Look, I’ve Been Here Before
It was 1998, I was fresh out of college, and some guy named Marcus (not his real name) told me over beers that the internet was gonna make print journalism obsolete. I laughed in his face. (I mean, who wouldn’t?) Fast forward to 2005, and I’m at a conference in Austin watching some tech bro in a suit explain how blogs were gonna kill magazines. I rolled my eyes so hard I think I sprained something.
And now here we are, 2023, and everyone’s losing their minds over AI. Honestly, I get it. It’s scary. It’s new. It’s kinda cool, I guess. But let me tell you something: AI isn’t gonna steal your job. Well, probably not. Maybe. I don’t know, let’s talk about it.
First, Let’s Get One Thing Straight
AI is not sentient. It’s not thinking. It’s not ‘learning’ in the way we do. It’s a tool. A really fancy, really complex tool. But still just a tool. You know what else is a tool? A hammer. And you don’t see hammers stealing jobs from carpenters. (Well, not yet, anyway.)
I was talking to a colleague named Dave last Tuesday, and he said, ‘But what about all the stuff AI can do now? Writing, art, even coding!’ I said, ‘Dave, have you seen the stuff it writes? It’s… not great. It’s like giving a monkey a typewriter. Sure, it can type, but it’s not gonna write the next Great American Novel.’
Which… yeah. Fair enough. AI can write. But it can’t think. It can’t have a perspective. It can’t have a voice. It can’t have a personality. And that’s what people connect with. That’s what makes writing good.
But Here’s the Thing About My Job
I’m a magazine editor. I’ve been doing this for 20+ years. I know what I’m doing. I have a committment to quality, a feel for what works, a sense of what people want to read. Or at least I thought I did. Lately, I’ve been feeling a bit… replaceable.
You see, AI can edit. It can suggest changes. It can even write a whole damn article. And it can do it faster than me. And cheaper. And without complaining about the commute. And it doesn’t need health insurance. And it won’t ask for a raise. So yeah, maybe AI will steal my job. Or at least part of it.
But here’s the thing: I’m not just a magazine editor. I’m a curator. I’m a storyteller. I’m a truth-seeker. I’m a pain-in-the-ass who won’t let a bad article slide. And that’s something AI can’t do. At least not yet.
Let’s Talk About the Real Issue
AI isn’t the problem. The problem is that people are lazy. They’re looking for the easy way out. They’re looking for a quick fix. And AI is a quick fix. It’s a way to get something done fast and cheap. But it’s not a way to get something done well.
I’ve seen it happen. I’ve seen editors cut corners. I’ve seen writers take shortcuts. I’ve seen publications prioritize clicks over quality. And it’s disgusting. It’s a betrayal of everything we stand for. And AI is just making it worse.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. We can use AI as a tool. We can use it to help us do our jobs better. We can use it to free up time for the things that really matter. Like, I don’t know, actually talking to people. Or reading articles about healthcare news updates today for fun. (Which, honestly, nobody asked for but here we are.)
A Digression: The Time I Tried to Write with AI
So, about three months ago, I decided to see what all the fuss was about. I sat down at my computer, opened up one of those AI writing tools, and tried to write an article. It was a disaster. The AI kept suggesting things that made no sense. It kept trying to insert jokes where there were none. It kept trying to make everything sound like it was written by a 12-year-old. And the worst part? It kept trying to correct my grammar. Which, by the way, is completley unnessecary.
But here’s the thing: I learned something from that experience. I learned that AI isn’t a replacement for human creativity. It’s a supplement. It’s a way to get the ball rolling. It’s a way to spark ideas. But it’s not a way to create something truly original. At least not yet.
So What’s the Verdict?
AI isn’t gonna steal your job. Well, probably not. Maybe. I don’t know. But it is gonna change your job. It’s gonna make some parts easier. It’s gonna make some parts harder. And it’s gonna make some parts completely obsolete.
But here’s the thing: that’s okay. That’s how progress works. That’s how technology works. It changes things. It disrupts things. It makes things better. And sometimes, it makes things worse. But that’s the risk we take. That’s the price we pay.
So let’s embrace it. Let’s use it. Let’s make it work for us. But let’s not let it replace us. Because at the end of the day, we’re still the ones with the ideas. We’re still the ones with the passion. We’re still the ones with the stories to tell.
And that’s something no AI can ever take away.
About the Author
Sarah ‘Sam’ Mitchell has been a senior editor at major publications for over two decades. She’s seen trends come and go, and she’s not impressed by hype. When she’s not wrestling with AI tools or arguing with colleagues about the Oxford comma, she’s probably out running or plotting her next travel adventure. You can find her on Twitter @SamEditsStuff, where she rants about bad writing and celebrates the good.
