Scary Muse

It is no secret that artists, including writers, often need a muse for inspiration. My muse is often a product of the minutia of life. Grocery store foibles, birding adventures and people interactions can be a rich source. No need to take a world cruise.

Occasionally, my muse is silent. I call it the taunt-of-the-blinking-cursor. My fingers are poised over the keyboard but my brain is silent. As I start this post I invoke the missing muse, to no avail. But, a sneaky little muse made an appearance and I confess to you my dear friends that I let her do her magic (for scientific purposes, of course).

Her name is AI, also known as artificial intelligence. My blog platform began offering this option about a year ago and it has become progressively more prominent as a user-friendly tool. As my legitimate muses were taking the day off, I followed the siren song of AI's enticing voice. "Enter an idea. Choose a tone of voice. Select pictures. Wait for final composition."

Oh my, within minutes I had a polished piece ready for an instant blog post, faster than making a cup of cocoa. Where was this when I was writing college papers? Just kidding, I think. The topic I entered was: Winter Walking. The snappy title generated by AI was: Chill Out: The Surprising Joys of Winter Strolls.

Shiver me timbers, I must tip my hat to Ms. AI. Her title is creatively catchy and would certainly grab the attention of a scrolling reader or two. My title "Winter Walking" sounds like a 3rd grade essay with a crayon-colored snowman illustration.

The subtitles for Ms. AI's post include: Health Benefits Galore; Dress for Success; The Gift of Mindfulness and Reap the Rewards of Gratitude. Winning titles, for sure. I learned a few things from her post.

My new name for Ms. AI is Ms. Temptation (Ms. T for short). Oh, how easy it would be to hit the "post" button after a couple of minutes of minimal work on my part. Clearly, Ms. T's posts are more polished and reader-friendly. No more clunky sentences, grammatical errors and unclear formation of ideas to deal with. Best of all, no more thinking and wrestling with ideas that need to make their way to a written form. And that makes me sad.

I am sad for English teachers in the trenches, faithfully guiding students down the path of mindful writing. I am sad for the written word no longer being the sole product of someone's mental energy. I am sad for the power and seductiveness of Ms. T.

I do see the advantages of utilizing Ms. T.'s skills, especially when preparing mind-numbing technical reports. I also know that English teachers are some of the most dedicated people in our schools and they will develop reasonable ways to incorporate the muse of Ms. T. into their lessons.

Here is my promise to you. No matter how lackluster my post titles might be or how awkward my writing may seem, the words you see on my posts are a direct product of my brain. Scary, I know. If you do read a particularly polished piece from me, rest assured I have been abducted by the muse of Ms. T. End of story.