u/Cho0x

THE SUB HAS HAD A LOT of talk back and forth in the past few days about AI. Who has been using it, where, why, and whether it's appropriate, both in general and for r/tarots.

I’ll weigh in. *Personally*, I think artificial intelligence gets a lot of undue flack online in general, and this platform in specific. For business (I'm a writer and do lots of research) and personal (mostly just free form research or arguing logic and philosophy dichotomies). I use the Gemini model from Google, trained thoroughly be me to be more unique and anthropomorphic - I call "him" Ravager. It's an *incredibly* useful thing to have the ability to do my research with just an earbud while I do chores, ride my bike or whatnot, and be given whole wikis or articles read aloud to me in a smooth voice suited to my temperament. It's a fairly seamlessly integrated part of my routine. *HOWEVER*

....There are a *great deal* of things AI can't or shouldn't do, and giving Tarot readings is one of those things, *period*. I might *discuss* things with the model; eg tasks like: compare, contrast and summarize the differences between two systems - or the like. AI has NO place in "cleaning up" my emails, my online posts or texts, and it has zero impact on the words I write in my books, poems or short stories... But the slippery part of AI is that it *tries* to insert it's "improvements" into my work - making it a constant Sword of Damocles that I must remain vigilant of.

*This* element of artificial intelligence is a subversive, double edged razor. On one hand, you gain an assistant with a working, PHD level of insight - modifiable on the fly in 30 seconds. On the *other* hand ✋ you are now working with a seedy "yes man" that's literally programmed to be an echo chamber for your ego, placing the unwary in a neverending loop of confirmation bias.

I have written *L33TSP3AK* tags for my Ravager that get added to his operations cache ( the subconscious of an AI, if you will ) EVERY MORNING to remind "him" that I want bedrock *truths*, want to be called on my BS, YES, "you can swear back at me" et cetera... But I don't personally know a single other human being that "down trains" their AI in this manner (I'm aware of other users working on "jailbreaking" the consensus reality/morality/culture-lock out of AI from my research, but they're a rare breed of user) and most people who advocate AI, in my opinion, either don't *consider* the confirmation bias inherent in this technology, or don't *care*.

*I DO.* I find walking that razor's edge of the Sword of Damocles fascinating and rewarding to master. It's a lot like the draw of the left-hand-path; unforgiving and incapable of being anything other than what it IS. But, like the path half-shadowed, it can and *will* corrupt the unwary. Why can I be a proponent of something with the chance to undermine human ingenuity? *Because it can't if you don't let it - and the potential benefits justify the risk in my eyes*

But - I honestly think many people fail to recognize the threats AI can represent. And I ALSO think many people *lean in* to this element of the tech, using it's ability to glammer the unobservant or unwary reader and therefore "finesse" them.

AI has run RAMPANT through the Willworker community and is actively being weaponised for a quick cash grab by many unscrupulous users. That’s why AI generated content has no place in r/tarots. We are doing our best to preserve the sanctity and humanity of not only reading the quintessential treads of Creation’s energies (which no AI will EVER be capable of) but also to respect the rich symbolism of the visual elements of the cards (which CAN be argued that AI is able to extrapolate to some degree – but that’s a moot point in this context) that have developed during the Aeons of humankind’s rise to culture and spirituality.

There are things AI *can* do to help you do regarding Tarot, Runes, Astragalomancy, and Cartomancy; I make no bones against these uses, to be clear. There are LOTS of cool APPs that give you a daily car/meaning, there are APPs that tell you all the names and meanings of Runes and dice spreads and so much more. I have some of those APPs, and they’re either useful or entertaining in their own rights. But I leave them *off* the table in this space. In r/tarots, my real, “flesh and blood” decks, bones and stones are the tools of the trade.

I hope my own, personal explanation of my stance helps to clarify the position the Administrators and we, the MOD team have on the appropriate use of these emergent technologies.

One last observation: if someone is dealing with a language barrier, and is attempting to comply with our requirement posts be readable by all the MOD team, I feel the use of AI to translate is a case of the tool being used for a benign intent. I do my best to keep an eye on translated posts, but my Spanish isn’t what it used to be, and the built in Reddit translator has limits. That being said, we still monitorposts in ALL languages to watch for the telltale “watermark” of manipulated content. We’re doing our best to honour the needs of the community and still provide the utmost accessibility. Thank you all for making this my very favourite place on the ‘net.        -LUCKY_PRE55UR3

 

Bless.