What Excessive Dog Fur and AI Have in Common

Mornings.

Fresh cup of coffee. New Wordle puzzle. More coffee. Life is just full of possibilities.

And dog hair. Lots of dog hair.

It doesn't actually matter how much I vacuum, sweep, dust bust, or brush the dogs. Huskies shed fur like... well I actually can't compare it to anything, because there is nothing to compare it to. Just when you think you've sucked up the last ball of snow white fur, three more appear. It's like entering the Twilight Zone or an Alfred Hitchcock movie on a daily basis. But instead of birds, there's dog hair. And instead of dog hair, there's more dog hair.

My robotic vacuum has given up. 

I still have it snuggled into its home base, all safe and sound. I'm optimistic the next time I hit that magic start button, instead of hearing "internal error" in a creepy robot voice, the darn thing will just start sucking up dog hair and fulfilling its purpose in life: making my life easier. 

I'm pretty sure my fantasy is just that, and this is like the time I fed my (second) beta fish for three days before realizing the fish was actually pretty dead. Much like my robot vacuum. 

Speaking of robots, there’s been a lot of chatter these days about the dangers of AI. In fact, many are scared. Are you scared? I'm not. If the rest of the AI world is like my robot vacuum, then AI will be just like its creators. Stupid, lazy, and unable to fix themselves.

But AI writing software is getting pretty good. And likely to get better. 

As a marketer, I have dabbled with ChatGPT. As a program, it's similar to other platforms — what you get out of it is only as good as what you put in. For instance, if you are asked to take thorough notes during a meeting, but all you write down is "the meeting started at 8 a.m. and ended at 8:30 a.m.," someone who missed the meeting wouldn't find your notes helpful at all. What happened between 8 and 8:30? What was talked about?

With ChatGPT, the same rules apply. If you fail to enter specifics, you will fail to get the results you were looking for.

Let's take a look at this example:

Clearly the second prompt produced writing that sounds pretty darn human, whereas the first sounds like a bad college essay. But I caution against copying and pasting this blindly into your work and claiming it as your own. Use it as a starting point, use it to generate ideas, and sure, maybe borrow a phrase or too, but be very careful to check if someone else can lay claim to the very words you are hoping to pass off as your own.

And when I say it that way, it sounds kind of icky, right? Right. So don't use this as a crutch, and don't pass off a robot's work for your own.

I give my robot vacuum (or at least I used to) full credit for my mostly clean house. I know what you're thinking: "ooh, here's where she's going to tie it all together, and explain what dog fur and AI have in common."

Nah.

AI couldn't come up with a crazy headline like that. That's all me.

How to Start a Book Club [Or Don't Bother and Just Join Mine]

Well, folks. It's been a hot minute.

Ok, "folks" might be a stretch. I'm pretty sure my only follower is my mom, and that's because I logged onto her phone to subscribe her. 

So, we survived a global pandemic, a shortage of toilet paper, a housing boom, rising interest rates, inflation, 500,000 egg memes, AI threatening our very existence, and learning an entirely new language courtesy of Gen Z (I'm in my rizz era).

Once the dust settled, you, like me, might have asked yourself what's next? 

Step One: Read Books and Drink Wine

Well, I don't know about your liver, but I drank a lot of wine during the pandemic. And I read a lot of books. Which got me thinking — what if I read books and drank wine with other people?

Genius, I know.

I'd wanted to be part of a book club for years. But work-at-home life was turning me into a bit of a recluse. I had friends at work, sure, but they lived seven states away. I wanted to find several in-person book nerds who also liked wine (or sparkling water! we're inclusive!).

It was a summer day, poolside, when I told my neighbor Dina about a great book I was reading by an author I really liked. She said, "I want to read more, but I need an excuse to read more."

So. I started a book club.

Sure, I still have several half-written novels chillin' on my laptop. But since those don't seem to be getting published any time soon, I figured the next best thing was to sit around with a group of like-minded gal pals, slurp down a glass of wine (or sparking water! you don't have to be an alcoholic to join!), and critique someone else's writing. It's cathartic.

Step Two: Ask Others to Join

After I forced, I mean suggested, that Dina join, we floated the idea by our neighbor Rhianna who was all for it. We started off with our first book and our small little group quickly grew. As soon as I would tell someone about my latest book club meeting I would be met with, "Book club? How do I join?" I mean who doesn't want to read a good book, stuff your face with finger foods for dinner, and hang out with a bunch of awesome women who have varied and insightful opinions?

Step Three: Read, Get Together, and Repeat

Today we have nearly 10 local members plus our social pages and our newly launched website. Wine Drinking Team Book Club started off like most things start off. Small and simple. But once people get to know me, (ok, US) they all want a seat at the table. (Bruh. It's the rizz.)