【推荐3】My AI friend

I’ve spent a month using ChatGPT every day, and I think my life will never be the same.

The bad news is that ChatGPT is going to take my job.

Like many foreigners in China, I make a living from my English skills. In my case, mostly as an editor(编辑). My bread and butter comes from editing text into smooth passages that a native speaker can read without too much effort. I’m pretty good at my job, but I’m sad to say that ChatGPT is even better at it.

ChatGPT turns out to be excellent at generating headlines. On a story about education segregation in the US, it suggested the headline “Unzipping the Education Gown: America’s Inequality Exposed.”

The good news is that ChatGPT makes me more efficient, and a better friend. It even makes me smarter.

For example, my kitchen was in a mess and I didn’t know how to reorganize it. I described my kithen, and it gave excellent advice, including exactly what should go on each of the seven shelves, and where to put the pots. It even told me to stop storing my potatoes and carrots beside each other, because “they release gases that can cause each other to spoil more quickly.”

When I needed to prepare for my baby’s first birthday party, it came up with an entire menu, including a special “smash cake” my girl could eat with her hands, and told me to relax. “Ultimately, the most important thing to create a welcoming and enjoyable atmosphere for your guests, and to focus on spending time together and having fun,” it reminded me.

As I continue to depend on ChatGPT, the distinction between my own ideas and its contributions becomes increasingly unclear.

As you ponder this, I leave you with a question: did ChatGPT help me write this article, or was it solely the work of a human?

【推荐1】Back in March, when the COVD-19 virus had just started its deadly influence across the country and people were terrified about a lack of every daily necessity, Jonny Blue focused on one particularly urgent need. Blue, a 33-year-old doctor saw reports of people buying and storing toilet paper. He came up with a simple yet clever solution.

One Saturday morning, Blue took a piece of cardboard, wrote “Share Your Toilet Paper” on it in huge letters, and camped out on the street corner, “It just inspired me to remind people that if you have a lot of something, that probably means there are people who don’t have very much of it because you took it all,” Blue said, “So sharing it is probably a good thing to keep in mind.”

The response was immediate and positive, with motorists honking horns in support. Drivers stopped to drop off spare rolls of toilet paper, and, just as quickly, Blue handed them out.

“This guy said he just ran out and was going to a bunch of stores and couldn’t find any,”

Blue said as cars went by. “Somebody had given me some, so I gave it to him. He was excited. He was like, ‘Do you want me to pay you?’ I said, ‘No, man. Take it.’”

A moment later, a driver in a white pickup truck slowed down just enough to take out a roll to add to Blue’s collections.

“People are loving it,” Blue said. “They’re honking, smiling, laughing. It’s kind of a hard time right now. People want a sense of community.”

【推荐2】As a mid-aged man, I was always worried about my weight. Every time when I walked on the street, I would see fear on others’ faces as if I were a giant (巨人).

“Walking a dog will help you.” suggested Doctor May.

“Walk a dog? I’ve never had a dog.” I said.

“I have a perfect dog for you!” said Doctor May and she showed me a large black-and-white dog with a big round body. He looked up at me and then dropped his head with a clear look of aversion. He didn’t seem to like me. Neither did I.

“He is Peety. As no one cares for him, he’s too heavy now and needs exercise,” said Doctor May. Looking at the poor dog, I saw the terrible life he had had. I touched him carefully. He seemed to like that and lay down near my feet.

The next day, we started our first walk. Although Peety didn’t walk very fast, I was tired out. You could clearly hear my footsteps on the road—thump, thump, like the giant from Jack and the Beantalk.

“I can’t go on!” I shouted to him, lying on the ground. Peety ran back and looked at me quietly.

“Oh, Peety,” I said. “Do you really want a walk with a giant like me?” He kept looking at me with those beautiful dark eyes and waited in silence. I knew I wouldn’t make him upset.

Over the next weeks, we kept on walking. There were times when I couldn’t catch up with him. He would just look up at me like I was the greatest man in the world—and that’s what I wanted to be for him.