AI is far from the science fiction vision. But generative pre-trained transformer (GPT) AIs like ChatGPT are now mainstream. GPT processes a tremendous amount of existing text, essentially reading millions of articles and books, “learning” how to generate human-like writing. For an example of how it works and how far into general awareness the tech has come, watch this ad for Mint Mobile, read by Ryan Reynolds. The chat app was asked to “Write a commercial for Mint Mobil in the voice of Ryan Reynolds. Use a joke, a curse word, and [marketing messaging the company wanted in the ad no matter what the AI generated].” You knew it was just a matter of time until we did this (extend the @MintMobile savings with @OpenAI, that is). pic.twitter.com/uf2jblpG2j— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) January 10, 2023 The above is an ad that uses a gimmicky tech tool to tie into a news cycle because a celebrity is involved. Reynolds’ description of how ChatGPT works from the end user’s perspective is spot on, despite the normal advertising behind the scenes that is not described. My digi-pal, Brandi D. Addison, asked ChatGPT to write an article in her style. It was an incredibly good impression. Addison is a professional reporter, and ChatGPT likely had been trained with hundreds of articles under her byline. I'm honestly perplexed: The writer vs. the bot pic.twitter.com/CeIwXpmoMq— Brandi D. Addison 🗞🌱 (@BrandiDAddison) January 21, 2023 While she’s a better writer than an AI’. I’m also not an executive at…AI-Generated Articles: A Party Trick With Dangerous Consequences