Happy New Year 2024!

Happy New Year!

FreshWrite is back (me), and my keyboard is itching to get you this year's stories, views and news. 

Besides the terrible December with Covid, toothache and general boredom, my start of the year has been great yet eventful. 

The year 2023 ended with a bang when I got rushed to the emergency ward on Friday, the 29th of December. It wasn't appendix as the doctors first thought; it wasn't a heart attack as some of my relatives predicted, nor was it my usual curiosity game as my son suggested – but it was a gift from Covid, which didn't want to leave my recovering body with nothing. It gave me some inflated pipes and, as a result, a sharp pain just where the appendix is. Weird.

So, long story short: after 14 hours at the Emergency Ward and after x-rays, blood tests, ultrasounds, and CT scans, I got back home. I was tired, pissed off but profoundly grateful for the nurses and doctors who took so good care of me.

The Health Care System is Broken

I had time to observe at the Ward. Those nurses, doctors and other staff hardly had any breaks. Like one of them told me when pushing my limousine-size bed to the CT scan, "Soon we need to put a catheter and pee into a plastic bag because we don't often have time to go loo". She had been a nurse for 35 years, and I could tell she knew her stuff and was angry.

I could see that they were tired. And it didn't help that there were some quite challenging patients. The security guy said to me that it is not unusual to have to deal with aggressive and even violent people. "And guess what," he added, "I have not heard a single word of thanks from the upper echelons of management – except the normal bullshit when a photo op or other media is showing how they care, my ass".

So, when I was back on my feet in the early days of January, I bought some decent-sized chocolate boxes, went to the hospital and asked the security guy to take his share and deliver the rest for the hard-working people who are underpaid, overworked and overlooked. I hope my cards and chocolates brought a little smile to their weary eyes.

What this showed me is that our healthcare system is profoundly broken. Decades of mismanagement and neglect are pushing the whole system to a catastrophe. This is a direct result of our political shortsightedness. I wish that Luxon, Hipkins and the rest of the gang had to go to the emergency ward and experience at least once a year 14 hours of observations with such acute pain that they cannot utter a single word of political jargon they think works as a plaster when people are bleeding metaphorically and practically to death. 

But 2024 started with joy and great expectations (not in the Dickensian way, but you never know).

After my hospital saga, I started to clean the backlog of emails and work that had some deadlines. It's been fun to work, sleep well, and have a clear head again. 

I am not a holiday person. I must have something to do, or I will be so bored that nobody can stand me. Like my son said, I am less bossy and more sassy when I am in a flow. He is a wise young rascal, but messy.

I have been intrigued and fascinated by AI since the first rumours of Open AI in 2019 when I started to hear more about this strange new thing called ChatGPT. This interest was woven into the fabrics of my curiosity about neuroscience, and I wanted to know more.

I was very sceptical and, to some extent, annoyed when ChatGPT 3.5 came, and people rushed to use it without really thinking of more profound consequences and dependencies. I was one of the Senior Editors of Illumination (a significant online publication on Medium.com), and we started to get these halfbaked, often nonsensical articles written by AI sent by aspiring BS spreaders who were camouflaged as writers of that trash. It was like an avalanche. 

Now, a year later, things have started to settle down. People who cannot think, not even a simple concept, have realised that AI does not think on behalf of their greedy minds. Companies have started looking at AI as a tool, not a miracle maker.

The choirs of snake oil sellers have been singing "Get rich hymns with AI, " but their lack of originality in their cacophony has made people a bit more careful.

It is time to have a closer look at AI as an extension of the mind, not a replacement for creative thinking and innovation. I have been a heavy user of ChatGPT 4 since it became available, and every penny (about $40 per month) has paid back manifold. It is one of those subscription fees that deliver.

I do all my proofreading and background research with AI. I have learned the dark art of writing effective prompts and how to prevent ChatGPT from hallucinating. I calculated that since last March, when ChatGPT4 became my friend, I had saved close to $ 5,000 in admin routines and other tasks I have been able to use it to do for me. Not bad.

To summarise what I have learned so far about AI and how to make it serve SMEs better, I wrote a White Paper. As a writer, the best way to understand something is to write about it. I wrote the paper for those who don't have the luxury of reading dozens of books and articles, watching webinars and finding needles from the Googlestack. I hope it will save time and nerves for those who want to fast-track their understanding of AI. As a token of my gratitude to you, my readers, I have added a button where you can download the white paper for free from below – no strings attached. 

I would love to hear what you think about AI and my paper. So, stay in touch. 

And to end this longer than I initially thought, FreshWrite, I wish you a prosperous, fulfilled and exciting year 2024.

Ngā Mihi

Jussi

My latest article on Medium