Franklin Taggart's Unconventional Life Blog

Since the public launch of ChatGPT 3 in late 2022, the rapid introduction of artificial intelligence into the mainstream of every aspect of human living has been a central topic of conversation and concern. AI tools have spread across the creative industries like wildfire and have been inserted into every level of task from ideation to packaging. Where we had hoped the robots would take over the mundane tasks of life, instead, we've seen the technology pointed at the big red target on the face of all our creative activities.  While the tech gods have tried to assure us that human labor won't be replaced overnight, we've still seen early signs that the trend will be toward computers and machines doing the work humans once did. This isn't an abnormal pattern. From the earliest development of tools, the whole point has been for human labor to become easier and ultimately redundant. But can we be prepared for how the race will be affected as tech takes over increasingly hig...

A Frequently Asked Question for 2023 from people I talk to is - Is it too late to start a creative freelance career? With all the talk about AI, ChatGPT, Midjourney, and whatever the AI flavor of the day is, these friends are rightfully wondering if they've waited too long to get into the game. I don't think it's too late at all. In fact, people getting started now may have an advantage over people who've been at it a while. Enter Sheena McInnes. Sheena is a copywriter who just got into the business in the latter part of 2022. Her first career path was literally in the wilderness as a conservationist and scientist. Ten years into the unpredictable weather patterns, large mosquitos, and non-human trail company (read large wild animals), Sheena found a coach and started looking for the next phase of her work life. She discovered freelance copywriting. Departing from the usual format of teasing valuable goodness from seasoned veteran creators and entrepreneurs, in this epi...

  I've wanted to write and publish a book since I was a kid. I'm old now, so that's a long time to have a dream. I've started books many times in my life, but the determination and persistence to finish them have eluded me. I've had a lot of questions and concerns about AI. I know - I'm not alone. I've heard so many rumors, speculations, panic, and misinformation about all of it these past few months. Will it take jobs? Yes, it will. When? I don't know for sure. Some sooner, some later. Will our social structures and economy be able to weather the changes? Most likely not, at least from what we know now. But we'll know more later. That's how life works. Anyhow. I collected all my questions, thinking I'd write yet another book. Then I got discouraged at the amount of research I'd need to do to adequately answer the questions and decided to shelve the idea until three Sundays ago. I had the thought that I should put my questions into ChatGP...

I was asked today about my greatest concerns for the future. Climate change is obvious and urgent, but there's another future concern I have that is equally urgent. Artificial Intelligence. In recent weeks, we've all seen some of the new capabilities of artificial intelligence to both create interesting images (Lensa), and to respond accurately in conversations with humans to answer increasingly complex questions ( ChatGPT ). More applications like these come to market every day, and the greatest concern I have about this is the long-term impact tools like this will have on economies as more and more human labor is replaced by machines. This isn't a new concern, but the urgency surrounding this technological revolution is one that will affect more sectors of labor than any other, including creative industries, medicine, law, and business. Human labor is one of the fundamental ways we participate in the economy. If this ability to participate is removed from even as much as ...

In recent months, I've had several conversations about artificial intelligence and the future of human labor. Most of these have had a central concern about being replaced by a computer or a machine. I'm not going to pretend like that won't or can't happen. It's the most likely scenario; humans have been evolving technology to replace our labor since the first tools were invented. Every technological advance has had an impact on human labor, and we've had to adapt, learn, and find new ways to deliver value to each other as we've been equipped with better and more pervasive technology. Why should this new technological age be any different? It is happening much more quickly than past advances, and the interconnectedness of the tech is more complex than any we've had before, but the stages we'll go through will be similar to ones we've had in the past. An initial stage of resistance and grief at the losses that happen. The next stage is taking stoc...