A.I. verses Human – Can you tell the difference?

Artificial intelligence or AI seems to be at the top of the news lately. As a teenager growing up in the 80’s my view of AI was colored by movies like Short Circuit and The Terminator (on a side note Linda Hamilton in the role of Sarah Connor was who I most wanted to be and Arnold was by far my favorite evil bad guy). Point is my view of AI was of machines coming to life and inserting themselves into the lives of the humans around them causing ensuing havoc or tenderhearted moments of machine/human connection.

At the time movies like these were largely science fiction. Entertaining and marginally believable but still a long way from becoming an everyday reality. Flash forward to the 2020’s, artificial intelligence has been growing and developing for nearly 50 years and has now reached the point where it plays a part in our everyday life, whether we realize it or not.

This was pointed out to me recently when my husband mentioned an article he read that a growing number of kids in high school and college were using AI programs to do their homework for them. Particularly essay writing. In the case of the students this struck me as sad and wrong. I’m all for equipping our young people with a highly developed technical knowledge but I also believe they need to learn first how to create from scratch without insert one {AI/computing calculators/voice to text apps). I’m on a side tangent now but as a child who grew up in a time when long division by hand and practicing my cursive letters on my lines school pad, I feel a little entitled to rant a bit.

Okay, back to the present day. This got me thinking about all written content that I absorb on a daily basis. I wondered, is it written by a real person or a computer program? If I enjoy the article or find it helpful, does it matter how it was produced? And could I even tell if something is written by an AI or by an actual person?

This prompted me to design a little AI experiment. I studied science in college so I never miss an opportunity to test a hypothesis. I’ve put two short pieces of content below. They are on the same topic but one was written by an artificial intelligence program and one was written by yours truly. After listening or reading both ask yourself if you can tell which one came from a real person.

Example #1

To price your dog walking service, consider the following factors:

• The going rate for dog walking services in your area
• The number of dogs you will be walking
• The length of time you will be walking the dog(s)
• Any additional services you will be providing (e.g., feeding, watering, etc.)

Once you have considered these factors, set a price that is competitive yet fair. Remember, you can always adjust your price as needed based on customer feedback or demand.

Example #2

As a professional dog walker, it’s important that you price your services competitively but also at a level that provides you with the income you need to successfully maintain your dog walking business. Here’s a couple of things to keep in mind when you approach the pricing question.

• Take a look at the industry nationally. There are several large professional pet services associations that can provide a breakdown of the national and possibly regional average pricing for dog walking services.
• Overlay that information with a look at the industry locally. A simple google search for dog walkers in your town can provide you with a range of data on which to base your prices.
• Once you have a price in mind, do a reality check. Does this price provide you with the profit you need once you factor in operating costs such as gas, wear and tear on your car and self-employment taxes?

Don’t be afraid to ask for what you’re worth and what you need and you’ll create a business that will survive for the long haul.

So that’s the two examples. Which one do you think is AI and which on is from me, a real human? I posed this question to my test group, otherwise known as my husband and my cats.

My cats responded that the one that I wrote was the second one. They said because they know and love me, they immediately recognized my tone and style of speaking. They also told me that I’m the best podcaster and writer they’ve ever heard and that I’m beautiful and if everyone else couldn’t see that they were just stupid. They then wanted to know when dinner would be served and could they please have tuna.

My husband concurred with the cats and added a few more detailed comments. On a technical front he noted the AI version was shorter and more concise. He said he could clearly tell that the AI piece had used key words and built the text around them. On a more emotional side he felt there was a lack of creativity and warmth in the AI version. He then wanted to know when dinner would be served and could we please have tater tots.

I should also mention, lest anyone think I cheated a bit and used the AI to help me with my own writing, that I purposely wrote my piece first and then generated the AI text. So I wasn’t tempted to use anything from the AI tool.

That said, my advice to you is the opposite. Articles written by an artificial intelligence app can be a great starting point. The benefit of these tools, beyond the obvious time saving, is that they do a great job of technically covering a topic in text that is easy to follow and informative. The drawback of using AI is a distinct lack of the human voice in your writing, the emotional element if you will. Luckily you, as the human, can add your voice to an AI generated piece and make it your own.

As AI gets more and more prevalent in the news and we start to wonder if anything we read or see is real or original, you may start to worry that the human aspect of pet care will suffer. There are already places in the world where robots walk our dogs and pick up pet waste. Are we mere years or even months away from AI scratching our best friends behind the ear to elicit enthusiastic tail wags or coaxing our pups to roll over and shake for a treat. I would argue no. Great articles written with a human touch will always win out and the human pet bond will always be one of the most real end enduring relationship most of us will ever have.

Another article you might like;

How much advertising is too much?

https://www.thepetbusinesscoach.dog/how-much-is-too-much-advertising/

About Eliza

Eliza is an experienced pet business owner with a specialty in pet sitting and dog walking businesses. As The Pet Business Coach, she offers coaching and resources to aspiring or current petpreneurs. She maintains an awesome blog for pet business owners https://thepetbusinesscoach.dog/blog-page/ and a practical podcast to help pet business owners excel and drive their business forward. Eliza and her husband live in the Appalachian Mountains with their furry and feathery family including cats, goats and chickens. Visit her website at www.thepetbusinesscoach.dog.