Some thoughts on AI and editing

I've been watching the discussions in the ICF WhatsApp group in the last few days. You all know that I keep promoting learning all the time. And I know that when you ask serious questions, it is my responsibility to give you some helpful answers. But the questions now were deep—and very persistent this time!—and I felt it important that we all have some answers. I know that everything we ever write are only drafts, and that we have to revise them repeatedly to achieve even a semblance of logic and continuity for others to understand. So I've taken my time to gather my thoughts and give you some answers, keeping in mind the varied nature of your questions and the wider implications they have. I've presented below my thoughts on the subject. Please feel free to comment or get in touch.

Editorial immunity

For so many years, long before the advent of AI/ChatGPT, I used to tell this to prospective editors, often fresh postgraduates:

• The cure for boredom is curiosity; there is no cure for curiosity.
• As long as we have humans on this planet, they will be curious, they will find something, and they will write about it.
• And you will need an editor to edit (polish) what they have written.
• So (I reasoned to them), as long as there are humans on this planet, there will be people who will write something, and you will need editors to edit what has been written.
• There is no retirement for an editor. You can choose when you want to retire.

Understanding what is editing and where it stands in the scheme of things

And what is editing, actually? No doubt, it is formatting and polishing of content. But it also involves understanding of

• content and its relationship to formatting and presentation
• logic, sequence of presentation of ideas (and their absence)
• the work of a scholar (and scholars were not produced in batches every semester)
• paired elements within the content and their linking, where necessary
• fact-checking to some extent (at a basic level, even if it stops only with logical reasoning)
• style of writing, word usage and their appropriateness, subject-specific lingo
• all these aspects from a human perspective.

This is by no means an easy job. "Most people would rather die than think," said Bertrand Russell. And Judith Butcher defined the copyeditor as a "rare creature," because the job involves a lot more thinking than what most people are capable of putting in.

All these should give you an idea of what copyediting entails. It is meant only for certain types of people, those with above-average focus and concentration, those who are willing to examine and stretch the limits of human communication.

But all said and done, are editors highly paid people? No. There are a lot of other professions where people earn a lot more. But still some people choose editing as a career, because it gives them an inner satisfaction as well as the ability to live a decent life with what they earn.

Advent of AI/ChatGPT and what it means to humanity

Even as early as 1984, J. Krishnamurthy said in one of his talks that a computer may do EVERYTHING a human being can do. He even asked, "What will man do then?" People were not frightened at that time. But in 40 years, we've almost reached there. And today, editors are worried.

There are times when some people go into certain mental states that normal people find it difficult to understand. When someone does not respond, we say that it is like "talking to a wall." Humans talk with animals, but they do not normally talk with walls, machines, and equipment.

Dictation has been around for some time. Natural language processing and transcription evolved. We soon had people talking to Alexa and Siri.

But what ChatGPT has done is simply this: It has made talking to a wall or machine a reality.

What this means is that you talk or write to a computer program the way you communicate naturally with others (natural language processing), and it will understand you and respond to what you are saying in the same way (the way you normally communicate with anyone).

No doubt this is a phenomenal achievement, but I want you to first consider the implications of what this means.

• You can now talk not only to an animal or human being but also to a machine and still get a "sensible" response.
• We know that when we talk with human beings, some will give us sensible responses and some won't. Some may tell us the truth and some may not. All these are true with ChatGPT also.
• With humans, it may be possible to know when to trust whom and on what matters. But with ChatGPT, you may never know whether it is telling you what it knows or whether it is simply making up things on its own. (And worse still, scientists do not fully understand how these machines communicate among themselves and "learn" from their interactions. This part is really scary, as we're dealing with something that we have no control over!)
• This will also mean that we should have more checks on whatever ChatGPT gives us in the first place. (Understand its implications: On a large scale, no matter what we create with ChatGPT, it complicates things needlessly for everyone on the planet, simply because of the additional checking involved.)
  • Remember the day when the world came to a stop for some hours because of the "blue screen of death" that came up with one of Microsoft's routine updates?
  • Even if this was not connected with AI, the incident should give us an idea of how things can go wrong with anything that is applied on a mass scale.

The larger implications of interacting with a machine

An innovation as powerful as ChatGPT will naturally have much wider business implications.

