In the aftermath of Polygon getting bought out (it ended up not being the end of all things good at Polygon), Chris Plante (former editor in chief at Polygon), started a podcast about why and how we love video games. It’s called Post Games, and it’s the best video game podcast I’ve ever listened to.
Most video game podcasts fall into two categories:
People talking about what games they’ve been playing
Conversations on recent events and news
I tend to listen to the first category exclusively. I love shows like Into the Aether, The Besties, and Video Podtimism, but Post Games exists in a wonderfully new category:
Journalism
Post Games is a show that features essays, interviews, conversations, and even excerpts from books. It feels like the NPR of video games, and I’m here for it.
In the most recent episode, Chris Plante covers the “eventual AI takeover over” what that means, if it’s possible, what it could look like, and how to fight it.
In the first chapter, Plante talks about a report written by a team headed by a former Open AI employee who refused to sign an NDA. That report is Ai 2027, and it paints a grim future where humans collect a universal salary and consume hyper entertainment until the machines deem them “in the way” and get rid of them.
I haven’t read this report, but based on Plante’s retelling, it seems a bit extreme.
The thing that stood out to me in Plante’s summary was this idea of human atrophy.
Essentially, when humans use AI to do things humans are traditionally responsible for, it makes it harder for them to do those tasks on their own. They lose that muscle.
I’ve been feeling that a lot this week.
As you all know, I work in content marketing. This means writing copy for websites, creating a flow of information that’s helpful for users, researching keyword choice, looking at analytics to see what’s working and fixing what’s not, and writing “content”. They’re basically long-form guides and articles that add value to the site for Google and users.
Just a couple of weeks ago, I started a project that required me to use AI quite a bit.
This week I sat down to write a piece on using humor as a coping mechanism.
It has felt like pulling teeth.
I used to be able to write a piece of content in half a day’s work. That includes creating the heading structure, writing every sentence and paragraph by hand, combing through to edit, and giving graphic suggestions.
Because I used AI for another project, my brain and writing muscles had become atrophied.
This is a scary concept. ChatGPT lulled me into a place of contentment, and I lost skills because of it.
The Good
I’m really grateful for this new show, and every time I listen to it, I feel more engaged in the moment. I think that’s because it’s not strictly entertainment, it’s thought-provoking.
Check out Post Games and follow my Substack for more random writing about video games, being a dad, media, and my personal faith.