Last issue, I wrote a column commemorating Lowcountry Weekly’s 25 years in print.

As usual, I posted the column to our website then shared it on Facebook. Not as usual, it got a lot of attention. Well over 100 people chimed in to congratulate us and reminisce with us, and that felt really good.

Then something weird happened. Meta AI joined in the fun.

What is Meta AI, you ask? Well, according to Google AI, it’s an “AI-powered assistant developed by Meta (formerly Facebook) that is integrated into various Meta platforms like Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, as well as Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. It leverages Meta’s Llama large language models to provide users with information, generate creative content, and help with various tasks. Meta AI can answer questions, create AI-generated images, and even assist with more complex tasks like writing code or planning trips.”

And there’s something else it can do – and you don’t even have to ask. Meta AI did to my column what I’ve seen it do to other articles on Facebook – usually articles from bigtime publications with tons of readers. Mistaking Lowcountry Weekly for one of those, Meta AI posted a series of summaries – or “overviews” if you prefer – after the column. Their titles included, but were not limited to, the following:

‘Jeff and Jeff’s Entrepreneurial Journey,’ ‘Lowcountry Weekly’s Editorial Team,’ ‘More About Lowcountry Weekly’s History,’ and ‘Quarter Century Celebration Plans.’ (FYI – we don’t have any. But Meta AI suggests a Memory Lane Display, Live Music or a DJ, Anniversary Balloons, or Customized Gifts.)

I guess these overviews are for people who are marginally curious about Lowcountry Weekly’s illustrious history, but don’t feel like reading the article. To be honest, I was astounded at how thorough and accurate they were.

Take, for instance, the overview entitled ‘More About Jeff and His Wife.’ (Since my name does not appear in the piece, but Jeff’s does, I’m always referred to as “Jeff’s wife” or “the author.” It’s amusing.) The overview reads like this:

Jeff and the author, likely the co-founders of Lowcountry Weekly, seem to be a dynamic duo with a shared passion for celebrating the Lowcountry’s cultural and environmental heritage. Based on the article, we can infer that:

  • They were young and adventurous, taking a significant risk by investing their savings in a local publication.
  • They shared a vision for showcasing the region’s art, theatre, music, and literary scene.
  • The author appears to be the primary writer and voice behind the publication, with a personal and reflective tone.
  • Jeff’s role isn’t explicitly stated, but it’s likely he was involved in the business or operational side, given the author’s mention of him as a partner in the venture.
  • The couple’s relationship and personalities shine through in the writing, with the author mentioning Jeff’s sense of humor and their life together.

The author’s writing style suggests she’s creative, humorous, and unafraid to share personal anecdotes, which has endeared her to readers over the years.

That description of my writing style had me positively blushing! But I wondered how Meta AI – short for “Artificial Intelligence,” of course – could possibly have a sense of “style,” or how it surmised that mine had endeared me to my readers over the years. That type of analysis seems pretty subjective – almost touchy feely – for an algorithmic being.

Like plenty of other people, I’ve been following the meteoric rise of Artificial Intelligence with a sense of both wonder and dread. At this point, what AI will mean for the future of humanity is anybody’s guess. What it will mean for the future of newspaper columnists – a gig that, frankly, doesn’t pay well already – seems a bit more obvious. And ominous.

David Brooks had a column in the NY Times last week featuring the headline: “Are We Really Willing to Become Dumber?”

Brooks begins by saying, “I’m generally optimistic about all the ways artificial intelligence is going to make life better — scientific research, medical diagnoses, tutoring and my favorite current use, vacation planning. But it also offers a malevolent seduction: excellence without effort. It gives people the illusion that they can be good at thinking without hard work, and I’m sorry, but that’s not possible.”

He then discusses a recent study out of M.I.T. that recruited 54 participants, split them into three groups, and asked them to write essays. The first group used AI, the second group used search engines (but no AI), and the third group used only their brains.

“The essays people used AI to write contained a lot more references to specific names, places, years and definitions,” says Brooks. “The people who relied solely on their brains had 60 percent fewer references to these things…. But the essays written with AI were more homogeneous, while those written by people relying on their brains created a wider variety of arguments and points.”

Then the researchers asked the writers to quote from their papers. About 83% of the AI users had great difficulty doing so. The people who used search engines were better at quoting their own points, and the brains-only writers were much better at it.

The researchers summarized it thusly: “The brain-only group, though under greater cognitive load, demonstrated deeper learning outcomes and stronger identity with their output. The search engine group displayed moderate internalization, likely balancing effort with outcome. The L.L.M. group (Large Language Models), while benefiting from tool efficiency, showed weaker memory traces, reduced self-monitoring and fragmented authorship.”

Then the researchers got even more science-y and used EEG headsets to look at the participants’ brains.

The brains-only subjects showed high connectivity across several brain regions. The search engine users experienced less brain connectivity, and the AI users had the least connectivity of all.

The study’s conclusion? “Collectively, these findings support the view that external support tools restructure not only task performance but also the underlying cognitive architecture.”

Sorry, but I don’t want my cognitive architecture restructured! I’ve already had way too much “accidental remodeling” up there thanks to the internet, social media, and impending old age.

And as for you, dear reader; while it’s certainly faster and more efficient to peruse an “overview” of this column, I still think – or, at least, hope – there’s something to be gained by reading the column, itself.

If you don’t do it for my “endearing” writing style, as described by Meta AI – then do it for your brain health. Your cognitive architecture will thank you.