•  We can talk with ChatGPT just as we talk with human beings. (Let’s not talk about the prompts for AI now. That simply means the technology is only as good as some of our less sensible humans!) But because it’s a machine, it has no fatigue, no emotion. So it can just go on and on without needing sick leaves, maternity leaves, vacations, or overtime compensations.
• It can also work must faster than any human being or many humans put together.
• So it is quite natural that companies and employers will want to take full advantage of what ChatGPT can do. They will hold on to what it can do faster and better than humans, and downplay the checking involved—and pay peanuts to human beings.
• Understand that this ability to talk with machines/software and get sensible responses will be put to use in every field of human activity.
• Do you even comprehend what that means? (No, you don't. And that's because right now you're thinking only about yourself.) To put it simply, this will have consequences for every human being on the planet.
  • I know you don't get it even now. Let's try another way of saying the same thing: This will have drastic consequences on a mass scale, affecting all human beings on the planet.
  • Let's put it in yet another way: With AI ruling the roost, most people will lose their jobs or have lesser incomes.
  • Can you now imagine the plight of humanity?
• Now do you understand that your cribbing and complaining have no value? You're talking as if ChatGPT can write and edit, and therefore editors' jobs are being taken away.
  • Do you even realize that this is simply a byproduct of the ability of being able to converse with a machine?
• Have you forgotten, editor, that you were actually doing one of the tougher jobs on the planet?
  • What makes you think you are now suffering more than others? (This comes because of a misplaced sense of self over others.)

So, first understand and accept the immediate implication of this technology. It can be more dangerous than any other invention ever made.

And you, as an individual human being, have absolutely no control over what it can do to human beings. It's time you started praying. "Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom," says the Bible.

Understanding technology from different perspectives

When the calculator was invented, people were worried (or so we hear). But we know that it only helped human beings to do things better. When electromagnetism was invented, people wondered what use it could have. And today, we know that electromagnetism plays a role in almost every aspect of our lives—and that it simply adds to our comfort. Computers were also looked at with suspicion. But we know that these machines have been helpful to human beings in the long-term. They have even helped human beings to work efficiently.

Radio and telephone did help human beings. But when television came, it came to be dubbed the "idiot box," despite all its help in human entertainment. And today, with people's addiction to YouTube, we know why the TV was called so (and we should probably coin a more powerful nickname for YouTube).

The mobile phone is a mixed bag. Given a choice, we'd probably keep it, more for the conveniences it provides, despite its nuisance value. But you can see some unmistakable trends with the cell phone: Human beings tend to get lost in their own worlds—people scrolling on their own phones or choosing to message instead of talking—with a device that is primarily meant to help communication!

We know that social media is also a mixed bag, but we definitely see its potential for causing greater harm than good. Those of you who have seen the documentary The Social Dilemma will understand what I mean. And when you understand that, you will have no doubt about social media's potential to cause harm. When the advent of social media, we've also seen a decline in reading habits.

Now think about AI and ChatGPT and what harm it can do to humanity, despite all its potential to help human beings. The main problem is that it will make people imagine that they do not have to think. (Many using ChatGPT are already convinced about this.) We already have a generation of people who do not have any reading habit (thanks to social media). Imagine having a generation of people who simply do not have the ability to think.

(I am not denying that AI can help humanity. I'm just trying to point out that its potential to do harm is greater than its potential to do good.)

Nature and its unending cycles

I'm sure you've noticed it, seen it, and even experienced it. But you've probably never considered it seriously enough to wonder what it means.

Everything that is born grows, blossoms, matures, ripens, decays, dies, and then becomes part of planet Earth, from which it originally came into being. This cycle is repeated endlessly in nature. Similar patterns apply to the cycles of the moon, the seasons, the planets, and the sun. There is no reason to conclude that such cyclic patterns do not apply to human innovation.

From the examples given above, you may be able to see that technology and innovation have grown immensely and have almost reached a point of no return (in their ability to harm humanity). All these are indications that we are close to completing a full cycle.

I am not trying to present a gloomy picture to you. All I am doing is let you see some natural cycles that are happening all the time in nature. I want you to understand that your life is also part of these cycles.

Anything that does not hold water will collapse on its own

For many decades, we've been made to believe that money is everything in life. This is not part of the Indian value system. It was thrust upon us by various Western influences over almost a century.

