‘On the couch’ with Jasminda


DEAR Jasminda,

AT my recent wedding, my husband recited very out-of-character wedding vows.

I have since been told he wrote them with the assistance of AI.

Was it all just a sham?

Did he even mean what he said? I feel really angry.

Helen G.

Dear Helen,

There are roughly two camps that people fall into with AI.

Those who see it as a godsend that saves precious time, and those who regard it as the work of the devil, diminishing the heart and soul of the written word.

People who struggle to write well have embraced the idea of throwing a shamozzle of words into their computer and witnessing (in mere seconds) those words being transformed.

The implications, though, are highlighted in your conundrum.

Suddenly everyone can sound as though a Cyrano-wannabe is whispering in their ear.

It’s a slippery slope though.

I’ve experienced this too, though not on a romantic level. I used to write articles for a local magazine.

I didn’t do it for the money (which was as meagre as a Brazilian bikini), but for the sense of satisfaction.

I had a flick through the magazine recently and the stories were so flowery, so overwritten, that AI’s influence was immediately recognisable.

Maybe the publication is saving a bit of money, but what is the ultimate cost?

Your husband may have struggled to find the right words to express his (very real) feelings. But yes, I think you are right to be angry.

Vows need to come from the heart, not from a mashup of Wikipedia, scientific journals and news sources.

AI can also be misleading.

You don’t want to have to fact-check your husband’s undying love.

Carpe diem,
Jasminda.

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