Kestrel’s Plausible Facts

What we call “AI” today are large statistical models trained on language, images, videos, and other inputs. When I refer to “AI” I am referring to these statistical models.

Short Answer

AI For Writing

I do not use AI to generate text, images, videos or any other consumable content.

I do use a grammar editor that has large language model capabilities. I avoid the generative AI features. The times I have dabbled with them I find they weaken my writing and make the overall tone generic and uninteresting.

However, as someone with dyslexia I rely heavily on spelling and grammar corrections. I also find the hints about repeated word use helpful for improving my writing.

My current grammar checker is Grammarly and when my annual subscription runs out I am going to switch to Language Tool. While Language Tool is slightly less polished they have a better privacy policy and are far less pushy on generative AI.

On em Dashes

I occasionally use em dashes in my writing; an alleged hallmark of AI-generated text. These are my own em dashes of my own choosing.

AI For Research

I use DuckDuckGo as my primary search engine. Occasionally I use their generative results to verify my assumptions and cross check it with a few sources. I currently have “Search Assistant” set to “Sometimes” as I find this helps me find and verify good sources most of the time.

AI Ethics

I am deeply unsettled with the current AI craze and the detrimental impacts it has on the environment and social inequality.

Much better authors than myself have written about the damage that is being done, however I find some language models useful in the form of grammar editing and templating code. I have conflicted feelings about my decisions to use AI for code and I am hoping that we’ll find a future where simple, single-use tools can help us write code rather than the blathering Foundation Models we have today.