The courage to be YOU - using AI in your business
Creating from your voice and with your own unique perspective is something I feel so strongly about. I really wanted to dive into the use of chat and artificial intelligence programs in creating copy and content for your business.
I would like to preface this with the fact that I am not a huge fan of this - one of the reasons being the huge environmental impact this technology currently uses. I absolutely love (NEED) nature and while I acknowledge that even as I type on this computer, I am consuming electricity and resources - I am afraid the hidden cost of AI hasn’t been made obvious to the average person.
The massive quantity of water it takes to cool the systems required to run the large language models in particular is something I can’t look away from. There are quite a few articles on this - I would love you to google and form your own opinion on this. There’s a research paper here.
Growing up on an organic farm, I’ve been confronted directly with the reality of how precious water is and what happens when we run out. Living in a busy residential neighbourhood now where water is plentiful I am aware how detached most of us are from this reality.
It’s a core value for me in life and business to work as sustainably as I can. I have a balanced view of this and believe in doing the best that you can.
However I do believe we are able to write copy and share our businesses without having to run everything through language models.
I don’t know about you but I WANT to hear your unique voice, and I don’t care if the sentences aren’t grammatically perfect or if you can only manage three words. Good! BE YOU.
More doesn’t equate to more - outsourcing your very voice to me is a signal for not trusting the energy flowing through you at the most basic level.
I always like to have a balanced view, and I have run text through AI myself as I don’t like to talk about what I haven’t tried.
I have two thoughts after doing this:
Given it is currently mostly predictive language, it does feel to me like the results are lacking substance. It feels quite empty. Like one of those times when someone is saying a lot but the words feel meaningless. Plus, I have noticed ALOT of people are using this for their social media captions and content, and it’s got me glazing over.
I love following people for their voice and their own unique style, so when it is run through a chat model, it doesn’t connect.
I know my wording and the way I write isn’t “perfect” - I know there are punchier ways to say things. I also know there’s something that happens for me that’s so important to my self-expression and even mental health when it comes to sharing my own unique viewpoint, in my own way.
I believe this is true for everyone - and it’s a weird time to be in where people are not trusting themselves to show up, as they are.
My other thought on this is if you don’t have the energy to create content or enough time - this is indicative of something. Maybe it just isn’t the right time - you don’t need to force yourself to have words you don’t have or to show up and post when it isn’t flowing.
There are times when I don’t feel energised for this, and my inner perfectionist productivity maniac is slowly changing this narrative - it’s not that I need to create more, maybe I need to listen more. To my inner voice, to my flow of energy, to how things are showing up for me.
We also learned during the pandemic how important human to human connection was for us - seeking help or talking with someone who has the gift to see or express what you can’t put into words is actually a beautiful point of connection and the chance to have another human reflect back to you, your unique gifts.
The way I currently feel, the high vibe of this new tech would be to make us all realise how AMAZING our unique humanity is - how joyful it is to connect with each other and how powerful it is to use your own voice, receive things made by hand and to step back off screens and into life. Maybe it allows us to realize creating more and more for the sake of it, at the speed of light isn’t what we really wanted after all.
Maybe it helps some people begin to feel they can express themselves as they are, that it increases the celebration of being different. Where we realize it isn’t in getting the right results from the right school or following a set of rules for success but in our unique essence.
The part I am concerned about (and I am mindful of this for myself too) is losing trust in our unique abilities, asking technology for advice when it doesn’t have the human body so can’t experience the consequences - including draining the planet of resources and water.
I am a huge fan of Human Design, and so for me this feels right to share where I sit with this. I am also aware that for you, this might not feel good but I really wanted to offer my perspective incase you were feeling a bit on the fence with it.
I mainly want you to know that showing up as uniquely as yourself is so important, and yes it’s scary but the world is genuinely better when you’re YOU. Your words, your energy, your little (and big!) aha moments.
If you do want to use the chat models, these are my tips:
Be aware of the environmental impact and check in with whether this aligns with your values
Create and refine from your own words if you want it to be unique - the caveat of this being we don’t know what or how this technology will grow so be mindful of what you are feeding into the system - are you happy for this to also be training this tech and not receiving any compensation for this?
A bit like a disposable product, can it help you just get somewhere now but you plan to no longer require the assistance in future?
Ask do I REALLY need this or can I trust what is coming from within? Is it okay for you to go more slowly?
If you are like hell no I don’t like this at all but I want to feel good in my content, try this:
Check in with yourself - what are your limiting beliefs around how your write / talk? Are you comparing yourself to someone else or did someone like a teacher / care giver make you feel bad about how your write?
Give yourself permission to show up as you and allow yourself to evolve through practice - I don’t think this blog post is perfect, but we learn through DOING and integrating. Start writing your own material and be your own slow chatbot - look at examples of writing you LOVE and see how you can bring that into your words.
Be yourself, even if you feel cringe. Because we want to hear your words and your voice. It’s your energy that attracts other people to you - so using a generative language model is a bit like putting on a mask. Maybe it’s fun and it works a bit, but it will not attract people in the same genuine way that using YOUR VOICE will.
Make time for creating content that actually resonates with you and what you’re offering - it’s okay to go more slowly. We’re here to live, breathe and experience. Not become hyper obsessed with sales pitches and outcomes. The more you integrate you into your business, the more easily everything flows because you’re doing what comes naturally to you.
Here’s to creating the sparkliest, most true-to-you business!
Megan x
If you’d love to work with me, feel free to reach out here or see my current offerings. You can also DM me over on instagram @hera.lane
