Happy Friday!
I hope your week has been fulfilling and restful. The new AI statement by Etsy has been floating around, and I have been thinking about the need to make a statement myself, which really does feel counterintuitive. I mean, I sew; where does AI fit into that activity? To be honest, I really, personally don’t know. I do not use AI. When I work on a new pattern, I use the books I have on hand and graph paper. I might use a Youtube video or two for specific techniques, but my work entails the use of my hands mostly…not technology. Of course I use my domestic machine and my longarm. I also use my laptop for email and maintaning this website, but AI does not compose emails for me and I write all of my blogs myself. I find the weird AI tools unsettling in email, so I have turned them off.
I have an English degree and years of practice writing, and I enjoy it. AI is not for me, and I do not have a desire to use it. I also see the harm AI is causing people, artists, books, and the environment…I’m pretty sure the list goes on. I hear the arguments that AI can be used as a tool and a good one, but I worry that it is already being bent to ill intent, and I worry about AI diminishing people’s ability to think they can do things themselves, like write the hard email or essay. I’ve also read a lot of science fiction, and it rarely ends well for either side…the AI or the people.
Design wall with crazy quilt blocks; no pattern, just me playing.
AI is another thing in the world that feels cloudy and dank…I do not know what the future will be, but the fabric and materials in my hands everyday are firm and solid and real. The tactility I spoke about in last week’s blog sustains me, along with my books with pages. I may be old fashioned, but I am real and substantial, and I make real substantial things. I hope you get time to pay attention to the real, substantial things in your life this weekend.
Have a brilliant week,
Ginger
Currently Reading: A critical text about the Romantics. The Trembling Hand: Reflections of a Black Woman in the Romantic Archive by Mathelinda Nabugodi is fascinating, heartbreaking, and necessary. I am learning so much. I often say I like the way my brain works when I read certain authors, and this book is one of those. I have so many questions. I am also almost halfway through East of Eden. I love Samuel Hamilton. I might pick up an Agatha Christie…I need a mystery read, I think.
Voting early is open in NC. You can go to early voting sites in your county now until October 31, I think. Election day is Tuesday, November 3. Please vote; NPR is an excellent resource for unbiased information.
