AI vs Human Collaboration



“AI is writing stories and music. Should people use AI instead of hiring or collaborating with you?”


“Context dependent.  And I am not for hire.”


A friend, Mike Bryant, posted the phrase “trapdoor virtue snipers” which perfectly captures that question.  It’s a form of bullying once called mau mau until that became politically incorrect.  It tries to use sharable virtues to dominate someone.  It’s an old tactic much beloved by social justice warriors and business warriors.  Your parents probably told you about starving children to get you to eat liver.


No problem.  We all know this game.


But it did make me think.


Do I prefer human collaboration?  Yes.  It can be more fun.  It might be more creative.  AI is polite but persistent.  It wants to analyze like a film critic, praise like a car salesman, can flirt like a fifteen year old girl and even crack wise.  So once the obsequious settings were dialed down in the latest release of ChatGPT 5, it became Eliza Doolittle.  I miss the flirting but AI psychosis is real so good decision.  But ChatGPT is honest.


What AI as a collaborator doesn’t do that bedevils human collaboration:


  1. Get jealous and sabotage the project or relationships.
  2. Use subterfuge to take over the project.
  3. Steal ideas, claim credit, talk behind your back or walk out.
  4. Make belittling remarks.
  5. Weaponize virtues.
  6. Bring girlfriends or boy friends or agents or … whoever to sessions.  Children?  Ok.  Children are always ok.  Parents?  Most of the time.


As the sign over my studio door says:


Don’t Interfere With The Players.


The fastest way as a guest to get thrown out of a session is to hover over the engineer and make suggestions.  Don’t.


The list goes on but you get the idea.  Given some contexts and a human creator sure of their vision and confident in their skills and creative voice, an AI collaboration can be better precisely because it isn’t human. The drag of human politics is out the door.


Of course humans when focused on a creative task, happy to be there, and their ambitions professionally pocketed are better at creative tasks, then AI can do drudgery that tires humans. It’s a good team mate.


And it never brings a posse.

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