Do you want a duplicate of you?

Aside from countless comments...

…by strangers about my likeness to Liza Minnelli, I’m confident there’s only one Phyllis Foundis in this world. And, by association, my creative DNA is unique too, right?

Well.

It was late and my phone blinked with a message from a beautiful friend.

Let’s call her Melissa.

For a quick giggle, Mel had fed an AI bot my Phylosophy asking it to write something on designer handbags in my style.

It took the bot 0.01 seconds to (kinda) replicate my tone. My heart sank.

Writing is a huge part of who I am and how I make sense of life’s chaos and charm. So, to see my style (somewhat) replicated was disturbing.

Writing saves me repeatedly when my emotional endurance is tested. And while I always do my best to stay afloat, it’s my words that do the heavy lifting.

I write, therefore I am.

So, if tech can spit out writing that’s taken me decades to perfect, what’s the fu**ing point?

“AI could never, ever replace you.” Mel wrote and then she unsent the copycat AI blog.

But I’m glad she sent it.

I started thinking about anyone who identifies deeply with the things they make and contribute to humanity. How much art and heart will we lose to AI when artists can’t recover after seeing their originality decimated by an algorithm?

The stakes are higher than we think. And we trivialise the impact fake tech will have on the world’s soul at our peril.