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Natural Awakenings Atlanta

Writers: Human and Otherwise

Jul 01, 2024 06:00AM ● By Paul Chen
We humans get accustomed to what we have, and our appreciation and gratitude decrease over time. Therefore, I’d like to express gratitude for the constant stream of wonderful contributors to this magazine’s single column, “Walking Each Other Home” (WEOH).

WEOH’s purpose, as I wrote in 2017, “is to share stories of personal awakenings.” We all experience so much in life—and it is easy to believe that we’re the only ones working through our particular dilemmas—that solutions, redemptions, or even just a moment of relief are nowhere to be found. WEOH demonstrates that’s not true–that all kinds of people endure all manners of challenges, if not suffering, and that there are, beyond solutions, awakenings, moments of deeply personal insight and realizations that blossom in our breasts and change our life trajectories. 

There were times when we had no idea where the next column would come from; we have gone without from time to time. But now, our WEOH calendar is the most shored up it’s been in years. We’re scheduled more than a year out! 

I’m particularly pleased with our two newest signees: actor, writer and producer Tara Ochs, who premiered last month, and someone she introduced us to, Tommy Housworth, who premiers this month. I’ve been aware of Tara’s writing ability for years and am thrilled we finally get to share her insight and talent with you. And Tommy, well, this may be hard to believe, but he’s the first male contributor we’ve ever signed! There have been male contributors in the past, but they were on a one-off basis. 

So, I am super grateful to have WEOH nailed down for the coming year and to be able to offer you readers an incredible team of writers, which also includes Rev. Jenn Sacks and Trish Ahjel Roberts. 

AI Redux

Only on occasion do readers send us comments about one of my Letters from the Publisher, which makes the fact that we received two emails in response to my June letter—which was all about our first steps into the land of AI—a unique occasion indeed.

While Regine Francois didn’t intend her email to be a Letter to the Editor, she gave us permission to publish it as such. She comments about AI writing in general: “It all sort of reads as bland and unoriginal.” 

We couldn’t agree more, which is why we will never publish anything that hasn’t been rigorously reviewed by our editing team. It’s also why we began using ChatGPT on our Atlanta Briefs; they are bite-sized, straight news items that are, by nature, “bland and unoriginal.” In fact, we got instant feedback about how unoriginal it can be when we tried using it for social media posts. 

Our second letter writer asks: “What does a program know about the true human experience? Why should I care what it ‘thinks’ humans find interesting?” 

I had to laugh at this a little because, while we haven’t used AI to inform us as to what humans find interesting, as the principal generator of editorial ideas, I often go with what I’m interested in. I usually don’t care how big an audience there is for a topic. Take energy healing, for example. That first special section consisted of seven articles spread over 12 pages, an enormous investment in time and effort. I was motivated by three considerations: 1) I had wonderful success with energy healing, 2) I didn’t believe that there was much awareness around energy healing, and 3) I wanted others to experience the same benefits I enjoy. 

Both of those who wrote to me about AI expressed, directly and indirectly, a concern for writers being displaced by AI—but we don’t see that happening. As I’ve pointed out, we don’t see AI having the ability to be as creative as we’d need for the majority of our articles. Also, we have always been minimally staffed; there’s no one to let go!

Thank you both! We love hearing from readers, and we invite more of you to write to us! ❧
Publisher of Natural Awakenings Atlanta since 2017, Paul Chen’s professional background includes strategic planning, marketing management and qualitative research. He practices Mahayana Buddhism and kriya yoga. Contact him at [email protected].
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