven
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