And companies, capitalists, investors, billionaires and the like control everything—from politics to policies to governance. And we individuals are mere pawns in a much larger game of power and exploitation.

These people and entities feel that they have to keep on talking about ethics, morality, love, compassion, and empathy but don't actually have to practice it.

Simple logic will tell you that the purpose of a company should be to do some good to society and earn some profit in the process (to keep continuing the cycle). Are companies run that way? The government enforcing corporate social responsibility on companies is itself proof that things on the ground are not what they should be.

You may have also read of the Deep State and its alarming influence on society. The Deep State projects the freedom of the individual as the ultimate goal, which may seem like a wonderful thing. But in the process, it deliberately destroys family and societal values, and makes everyone an isolated individual. Such isolated individuals, who are unsuspectingly nudged by social media to do everything detrimental to themselves, soon become pitiable, mentally sick patients, totally at the mercy of those manipulating them.

Any kind of exploitation, if continued for a long time, will result in rebellion, violence, arson, and the like. If you look at the divide within the United States, the confusion and violence in the Middle East, the instability and unrest in Europe, and the chaos in Russia, Ukraine, China, Taiwan, and Koreas, you will get an idea of what is going on in the world. All these are indications of the work of collective energies of weak, disappointed, frustrated, and helpless people in the world.

India is still a peaceful place despite the alleged manipulations by the Deep State. You can still hope to pick up your children from school and not have them shot for no reason by some disgruntled individual. If you understand what a great blessing this is, you will simply shut up and continue with your daily work. (I am not saying that you should not complain about AI or low pay. I want you to understand this in the spirit in which it is written.)

The world is going through a volatile phase, with the threat of nuclear war looming in the background. In India, we know only about the Chernobyl gas leak. We do not know what Hiroshima and Nagasaki went through. The world cannot afford anything like that again—and more so many countries now having nuclear weapons.

With all these in the background, imagine AI taking over the world—we're now seeing just the tip of the iceberg—and causing widespread resentment across the globe! Unless the so-called influential persons in the world understand the problem that is gaining momentum and take some steps to ensure the use of AI in a sensible way, the bubble will soon burst open. Chaos may reign.

I know that the overall situation is not good. The world will go through chaos in 2025. But ancient Indian thought does have a solution.

Taking stock—and letting reason know its limit

When you sit back and visualize the entire panorama of things, you will see that individual dissatisfaction is the root cause of all the problems in the world. No doubt, individual dissatisfaction may arise because of exploitation. But the former may arise because of various other reasons too. (For example, an incompetent editor may wish for something without wanting to improve oneself, and that itself can be the cause of dissatisfaction.)

What can you do as an individual?

• Accept things as they are and then try to move forward. (This is a prerequisite for some mental peace, from which other things can be attempted.)
• Do your best in work and other walks of life.
• Do not waste time on activities that are not worth your time.
• See how you can become better at what you are doing now (or do something extra, related to what you are doing)
  • With every job on the planet under threat from AI, it may NOT be a good idea to switch to a different field.
  • Rather, it may be better to strengthen your current ability—to upskill yourself in editing.
• Hold on to your current job or source of income, but keep learning something every day.
• Be frugal, be prepared for some tough times, but focus on learning—it is the only thing that can help you in the long run.
• Do not imagine that writers and editors are under greater threat simply because ChatGPT can write and correct grammar.
  • Remember that writing and editing are some of the peaks of human ability, simply because of the deep thinking that goes behind it.
  • Refuse to believe that AI can replace human thought, its creativity, and ingenuity. (Remember that any machine can only do what it is programed to do. The mind that created the machine is any day superior to the machine it created. Do not ever forget this idea, no matter how many AI experts try to brainwash you.)

To give you more food for thought on the above point, I will expand a little, based on my own understanding and work on copyediting.

