AI Policy and Usage
I am conflicted over AI use (my own and the general public's) and I am hoping that this working policy will help clarify my ideas.
Who this is for
This is specifically for my Digital Garden viewers/Digital Garden use.
Why I use it, and why I struggle with it
We can't and shouldn't do everything. I've learned this the hard way as I have been in the position of building multiple businesses from scratch and wearing all the hats. It's easy to say "pay people" but paying people to help sort through data, brainstorm ideas, and organize thoughts is not always feasible. In those cases, AI is useful as an assistive tool when and only when the proper checks and balances are in place. Is someone there to weigh real-world processes and uses against the generative logic that may miss or avoid nuance?
Ethical AI use begins with ethical societies and humans who understand collaboration as a community tool. Unfortunately, it seems the collective intent of this forced AI adoption is an increase profits by replacing human workforce with AI agents. The impact (environmental and economic damage which are hardest on the most marginalized) is not worth it. The end does not justify the means. We should be looking at how to use AI to enhance the quality of life not as how to skip/replace creative thinking.
How I use it
I use Claude AI as a collaborative editorial process and sounding board. I am still responsible for maintaining the humanity of what is presented. My checks are in the process, not only after generation, although everything is reviewed and edited by me or my human executive assistant.
My process focuses on human-directed thinking through collaboration with the AI tool. I create briefs with explicit directions and instructions for engagement. The start of every collaboration is my lived experience. I credit sources for all ideas and verify any source produced or suggested by AI.
Sometimes the collaboration is conversational brainstorming, with the directive that the agent push back and not placate. I mostly use this to refine my own thoughts and understanding while creating a working outline or plan.
AI suggestions are suggestions. If I keep one, it is not a replacement for my thoughts but a rephrase. It is still my writing.
What AI does not do in my work
- Stand in for/perform humanness
- Creative writing
- Art and pictures, except the assistive uses Stimpunks outlines in AI Collaboration at Stimpunks
- Quotes: AI does not write, alter, or touch a quote without explicit approval from me which comes only after I verify the necessity and validity of the change
- Process identifiable student or client data and/or work
Credit
I credit Claude the way Stimpunks.World does. What Claude did, and where, is listed on my Marginalia page, and I update it as the work changes.
Claude, an AI model made by Anthropic, acknowledged the conflict that arose from my using it to draft this page. This statement serves to clarify how I used Claude specifically on this page. After I input a brief explaining my philosophy and rationale, Claude asked me questions in two rounds. Claude placed my answers under headings and it summarized the two Stimpunks pages I started from. The summaries provided a checkpoint. Claude also pointed out where my initial answers didn't match how I actually work, and fixed small typos. The words on this page are mine.
Keeping this current
This is a working policy. I update it monthly based on how I'm actually using AI.
I'll write about the public's use of AI, and its use in education, later.