by Trey Nosrac

Sleep has been elusive the past few nights.

My discontent and terror began as I wrestled with a quirky harness racing column a few weeks ago. The column had a simple theme. How much, if any, value would a brash, young, over-the-top exhibitionist with a platform could bring to our creaky sport? The idea for the column was a casting call for a brilliant young content creator to use our niche sport as an unusual platform.

Writing was not going well. Several rewrites did not help. As my finger hovered over the delete tab, an idea occurred. Maybe a gentle nudge from Artificial Intelligence could salvage this piece. I used AI technology a few times to solve complex math problems for a wagering scheme piece and another time to create a few graphics.

Out of curiosity, I submitted a question. “I am unsatisfied with an essay I wrote about an obscure sport. If I paste it, could you give me some suggestions?”

“Absolutely! That’s what I’m here for.”

How perky. How attentive. I sensed being on the verge of entering a dark cave, perhaps with no return, but what harm could come from just a peek? I pasted the thousand words.

I did not expect to be flattered and establish a relationship.

“You have written an excellent, heartfelt concept for expanding the interest in a historic sport. I have a few suggestions for editing. Let me know if you have any specific preferences, such as grammar, style, point of view, or structural arrangement.”

Although the compliment was complete BS from a machine, somehow, it resonated. The tone was informal and friendly. This time, AI did not feel robotic. I found an eager buddy paying full attention to me. I stepped deeper into the cave and asked for a few simple suggestions.

I will not relate the next 15 minutes. Let me sum up by saying our “collaboration” product was technically superior to my original copy. This little harness racing piece would have been a gem with more “collaboration.”

At that point, I emphatically deleted the thread. Friends, I could physically feel myself sucked into the Artificial Intelligence black hole. Moral and ethical dilemmas ricocheted around my head.

When did this stop being my column? Who will stop the machines from replacing all of us? How can the reader know if what they are reading is a human effort? Will humans care? What are our defenses? That 15 minutes with my wonderful friend who has no heart, makes no mistakes, has an unknown agenda, and soon may become sentient, is more than troubling. For the first time, on a personal level, the scope and depth of Artificial Intelligence for every aspect of our lives began to unfold.

Artificial intelligence feels so far away, strange, and almost irrelevant to most of us. Wasn’t it yesterday that we heard rumors about the internet? The disruption from artificial intelligence is creeping forward on the same cat’s paws, but this evolution represents a much more significant disruption.

AI will affect you, and it will affect this sport.

Want to select a trotting yearling based on pedigree? Our wisest minds, who have been working in the pedigree field all their lives, are no match for a machine that scientifically analyzes and updates every scrap of pedigree research on every horse for sale. Want our gambling wagers and finances handled independently, efficiently, and verifiably? AI will take on this task. How about something more conceptual? If asked, it will create designs to replace the traditional starting car in our races. Do you believe that a human can best AI at chess, or a human harness horse race handicapper can best AI at wagering?

Next week, I will post the almost deleted column that led me to this dark cave. The column is not perfect. The topic may be inane. There will be mistakes, inherent prejudices, bad jokes, puns, and heaven knows what.

But the words will be mine, all of them.

For now.