• No matter how much publishers and companies may downplay it, copyediting is still a complex task. Have a look at the two pictures below (a work in progress, so you can ignore the repetitions and the tentative items):

• Note that every single item in the ribbon is a dropdown.
• Each of these dropdowns may have about 10 items within them
• Each of those items may serve as containers for 5 or 10 action items within them
• Overall, there may be hundreds of action items, reaching almost a thousand.
  • And these do not include the editorial style sheet or the Word Styles template that you may have to prepare for your work.
• These pictures are to let publishers, companies, and editors understand the enormity and complexity of the copyediting process.
• Although we can have a general workflow, each project may have its own workflow because of its own peculiarities.
• If we work in a sensible way, we can publish a wonderful product. But if we want to imagine that ChatGPT can attend to all these hundreds of tasks in a jiffy, well, I just wish them good luck.
• Even when a publisher says that they'll take care of all the formatting and that you have to do only language editing, one glance at the second picture will let you know that you may have to do more on the language front than what your employer may want you to believe.
• So you, as an editor, should be able to understand what I am saying. There have been suggestions that you should develop soft skills to explain your capability to a potential employer. But that confidence will come only when you know copyediting very well.
• So, again I would suggest that you focus on learning.

ChatGPT may bring in changes to copyedit workflows, but I'm concerned that those making these decisions may not know much about the subject, and this in turn can complicate things for editors. I'm just praying to God that He help me complete my work before they start tampering with basic workflows.

As an individual, you can also reflect on life from various perspectives.

• Think of the December 2004 tsunami, the earthquake in Syria last year, and the currently raging fires in California. All these will make you understand that life is an extremely fragile thing. Our lives can be snuffed out in a second, no matter how much money we have or what power we may command.
• Think of the street puppy. Does it have any insurance or even a guarantee for its next meal? (And have you noted how happy he is to simply see you—even when you don't have anything to give him?)
• Think of the tiny ducklings that simply trust their parents and fall thousands of meters down a cliff, without even knowing whether they will survive the fall. (Hope you've seen that old stupendous video where all of them tumble so many times and still survive the unthinkable.)
• What makes man alone imagine that he needs special protection?
  • Worry is the price that humans pay for their superior intelligence.

Have faith that there is a supreme intelligence behind this seemingly chaotic world

No matter what you do as an individual, you will still feel limited, insecure, isolated, and helpless. (That's way, even the Deep State—or any evil for that matter—serves to only help in God's overall plan!)

This is natural—and you must go through this phase to understand and experience the superior power—the divinity—within you.

When you become helpless, and you know that nothing and no one in the world can help you, then—and only then—you will surrender. At that point, you will understand that real humility and total surrender are born together.

God will not reveal Himself until you know your helplessness, until you surrender to Him fully.

The Bible did not stop after saying that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."

And once you have that understanding, "you will be guided from within; you will not be allowed to make mistakes." (I'm quoting my own guru here.) You will do what is right for you and right for everyone.

These are not empty words. I write them from personal experience.

I had a guru for 16 years of my life, after I turned 40, after praying to God for all those years—after a 14-year exile in corporate life, when I was face to face with the Mahabharata, the greatest battle of my life, the temptation to follow the path of the known pleasant versus the inner urge to seek the (still) unknown path of the good.

My guru did not answer my questions, but he squarely countered them with other questions. He tested and teased my intelligence. Over the years, he carefully entangled me in a web that I could never get out of—and then quietly disappeared.

That is one of the many ways by which a guru lovingly helps the disciple to comprehend God. How else can he stop my silly intellect and its nonstop, inconsequential, egoistic questioning? God is beyond thought, beyond the world's silly belief in money and its power.

I have experienced unimaginable terror, with no income—and two house EMIs to pay, credit card dues, a family to feed, and a daughter to educate. But I have been protected in the most miraculous ways that can never be explained logically. I have seen that terror changing to fear, then to anxiety, and then to a constant inner awareness that I am (and will be) protected, no matter what the circumstances. I have still not come out of my problems. (I sometimes wonder whether I will ever come out of them. But what does it matter how many problems I have—when I know that I am protected by that unseen power?) I cannot still say that I am without conflicts, without doubts. But then, how many times should God prove Himself to me? Month after month? One year? Every month, for two years, five years? Faith and trust will come on their own, when you seek the divine in your heart and you see impossible things happening naturally, right in front of your eyes, without you putting any effort in that direction. You will slowly understand that you are simply not the doer.

Remember this, my friend: This world is created, sustained, and dissolved by a power that is far beyond the comprehension of the common man.

But have faith. "Be good. Do good." And continue living with that faith. You will be protected.